What is self-care?
What is self-care?
“Self-care” has become the buzz-word these days but what exactly does it mean? Do you have days when you feel completely drained of energy? As a therapist I used to carry everything on my shoulders without considering myself. “Consideration of ourselves seemed selfish”, I thought. I later realized that if I do not take care of me then I have nothing left to give anyone else. We must care for ourselves first in order to be at our best for others.
What does self-care look like?
Self-care can center around several different categories. The list above divides self-care into 7 categories.
Physical: Activities that raise your endorphins and reduce your stress level such as exercise, along with eating healthy and getting plenty of sleep.
Emotional: Activities such as learning to connect with your emotions and process them such as journaling, mindfulness practices, seeing a life coach, utilizing sticky notes with positive affirmations.
Mental/Intellectual: Activities such as traveling, watching documentaries or reading. These activities allow us to stretch our mental capacity with new experiences.
Professional: This one is very important because we often work at least 40 hours a week. We need to learn to say “no” when necessary, i.e.: setting boundaries. It helps to find balance between home life with work so that we still have adequate energy for both. Examples include taking short breaks at work, meditating during a break or bringing snacks to work that are healthy.
Social: Activities such as boundary setting and removing individuals from your life that you consider “toxic” or unhealthy to your mental well-being. Nurturing our healthy relationships allows us to surround ourselves with positive energy.
Financial: Activities such as checking your bank account regularly, prioritizing debt and creating realistic financial goals to create a healthy relationship between you and your money.
Spiritual: Activities such as deep breathing, repeating a positive saying or using mindfulness techniques that allow you to care for your soul.
Looking at the above categories, we can weave self-care activities into our daily lives. Think of it as self-care is to your mind and mental state what good nutrition is to your body. What does self-care look like to you? We will explore a few real-world examples in another blog.