by Dena Patton

 

Busy women often have a family plan a health care plan and an insurance plan. But they don't have a SELF-CARE PLAN! Self care is one of the most important choices a Superwoman can make. Consider these facts:

Without proper channels to alleviate stress women run the risk of developing physical and emotional side effects, as does the entire family. Ailments like depression, sleep disorders, depression, migrains, and heart disease. According to UCLA Study on Friendship Among Women.

According to The American Heart and Stroke Association - 1 out of every 4 women die of heart disease. Heart disease is the #1 killer of women. Positive lifestyle choices is the number 1 preventative measure.

Surveys show the number 1 complaint American women have is that they don't have enough time for themselves. Yet research proves being good to yourself is crucial to maintaining physical and emotional well-being. According to Alan Seibert, PhD.

According to CNN's article on Friends, they enhance people's satisfaction with life: Women across all strata of society feel overwhelmed with the insatiable demands on them. When asked what they want they answered "peace and time, but guild creeps in whenever we take a break". Marianned Legato, a cardiologist reminds women to turn from reactiveness to proactiveness. If you are in a constant state of reactiveness then you are at a great risk for diabetes, heart disease and memory problems, along with hormonal effects that pack on weight.

Neglecting our interests isn't a smart idea, . Research at Princeton University in New Jersey suggests that men are investing more time in enjoyable activities, wheras women, do not.

Remind yourself what pursuits give you pleasure then build them into your calendar.

Make your passions a priority. Give yourself permission to play and invest in your passions:

Like animals: buy a year pass at the zoo
Like plays: buy a subscription to the theater
Like the outdoors: buy a membership to an outdoors club

The fact that women socialize less than they did 40 years ago play into account for our rising dissatisfaction.
-Princeton Research

UCLA Study On Friendship Among Women
A landmark UCLA study suggests friendships between women are special. They shape who we are and who we are yet to be. They soothe our tumultuous inner world, fill the emotional gaps in our marriage, and help us remember who we really are. By the way, they may do even more.
Scientists now suspect that hanging out with our friends can actually counteract the kind of stomach-quivering stress most of us experience on a daily basis. A landmark UCLA study suggests that women respond to stress with a cascade of brain chemicals that cause us to make and maintain friendships with other women. It's a stunning find that has turned five decades of stress research---most of it on men---upside down. Until this study was published, scientists generally believed that when people experience stress, they trigger a hormonal cascade that revs the body to either stand and fight or flee as fast as possible, explains Laura Cousin Klein, Ph.D., now an Assistant Professor of Biobehavioral Health at Penn State University and one of the study's authors. It's an ancient survival mechanism left over from the time we were chased across the planet by saber-toothed tigers. Now the researchers suspect that women have a larger behavioral repertoire than just fight or flight; In fact, says Dr. Klein, it seems that when the hormone oxytocin is released as part of the stress responses in a woman, it buffers the fight or flight response and encourages her to tend children and gather with other women instead. When she actually engages in this tending or befriending, studies suggest that more oxytocin is released, which further counters stress and produces a calming effect. This calming response does not occur in men, says Dr. Klein, because testosterone---which men produce in high levels when they're under stress---seems to reduce the effects of oxytocin. Estrogen, she adds, seems to enhance it.

Are you convinced yet that you need to have a self-care plan verses 'winging it' and 'trying to find time'. It doesn't happen like that. If you want a vacation you plan it, you buy it and you put it in your calendar, right? Take that same model and create a self-care plan (daily, weekly, monthly) for the sake of your mind, body and spirit (and family!). Create your self-care plan with YOU in mind and allow it to inspire you and call you. Refueling is an important part of a Superwomans life so I encourage you to give yourself permission to create one sooner than later. Go for it!