SOMETIMES the most important thing in giving is to give to yourself. That’s the message Australian personal trainer of the year Loz Anderson shared with the women of VIEW club at a dinner last week.
She talked to them about the importance of self-care for people who want to give a lot to their community.
And it’s especially important after a tough year, where the demands on all of us have grown ever more.
Ms Anderson explained that it’s easy to empty your tank but you do need to refill it if you want to continue to contribute.
She told Local Ipswich News, “It’s really hard to pour from an empty cup.”
The dinner was celebrating VIEW’s support for the The Smith Family, the children’s education charity. The club’s 14,000 members exclusively support the charity in its essential work, while at the same time networking with each other and developing skills.
For more than 60 years VIEW has created community connections to support The Smith Family in outreach to families who need the organisation’s help. But that work can be exhausting, as Ms Anderson acknowledged.
In her speech to the group, Ms Anderson urged the members to look after themselves. She used the concept of “handbrake habits” to explain why she felt self-care was essential. The idea is that if you drive a car when you’ve forgotten to release the handbrake, it will move but it will be slow and sluggish.
Humans are just like cars. If you haven’t released your handbrake, you’ll find it hard going.
Ms Anderson identified five things that you need to take care of to lift your handbrake: and feel invigorated for the task of volunteering. These are: eating, breathing, sleep, movement and hydration.
Seems simple but they’re all very easy to ignore.
