We often hear the words self-care, but what actually is self-care? What does it look like? And what isn’t self-care?
What is self-care:
Self-care refers to our attitudes and the actions we do in order to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health. Although it is a simple concept in theory, it is something we very often overlook. Self-Care is both an act of love and a matter of personal responsibility. It serves as an armour to protect the energy that we need in order to survive and thrive, and to care for and nourish our body, mind and soul.
What isn’t self-care:
Knowing what self-care is not might be even more important. It is not something that we force ourselves to do, or something we don’t enjoy doing. It is not adding more to your ‘to-do’ list – rather, it can be about identifying your essential needs and then prioritising them.
Self-care is not about an ‘emergency response plan’ when stress becomes overwhelming and you are close to burnout – it is about creating behaviours or healthy habits that you can do to nurture yourself.
Lastly, and most importantly – Self-care isn’t being selfish! It is about considering our own needs, knowing what we need to do in order to take care of ourselves, and subsequently, being able to take care of others as well. That is… you can’t pour from an empty cup.. you need to take care of yourself first.
Self-care is “something that refuels us, rather than takes from us”
(Agnes Wainman)
Here are 7 areas in your life to exercise self-care and take better care of you:
- Physical self-care – involves activities that improve your physical health, including diet, exercise, sleep and rest. Moving your body is important, whether it is through structured sport or exercise, or through entertainment like dancing or going on a hike. Some examples of physical self-care include:
- Feeding your body healthy foods with high nutritional value on a daily basis
- Getting enough sleep
- Going for a walk on the beach
- Having an Epson salt bath (or using your favourite bath bomb)
- Learning a new dance routine
- Develop a consistent workout routine
- Wash your face in the morning and before going to sleep
- Moisturize well
- Psychological self-care – involves learning new things, applying consequential thinking (i.e., imagining the upsides and downsides of our actions), engaging intrinsic motivation, practising mindfulness and creativity. Some examples of psychological self-care include:
- Practising mindfulness
- Journaling
- Reading a book
- Learning or teaching a new skill
- Doing a digital detox
- Emotional self-care – involves practices that maintain your mental strength and emotional health. Developing reasonable expectations of yourself is an important part of mental and emotional health. Learning to be more accepting, kind, and forgiving of yourself can reduce stress and anxiety, and can create a generally more balanced lifestyle. Some examples of emotional self-care are:
- Writing in a gratitude jar or gratitude journal
- Saying no when you need to and during times of stress
- Making time for reflecting on feelings and developing emotional literacy
- Practicing self-compassion
- Being aware of you own boundaries
- Talk to someone you can trust about your personal struggles
- Take time to reflect
- Cry if you need to
- List all the things you love about yourself
- Social self-care – involves having a supportive group and network of relationships around you whom you trust and turn to when required. Having care and supportive people around you builds a sense of belonging and connectedness. Some examples of social self-care include:
- Asking for help when you need it
- Meet new people
- Go walking with family and/or friends
- Honouring your commitments to other people
- Joining/belonging to groups or communities outside of work
- Professional self-care – involves sharing your strengths and gifts, having clear professional boundaries, whilst living your purpose. Examples of professional self-care include:
- Eating a nourishing lunch each day at work
- Eating lunch away from your desk/work space
- Negotiating your needs
- Having clear professional boundaries
- Knowing your roles and responsibilities
- Attending professional development or having coaching
- Environmental self-care – involves having an organised, well maintained and clutter-free work, business and home environment. It also involves minimising waste and monitoring technology time. Examples of environmental self-care include:
- Decluttering your home or work environment
- Recycling as much as possible
- Monitoring technology time
- Cleaning up after a meal
- Maintaining a clean living environment
- Spiritual self-care – involves the practices that exercise your mind and soul. It is the beliefs and values that are important to you and guide your life. Spirituality can be defined in many ways, and there are a variety of activities that can improve one’s spiritual health. Some activities that may contribute to your spiritual self-care include:
- Prayer
- Meditating
- Reflecting in a journal
- Self-exploration and clarifying your values and priorities
- Volunteering at a local organisation
- Walking in nature
- Reading poetry or inspiring quotes
- Attending church
- Trying yoga (also ties in with physical self-care)