Self-care is a term that has become synonymous with green juice and sheet masks and neatly organized acrylic bins filled with various plastic-wrapped items. It feels like a never-ending list of “shoulds” with a soundtrack that says something like, “My most optimized, highest self would ___”. But the truth is, caring for ourselves is much more basal, and it’s available to us at any moment without spending a cent.
Your attention is a precious commodity. It requires your time and focus — two things that are finite and fleeting in our overstimulating world.
When you consciously focus your attention on yourself, whether through a mindful stretch or a full-body self-massage, it centers your nervous system and reminds your subconscious that you are here, in this moment, and most importantly, valuable enough for your own attention.
That shift was hard for me to grasp. My skincare routine and workout regimen felt more like maintenance or a means to an end than “self-care.” But the more I meditate and sit with the notion that I am worth slowing down for, being present with, and treating gently, the more I realize that all of these practices we do in the privacy of our solitude are all acts of self-care.
We feed ourselves, give ourselves something to drink, apply balm to dry lips, file a rough cuticle, and massage a sore shoulder. All of these things are a kind of self-mothering — a soft care and attention that feel subliminal but strong within us. We care for ourselves in every moment, whether we’re conscious of it or not.
Bringing conscious attention to that care—and taking an extra moment to send love to that action—can go a long way.
Many ideas inspired the Gntl name.. One of those inspirations is that Gntl is an ever-present reminder to treat ourselves gently, tenderly, and with radical care.
Love always,
Sydney
