Self Care & Supporting Others: By Being There for Ourselves, We Can Be There for Others

The best way to be there for someone else is to first be there for myself. And this may be one of life’s strangest — yet truest — lessons: that by showing up for myself, I often end up showing up for far more people than I realize.

This becomes especially clear when the difficulty doesn’t stay within my own boundaries, but touches the people I love. That’s when the question arises: how can I truly be there? And what do I do when they don’t seem able — or willing — to be there for themselves?

Advice — the method we most often choose — is easy to give, but rarely put into practice. No one likes being told what to do, especially when they didn’t ask for it. And the truth is, whether we like it or not, advice often carries a subtle sense of superiority.

And yet, there is a way to truly influence others:

Through example.

Everything I am today, I learned by observing — my parents, my environment, the people around me. I saw, I imitated, and I turned it into habit. And even now, I continue to function in the same way.

So why should the way I approach the people I love be any different?

If someone close to me needs to move more, I won’t support them with words, but by bringing movement into my own life. If my child struggles to put down their phone, nothing will change by punishing them — especially when they are mirroring me. And if a friend is going through a difficult time, they may be more influenced by seeing me show up for myself than by hearing my advice.

Even in the most difficult situations — especially when it comes to health — the only way I can truly be there for others is by first being there for myself. The more I cultivate balance within, the steadier I become as a presence for the people I love.

And how do I do that?

By taking care of myself — physically and emotionally. By making healthy, conscious choices. By bringing both movement and stillness into my life. Meditation too, even when it’s difficult to sit with myself.

And above all, by nurturing kindness within — something we often neglect in our daily lives.

Not to become perfect — far from it. We all have the right to make mistakes, to be careless, to fall short. But even the way we meet our own mistakes can become an example.

Because just as I am influenced, I also influence.

And in the end, how could I offer something that I don’t already have?

The more I show up for myself, the more I have to offer. And practices like yoga, work as an ideal daily ritual to begin.