RADICAL SELF-CARE IS OUR HERITAGE

Heritage Month is here, and it's more than just a celebration of colourful clothes, delicious traditional food, braai with friends and catchy songs (though we love all of that!). It's a time to pause and honour who we are, where we come from, what we carry in our bones, and how we take care of ourselves and each other.

At Radical Care Life, we believe that radical self-care is practices and habits that we carry through generations and can easily become tradition. It’s how we’ve always survived. It's how we’ve healed. It's how we stay whole in a world that keeps pulling us in every direction.

This Heritage Month, we’re claiming radical self-care as a powerful act of cultural preservation—for all our cultures in South Africa. From Xhosa to Afrikaans, Zulu to Pedi, Venda to Indian, Tswana to Tsonga, Sotho to Swati, Ndebele to English and Coloured to Khoisan—our roots are strong, and so are the ways we take care of ourselves.

Let’s break it down.

Radical Self-Care Is Not New. It’s Ancestral.

Our grandmothers may not have used the words “radical self-care,” but they lived it. Think about it. Who taught us to:

• Use ginger, garlic, aloe, umhlonyane or lengana when we were sick?

• Sit quietly in the early morning with tea and prayer?

• Braid each other’s hair while talking about life, love, and struggles?

• Value community solidarity (Unbuntu) and healing as a communal process with families and communities involved in supporting individuals in their healing journey?

• Rest on Sundays, cook seven colours with intention, and wear our best when it mattered?

They taught us that taking care of our bodies was sacred. That being emotionally strong didn’t mean carrying pain alone. That keeping our homes clean wasn’t just hygiene—it was spiritual. That laughter and storytelling under the stars was medicine.

This is radical self-care: taking our wellness seriously, not selfishly. Trusting our bodies. Holding space for our feelings and for each other. Protecting our energy and knowing that our peace is powerful.

Culture Teaches Us How to Care

In our diverse South African cultures, care is built in. From the way we greet each other with warmth, to how we feed everyone who walks through our doors, to how we gather for weddings, funerals, and family meetings—there is a rhythm of care in how we live.

But modern life pulls us away from that. Deadlines, social media, traffic, bills, parenting, social pressure—it all chips away at our time and energy. Sometimes we forget what our cultures already taught us: that we are not machines. That burnout is not a badge of honour. That rest is not laziness. That joy is a birthright.

To honour our heritage, we need to return to these cultural practices of care. Here’s how:

1. Remember the Wisdom of the Women Before You

Your mother, your Gogo, your auntie—they all left breadcrumbs of wisdom. Follow them. Sit with their stories. Ask about the old ways. They may not have had therapy or yoga, but they had their own healing tools.Maybe it was prayer and fasting. Maybe it was quiet walks to the river. Maybe it was singing while cooking. Maybe it was knitting or sewing.

Their self-care wasn’t loud, but it was deep. And it still lives in you.

2. Create Your Own Rituals with Roots

Self-care doesn’t have to be imported. You don’t have to copy what you see on Social Media. Your own culture has everything you need to build rituals that feed your spirit.

Try this:

• Morning grounding: Sit in silence, light a candle, or say a prayer in your mother tongue.

• Movement with meaning: Dance to music from your culture. Let your body remember joy.

• Ancestral journaling: Write letters to the women who came before you. Ask questions. Give thanks.

• Nourish the body with memory: Cook one traditional meal a week—just for you.

These small things connect us to something older and bigger than ourselves. They remind us that we’re not alone, and we never were.

3. Rest Like You Mean It

If there’s one thing we’ve been denied as women—it’s rest. Not just sleep. But soul rest. The kind that says, “I don’t have to prove anything today. I deserve to pause”.

Our ancestors didn’t always get to rest. They worked long hours, carried heavy loads—both physically and emotionally. But they still found pockets of peace. Let’s do better. Let’s rest in honour of them. Let’s show the next generation that a rested woman is a powerful woman. This is how we reclaim our dignity.

4. Share, Connect, Belong

Radical self-care is also community care. You don’t have to do it all alone. We heal better together.

Phone your friend and check in. Cry if you need to. Laugh like it’s therapy. Speak your truth. Don’t wait for “one day” to start living differently. Gather your circle. Make space for real conversations. And if someone needs to hear this: you don’t have to be strong all the time.

5. Teach the Young Ones

If you have daughters, nieces, younger sisters—teach them early. Show them what care looks like, not just what hard work looks like. Let them see you resting, journaling, dancing, saying no. Let them see you cry and still rise. That’s how we pass on more than just traditions—we pass on tools.

This Is Our Revolution: Softness With Strength

Radical self-care is not about escaping life. It’s about living it more fully.

When we honour our bodies, we’re doing what our cultures taught us. When we honour our emotions, we’re doing what our grandmothers prayed we’d one day be free to do. When we say no to hustle culture and yes to healing, we are not betraying our roots—we’re living them. Being well is not a luxury. It is your birthright.

This Heritage Month, Let’s Celebrate by Coming Home to Ourselves

Wear your traditional clothes proudly. Speak your language boldly. Cook your traditional food with love. And take care of you—not as an afterthought, but as a sacred act.

You don’t have to earn care. You are care. You were raised in it. You carry it.

Here’s to every South African woman reclaiming her time, her voice, her joy, and her rest. Not just this month—but always. Because radical self-care is not a trend. It’s heritage.