"Make Time for Me-Time" and make self-care a priority this 2023

When was the last time you took some time off from your busy bee life? And do you feel guilty at times when you go out for grocery and enjoy almost haft of your day just checking the shelves even without the intention of buying stuff there? Things like doing grocery is already a time for myself or a "me-time".

Yes, “Me TIME”, does it sound familiar to you? Have you heard it often from a friend, someone closed or related to you? Or do you use it yourself as your term for break time?

As we all go through stages in life where we definitely graduate, though others stay much longer than expected, we all still continue to the next stage and move forward.  At this point in my life, I am now on this stage where my priorities have changed and I’m loving it.  Being a fulltime mom, wife, daughter, sister, and all-around Jack-of-all-trades, time is of the essence.

I remember, after giving birth to my beautiful daughter, I noticed that my shower time was shorten. I don’t know if some of you can relate to this. I have to attend to my child’s need first before I can take a quick pause like “washroom break”.  Because we struggled keeping a good house help, it led us to a major decision to leave teaching job to go full-time stay at home mom.  Something that I will never regret doing. 

Being a first-time mom, choosing my daughter or family first changed me a lot. From downsizing my closet to focusing on my family’s needs first.  But as time goes by, I realized that there are moments when I also wish to have some time alone. Like doing grocery time alone, driving alone, gardening alone…like alone time? This generation prepare calling it as ME Time.

It is a fact that the sandwich generation, individuals who are taking care of both their aging parents and own family simultaneously - are often overwhelmed and pressured to provide for their family’s needs. This may lead them to neglect their own needs, leaving them no room for the most important person in their lives - themselves. 

Self-care is an integral part of maintaining our overall health. In a study, self-care is defined as the ability to care for oneself through awareness, self-control, and self-reliance in order to achieve, maintain, or promote optimal health and well-being. 

bubble bath time

Managing how your emotions affect your loved ones. Emotions are contagious. Your loved ones, especially people close to you, can sense it when you’re happy, upset, or angry—and your feelings may be transferred to them. Being healthy and happy on your own first is a way to share the positive energy. Radiating positive thoughts will help draw in good things to you and the people around you. 

devotional time

Having mental space for happiness. When you are rested, you feel happier in doing fun activities, compared to when you’re overworked, anxious, or stressed. When you're burned out, you lose the mental capacity to be happy just being, let alone enjoy whatever other fun pastime you've planned. You must take breaks to make room for the things that are meant to be enjoyed. 

Treating resting as a necessity, not an option. When you live to please everyone around you, just to stay polite and avoid issues, you tend to sacrifice "me-time" to meet everyone's needs. When you push yourself past your limit, your body goes into survival mode, and burnout turns into a vicious spiral. You need rest and you must allow yourself time to recalibrate, reset, finding time to make sure that your focus is on yourself, even if this could be in the form of saying “no.”! 

Keeping yourself healthy. Stress can be beneficial at times, but only when necessary. Based on research conducted by associates from the University of California, some amounts of stress are good to push you to just to the level of optimal alertness and performance. But you need to know your limits. Working too hard causes too much stress, which can weaken your immune system and invite sickness and disease to come along. When you are sick, your body is telling you to rest—and no one can listen to that other than you. 

When we choose ourselves, we are often afraid to come off as selfish. However, we need to understand that we also need to take care of ourselves in order to care of our loved ones even better,” said AXA Philippines Chief Marketing Officer Nandy Villar. “It is time to leave behind this guilt and commit to making time for me-time. We at AXA Philippines are here as your partner to support you in achieving holistic health this year and beyond.”

To be worry-free in 2023, you need a partner who can help you feel safe. AXA Health Care Access is a comprehensive health insurance plan that covers all potential healthcare needs, from prevention and diagnosis to hospitalization and treatments. Select plans even include teleconsultation and mental health services, to truly cover your holistic wellbeing.

AXA Philippines also has health plans that cover exams to diagnose critical illnesses that must be dealt with immediately. AXA's Health Start plan covers critical illnesses, including cancers that affect women. This is especially favorable for mothers because they can also choose to share the coverage with their child. AXA also has other health insurance options, such as the Health Start Lite plan. This already covers the top three critical illnesses, namely cancer, stroke, and heart attack, as well as nine minor critical illnesses to which women may be predisposed.

AXA also offers Global Health Access, a health plan which offers best-in-class global health coverage of up to PHP 100 million and comprises the diagnosis and prevention of illnesses through extensive medical checks and outpatient benefits, cancer coverage, reimbursement supplements, as well as cash benefits for pregnant women.

Taking care of your family entails taking care of yourself as well. Making time for me-time is an essential component of self-care and overall health and well-being. With an AXA health insurance plan, you can also be financially healthy and have an additional layer of security against health issues, allowing you to truly enjoy having time for yourself and your family as you move forward in life this year.

For more information about AXA Philippines’ health offerings visit axa.com.ph/health-protection.

ABOUT AXA PHILIPPINES FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Established in 1999, AXA Philippines is one of the largest and fastest growing insurance companies Media Relations: in the country. It offers financial security to close to 2 million individuals through its group and Nikki Constantino individual life insurance as well as general insurance products.

AXA Philippines is one of the first to introduce bancassurance operations in the country, and is among the pioneers in the investment-linked insurance sector.

AXA now offers a complete range of products for all its customers’ insurance and financial protection needs, including savings and investments, health plans, income protection; and fire, car, personal accident, and more. 

AXA Philippines is a joint venture between the AXA Group, headquartered in France, GT Capital Jam Bufi Holdings, Inc. (GT Capital), a leading listed conglomerate in the Philippines, and Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company (Metrobank), one of the Philippines’ largest financial institutions. It is duly recognized by the 1 and has following licenses to operate: 2019/37-R for AXA and 2019/40-R.