There is no shortage of information available that encourages women to care for their health and well-being and the latest advancements in research that indicate specifics of how to care for ourselves. The element that is sometimes missing from these important discussions however is the element of the soul- the spiritual aspect of our well-being that is pertinent to establish a balanced and holistic state of wellness.
The Missing Element
When the body and mind are well, yet the soul is not nurtured using the tools that Allah swt provided for us, our state of well-being will be lacking. The result of which can leave us feeling empty, unfulfilled, and chasing the next worldly thing that can give us a short-term boost in our mood.
This conversation on self-care is typically directed to women who are in a critical phase of their life (30-50 years of age) who at this point are usually keeping their finger on the pulse of the needs of all their loved ones. There is a nuance in this conversation that is also worth addressing – how do we properly take care of ourselves while trying to juggle all the other things in our lives?
Faith Perspectives on Self-Care
This discussion requires the use of traditional methods of self-care while also incorporating the perspectives from the Qur'an and Sunnah which offer a holistic and compassionate understanding of nurturing a woman's well-being. The advice of caring for ourselves then necessitates that realistic methods of doing so are part of this conversation, while accounting for the busy, fast-paced lives many of us are experiencing.
It is well established that given the immense hormonal fluctuations a woman experiences throughout her life, and particularly during pregnancy, childbirth, nursing and beyond, that her body undergoes significant changes and thus her emotional, mental and physical well-being become impacted to varying degrees. Compassion for the different biological and psychological states a woman goes through during her life brings to light the wisdom and mercy of Allah swt, which we can find portrayed in the rulings for women during the various states they undergo that help to ensure acts of worship are not a difficulty, but rather, there is leniency and compassion given for the woman.
Our faith holds strong the sanctity of the human being and the responsibility and reward that are attached to caring for our health. Caring for our health is not a Western or new-age concept that we need to be taught. It is very much rooted within our beautiful faith where the righteous women who came before us not only paved the path for women today, they rather kept the path lit for us to continue to tread upon. The stories of these inspiring women demonstrated how it can be possible to balance between our faith, and fulfilling our purpose as being ambassadors on this earth, while also tending to our worldly affairs, which when done with the proper intention, end up being also acts of worship that are heavily rewarded.
The Four Buckets of Wellbeing
So where do we start? We can look at our needs as different buckets that we need to pour into, while acknowledging that we might not be able to fill all of them everyday.
Physical: The research is vast on the importance of regular exercise and the immense health and psychological benefits it can provide. It is also important to regard other aspects such as sleep, nutritional deficiencies and hormonal shifts that need to be evaluated and treated.
Emotional: Identifying core beliefs and thoughts that could be fueling your difficult emotions can be beneficial in addition to developing healthy coping tools. The Qur'an and seerah are rich in examples of how our emotional well-being can be cultivated and examples of how our beloved Prophet PBUH experienced and coped with challenges.
Intellectual: Engaging in intellectually stimulating activities (i.e. taking a course, reading books and articles on topics of interest) and remaining on a path of lifelong knowledge seeking provide not only cognitive benefits, it contributes to our personal and community growth as well.
Spiritual: The main element of this article, the soul, yearns for closeness to its creator and this can be cultivated through small, daily practices involving reflection, improving our acts of worship, connecting with the Qur'an, remembering our purpose and embarking on a life-long journey of tazkiyah -purifying our souls and intentions.
Community Care
This discussion is not intended to add more overwhelm to an already jam-packed schedule, but rather an invitation to explore which aspects of our well-being need to be nurtured and an understanding that spiritual disconnection and burn-out should not be normalized. It is important to note that in many cases, in order for a woman to properly engage in holistic self-care, there needs to be community care and support from those around her to enable her to care for her well-being effectively.
The spiritual element that has been left out of the wellness industry's discourse of nurturing one's overall well-being cannot be overlooked. Trying to ensure this bucket of our well-being is tended to regularly can yield significantly positive outcomes on our well-being.
Lastly, it's important to remember that some seasons in your life will require more of your energy and time to be spent on particular areas and it's important to have compassion and acceptance of the current life phase you're in, while having realistic expectations of yourself. Your health and well-being are important and the impacts of small daily changes can amount to large benefits on ourselves, on those around us, and can create a ripple effect on our community and ummah.