What is Self-Care

Self-care is the foundation that enables us to achieve what we want to in life. It involves how we take care of ourselves through caring for our physical, emotional, and spiritual health. There are some myths and pitfalls around self-care that should be avoided to get the most out of our self-care routines.

What is Self-Care?

Self-care means taking care of yourself. It helps you be healthy, be well, and achieve what you want to. Self-care is about what you do for yourself to take care of yourself. Additionally, It can be things that are nourishing to your mind and/or body. It improves your health and well-being, reducing stress, and honoring your emotional needs. It also promotes resilience and allows us to deal more easily with the challenges in our lives.

Self-care is also about taking care of mental and physical health conditions you may have through knowledge of your condition, maintenance, treatment, and other things you need to do to take care of your condition. For example, self-care for someone with PTSD may be gaining knowledge about PTSD, seeking treatment, gaining awareness of your triggers, and engaging in activities that help you manage and cope with your PTSD.

Emotional Self-Care

Emotional self-care are actions we take that care for our mental health and emotional wellbeing. Some examples can include:

• Reframing self-talk to be more flexible
• Bubble baths or other simple ways of pampering yourself.
• Exercise that allows you to release extra energy, frustration, and/or anger, such as running, boxing, martial arts, etc.
• Getting together with friends or other social groups.
• Journalling or other forms of therapeutic writing, such as poetry, letter writing, etc.
• Mindfulness and meditation
• Getting out in nature
• Seeking therapy, support groups, or supportive Facebook groups.
• Engage in hobbies that you enjoy (knitting, sports, puzzles, sewing, photography, etc.)
• Zoning out through listening to music, watching videos or TV, or reading a good book.
• Setting boundaries, learning to say “no”, and prioritizing your time.

The purpose of emotional self-care is take care of your inner world. This includes healing inner wounds, recharging your spirit, finding moments of calm, and releasing emotions and hurts inside of you. It provides care and comfort to your spirit so you have more capacity to deal with the frustrations, suffering, and challenges that life brings you.

Physical Self-Care

Actions of physical self-care are behaviours that show care for your physical health and well-being. Some examples can include:

• Prioritizing sleep
• Physical activity
• Eating well
• Taking care of your health through adequate medical care, disease prevention, and limiting illness
• Taking care of yourself through personal hygiene
• Staying hydrated by drinking enough fluids

The purpose of physical self-care is to take care of your physical health and well-being. It provides the foundation for you to reach your full potential through nutrition, physical activity, sleep, and taking care of your health. It enlarges your capacity to deal with the physical challenges of life and supports your emotional well-being.

Spiritual Self-Care

Actions of spiritual self-care are behaviours that engage in our spirituality or meaning in the world. Some examples can include:

• Connecting with community.
• Practice Gratitude, Forgiveness, and/or Silence/Stillness.
• Spending time in nature.
• Attending religious services.
• Engaging in mindfulness/meditation.
• Doing spiritual/religious rituals/activities.
• Listening to inspirational music.
• Unplug from technology.

The purpose of spiritual self-care is to support your emotional and physical health by finding purpose, meaning, and belonging.

What is Not Self-Care

Self-care is not something that works for someone else but not for you. Most of the myths and pitfalls of self-care involve taking what other people say it is and taking it on yourself despite it not working for you. Too many people focus on the popular forms of self-care instead of what shows care for themselves. Self-care activities are either nourishing to you or nourishing to some aspect of your health. If an activity is not nourishing to you now or in the future, it is not self-care. If it is nourishing, you will notice a positive feeling either during the activity or after. Some self-care activities may not seem nourishing for one occurrence but be nourishing when it becomes a pattern.

Self-care is not pampering yourself or other luxurious activities that don’t help you de-stress. If you don’t find a pedicure relaxing, that is not a form of self-care for you. You also do not have to spend a lot of money to engage in it. Many self-care activities have no to low costs, such as getting out in nature, doing mindfulness, setting boundaries, staying hydrated, and going for a walk.

Activities that add stress to your life because of financial worries are not self-care even if they allow you to destress in the moment. Self-care activities should not cause you extra stress from the activity. You may have some stress trying to figure out where to fit it into your routine and get comfortable with the activity, but it should not cause you stress from financial or other worries over the long-term. Once it fits into your routine, it shouldn’t feel like a chore.

Activities that come with negative consequences (substance use, alcohol use, risky behaviours, etc.) are not self-care.

Self-Care for the Moment

You may do activities of self-care that show care for yourself in the moment. These are activities that provide comfort, pain and other symptom reduction, soothing, coping, and care at the moment. They can be used to help calm your nervous system and make you feel better when you’ve had a tough day.

Self-soothing activities are great activities for when you need a little more love and care. Some self-soothing activities include curling up on the couch with a blanket, savouring a warm cup of tea or cocoa, taking a warm bubble bath, spending time with a pet, or getting a hug from a loved one.

Getting out in nature can be a form of self-care especially if you are using the time in nature to get away from the busyness and chaos of your everyday life. Taking that break to get away from stuff and find the soothing power of nature can be very powerful.

Self-Care that’s Part of a Routine

Actions of self-care that are part of a routine are habits like having an exercise routine, eating a healthy diet, taking routine medications, and having a sleep routine that gets you enough sleep. It can also include things like mindfulness routines and other activities that help you feel at your best. These are self-care routines that may not be nourishing for one occurrence but may be nourishing as a pattern. You feel better when you are engaging in these activities regularly.

Self-Care for the Future

Actions of Self-Care can be something that will benefit you in the future. It is something you do for yourself, but you may not enjoy it in the moment. You can invest in the future through actions that will get you to a better place.

If clutter bothers you, cleaning up clutter can be an act of self-care as your space will be more relaxing without clutter. Going to the doctor for a check-up can be a form of self-care, as you will have answers to your health concerns or know you are on the right path.

Why is It Important?

Self-care has many benefits including:

• Reducing anxiety and depression
• Reducing stress
• Increasing energy
• Reducing burnout
• Stronger interpersonal relationships
• Improving physical health
• Boost self-esteem
• Improve immune system (less chance of getting sick)
• Increased happiness

Self-care enables you to better heal from trauma, chronic pain, and other conditions. It is important to listen to your body.

Creating a Routine that Works for You

The most important part of your self-care routine is that it works for you. Everyone is unique and what may work for one person may not work for another. For example, for someone who gets up early to work as a baker, it may not be ideal for them to exercise before work like it is for someone who works a 9-5 job.

When you are trying to create a self-care routine focus on what is nourishing to you, your body, and your spirit. It’s very easy to get caught up with the self-care fads of the moment and end up with a routine that is more taxing than caring.

Conclusion

Self-care is important to enhance your life, stay healthy, and promote your own wellbeing. It can prevent burnout and promote resilience. It is about finding the self-care activities and routine that work for you to get the most out of your life.