The word “Self-Care” has received much well-deserved attention and lip service in recent years. It evokes images of scented baths, massages, meditation, yoga, and curling up with a good book. And while all of these are excellent examples of self-care, there are minor but equally significant things you can practice daily to help make self-care a constant. Incorporating self-care practices in all areas of your daily life and prioritizing your needs with proper self-care prevents burnout, emotional or physical exhaustion, and feeling broken down.
Why Is Self-Care Important?
Self-Care is an active decision one takes to promote well-being. Physical and emotional needs must be met before stress relief is possible, no matter how much work one puts in.
Basic needs (such as sleep, eating right, etc.) are fundamental in order to live a fulfilling life. Taking the time to provide proper self-care includes numerous benefits, such as reducing anxiety, depression, and stress. Our resilience depends on our well-being, and self-care improves our ability to stand against stressors and recognize our happiness in the minutiae. Making an effort to create stronger interpersonal relationships satisfies our need for human interaction. Finding a balance in our needs begets positive changes in our surroundings; we hold more power than we know!
Although it may seem luxurious, proper self-care is anything but a luxury! It’s vital to prioritize self-care to build resilience towards unavoidable stressors in life. Here are five general types of self-care:
- Physical Self-Care: Caring for one’s body also helps one’s thinking and general emotional state. Physical care is eating the right foods, getting enough sleep, physical activity, and meeting basic needs. Remember to prioritize setting up regular doctor’s appointments, taking medication as prescribed and necessary, and regularly maintaining one’s general health management.
- Social Self-Care: Building relationships with others takes time and energy; those close connections are vital to self-care. Plan ahead of time, if needed, to make time in your schedule to see friends. Even a short coffee meeting or phone call can keep you from getting isolated.
- Mental Self-Care: Thoughts matter – what one feeds the brain affects psychological well-being. Practicing self-compassion, such as changing how you talk to yourself, keeping a journal to write out your feelings, and slowing down to be more observant of the present, help you maintain a healthy relationship with yourself.
- Spiritual Self-Care: Spiritual self-care evokes a profound sense of meaning. A connection to the universe that is more significant than ourselves is humbling and adds to our worldly perspective. What is life but a combination of experiences with a desire for fulfillment? Try walking in nature, taking a warm bath, listening to soothing music, slow, deep breathing, or writing in a journal.
- Emotional Self-Care: Emotional self-care includes activities to acknowledge and express our feelings regularly and safely. Talking to one’s significant other or friends about what we’re feeling assists in meeting our needs meaningfully. Taking time for ourselves is just as vital; we all deserve leisurely activities to recharge our batteries.
Develop Your Self-Care Plan
Developing and following a personalized self-care plan enables you to apply a holistic approach to your health – a way to care for your physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, and social well-being. Making and taking the time to care for all of these aspects allows you to be the best you possible.
Reassess habits often as situations and circumstances change! Self-care must tailor to your needs to meet inner self-balance. We need to assess those needs, consider surrounding stressors, devise coping strategies, and plan for future challenges—every small step counts, including the time we take to focus on our needs.
Try these relaxation Apps that can easily be found on your smartphone:
Calm – https://www.calm.com/
Headspace – https://www.headspace.com/
Insight Timer – https://insighttimer.com/
Mindfulness Coach – https://www.mindfulnesscoach.com/
Smiling Mind – https://www.smilingmind.com.au/
The following link provides additional tools and daily tips:
Stress Relief: 18 Highly Effective Strategies for Relieving Stress