The Self-Care Myth

Introducing A Return to Rhythm & Cyclical Consciousness

What if one of the most transformative things you could do in your lifetime is to learn your own energy and know your own rhythm?

Everything began to shift for me when I stopped trying to follow prescriptive wellness routines and started paying attention to how my energy actually moved—its ebbs and flows, its seasons, its signals.

Attuning to my natural cycles, instead of constantly overriding them, changed everything.

When we understand our energy—when we learn how to harness and express it—life begins to flow more easefully. Rather than pushing against our natural state, we begin to work with it.

This isn’t about fixing yourself but rather remembering who you are and leaning into what already makes you strong.

Disconnection from Rhythm

Many of us have been conditioned to push through, to fix, to optimise. But the signals of fatigue, restlessness, or overwhelm aren’t failures to fix; they are invitations to return to ourselves.

The exhaustion so many of us feel often stems less from being “broken” and more from being disconnected from what naturally energises us.

In nature, all cycles include both growth and rest. Yet our culture encourages us to override this truth, keeping us always “on,” always productive, always visible. No wonder so many of us feel overstretched and depleted.

Your rhythm is not a luxury. It is your design. And it is waiting to be remembered.

Returning to Inner Authority

We live in a world full of advice about how to live, work, and care for ourselves, and yet, how often have you followed someone else’s routine only to feel… off?

The truth is: it may not work for you, simply because it wasn’t designed for you. There’s relief in that realisation, and power in reclaiming your own way.

Returning to your rhythm is about listening inward, again and again. It’s knowing that what served you yesterday might not serve you today. That isn’t failure—it’s self-awareness.

This is where inner authority begins: trusting your own energy, your timing, your needs.

Reflection

If you’d like to take this further, here are a few gentle questions to reflect on:

1. If you sensed you needed more rest right now, what emotions or beliefs would that bring up for you?

2. Where do your current rhythms feel forced or out of sync?

3. How do your self-care routines reflect your real needs, rather than a model that doesn’t fit your life?

This piece is adapted from my Substack series A Return to Rhythm. You can read the full essay, plus the follow-on writings in this series, over on my Substack: here.