Mental Health

We hear about self-care all the time and one might say it means pampering yourself. It’s more than that. Self-care allows us to take time off from our regular routines to avoid burnout and recharge. It means listening to your body, taking moments to check in, and intentionally tuning in to the thoughts going on in your mind.

It also means challenging your behaviors and belief systems if things feel out of alignment in your life. It is more than laying in bed and watching Netflix.

If you often feel physically, emotionally, and mentally drained, the chances are it is because you are neglecting an area of self-care.

Self-care is not only for your well-being but for your productivity as well.

Points To Ponder On:

If you are not your best self, how can you provide the best support to those around you?

Your body must be well-maintained before a crisis occurs so you can take care of yourself and others when your help is needed.

Remind yourself that self-care is all about taking care of yourself! Accept imperfection, practice self-compassion, and treat yourself with small acts of kindness.

Find activities that bring you joy, feelings of fulfillment, or relaxation. Try to avoid doing things you don’t feel motivated to do.

Why is self-care important?

An effective self-care routine has several proven health benefits, including:

Reducing stress and improving resilience

Reducing anxiety and depression

Reducing levels of burnout

Supporting long-term treatment and recovery in mental health

Even small acts of self-care in your daily life can have a positive impact on your physical and mental health.

Reasons Why Self-care Is a Non-negotiable Habit.

– The more you take care of yourself, the more nourished you feel. This would help you show up as the healthiest version of yourself.

-It allows you to maintain a healthy relationship with yourself allowing you to properly take care of your mental health and well-being.

– It’s also important to remember that self-care routines are different for everyone. You must look for what works for you and what makes you feel good.

There Are Eight Simple Ways to Practice Self-Care

There are 8 main areas of self-care: physical, psychological, emotional, social, professional, environmental, spiritual, and financial.

However, it’s good to know the different forms of self-care, so you’re able to recognize the areas that lack and need a little more engagement.

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1. PHYSICAL SELF-CARE

This area of self-care is one of the most critical because a lack in this area can affect all other self-care categories.

Physical self-care is about taking care of your physical body. This routine incorporates all aspects of your life that affect you physiologically, such as diet, exercise, and sleep.

This regime includes eating a well-balanced diet, exercising regularly, and getting a good amount of sleep every night to boost the overall quality of your life.

Ways To Practice Physical Self-care

1. Eating a healthy and nourishing meal. Add fresh fruits or vegetables to every meal.

2. Taking probiotics or multivitamins daily.

3. Stay hydrated by drinking at least eight glasses of water per day.

4. Getting between 7-8 hours of good sleep.

To help you get better sleep, you can do the following:

-Avoid alcohol and caffeine before bedtime.
– Try to keep the same sleep schedule even on the weekends.

-Try to incorporate a relaxing ritual such as reading a book, a few minutes of meditation, or calming music before bed.

-Make your bedroom as quiet as possible.

5. Exercising your body daily, either walking, running, working out at the gym, etc.

Exercise is an important part of self-care, especially as more people take on sedentary jobs that have them sitting behind computer screens all day.

The Harvard School of Public Health recommends healthy adults get at least 75 to 150 minutes of moderate to intense physical activity each week. Your physical activity does not have to be running a marathon; it can be something easy like a daily 30-minute walk after work, after dinner, or during your lunch break.

6. Spending time in nature.

7. Practice good hygiene.

8. Sitting in the early morning sun and soaking up vitamin D.

9. Deep breathing exercises.

10. Yoga retreats and spa treatments are a treat, but there are plenty of smart and savvy activities you can try that won’t cost you a dime.

2. MENTAL / PSYCHOLOGICAL SELF-CARE

Mental self-care involves your psychological and cognitive thinking and your mind’s ability to understand and process information and experience.

Use it or lose it, the old saying goes. The mind is part of the body and, like the body, needs to be exercised to protect from cognitive decline and chemical imbalance, and to help you achieve your best sense of self. The mental component of a good self-care routine addresses your emotional needs, allows you to engage your creativity, and challenges your brain.

Engage your emotions by experiencing and acknowledging them in different ways.

Acknowledge the good and the bad when someone offends you. Instead of bottling it up, you might need to share it with the person. You might be surprised to discover that these simple exercises may not only help you be more present in the moment but also teach you to be more empathetic and conscious of the emotions of others.

Ways To Practice Mental Self-care

1. Set boundaries

2. Engage in hobbies or activities that bring joy to you.

3. Seek help from loved ones.

4. Learning a new skill or language.

5. Reading self-help or personal growth books.

6. Journaling

7. Practicing gratitude

8. Doing a social media detox

9. Challenge yourself to a brain teaser. Games like crossword, puzzle, chess, or sudoku.

10. Practicing positive affirmations and positive thinking.

11. Engage in your hobbies.

12. Learn a new language or skill. It could be cooking, drawing, sewing, sports, writing, etc.

3. SPIRITUAL SELF-CARE

Spirituality is an important component of a good self-care routine. Spirituality is how you connect with a higher form of yourself, and something bigger than you.

On the other hand, if you do follow a particular religious faith, spirituality may already be a big part of your self-care routine without you even being aware of it. It allows you to silence the outside noise so you can find internal calm and peace.

Regardless of your belief, religion is only one avenue of expression when it comes to spirituality.
It helps you to find hope and peace in challenging situations.

However, the other areas of self-care focus on nurturing your mind and body, and spiritual self-care aims to nourish the soul.

Ways To Practice Spiritual Self-care

1 . Meditation.

2. Spending time in nature.

3. Going to a place of worship.

4. Practice Yoga.

5. Set out your core values.

6. Positive affirmations.

7. Dedicating time to self-reflection

8. Practice a chant or prayer.

9. Volunteering to help those in need.

10. Reading books concerning spirituality to develop your own.

4. EMOTIONAL SELF-CARE:

Emotional self-care involves your feelings and learning to understand yourself and your emotions. Emotions manage the expression of your feelings and ultimately your behavior.

Ways To Practice Emotional Self-care

1. Setting healthy and clear boundaries to protect your energy.

2. Having a ‘Me time’ by spending time by yourself with no distractions.

3. Gratitude Journaling.

4. Practicing self-love.

5. Asking for help.

6. Having a good cry.

7. Journal your thoughts and feelings to process your emotions

8. Speaking to a therapist or a mental health professional.

5. ENVIRONMENTAL SELF-CARE:

You need to be in the right environment whether that means being inside a bustling coffee shop, a tidy and quiet home or office, or any other place where you enjoy spending your time. So, make sure you create the right type of environment to work for you.

Remember, your environment should always motivate you rather than distract you or make you feel depressed. Keep your personal spaces organized and clutter-free and maintain your environment just as much as you take care of yourself.

Ways To Practice Environmental Self-care

1. Making your bed every morning.

2. Tidying and organizing your workspace.

3. Exploring somewhere new or traveling for a change of scenery.

4. Clean your home or work environment.

5. Decluttering your wardrobe regularly.

6. Plant an indoor or outdoor garden.

7. Listening to music or setting a calm mood in the evenings.

6. Financial Self-Care:

Cultivating a healthy relationship with money is essential for our mental health as it helps to eliminate stress and anxiety from our lives.
Financial self-care is a means to improve our positive mindset around money, so we feel more open to talking about it and feel less negative towards people who have lots of it!

Ways To Practice Financial Self-care

1. Setting financial goals for the year.

2. Saving money each month.

3. Listening to financial or money-related news.

4. Investing in your future.

5. Keep a budget.

6. Start an emergency or “rainy day” fund.

7. Meet a financial planner to learn about handling finances.

8. Write down positive financial affirmations.

7. Social Self-Care:

Social self-care is your ability to build and maintain healthy interpersonal relationships with others. Social connections help us to feel loved and less alone but are also essential in developing and improving our communication skills.

Reconnecting with old friends or simply building and maintaining healthy relationships with loved ones is a great way to maintain social self-care.

Ways To Practice Social Self-care

1. Stay connected to important people in your life.

2. Limiting time with negative people.

3. Form new personal and professional relationships.

4. Asking for help when needed by reaching out to support systems regularly

5. Ending relationships with toxic people.

6. Spend quality time with loved ones.

7. Set healthy boundaries.

8. Building an engaged community online.

9. Make friends by trying a new activity like volunteering.

10. Attend social gatherings.

8. Recreational Self-Care:
Recreational self-care means taking out time for fun. Recreational self-care encourages you to tap into your inner child by taking part in hobbies that don’t require too much brain power. It is all about enjoying moments that bring you joy.

Ways To Practice Recreational Self-care

1. Traveling by yourself or with others.

2. Joining an in-person exercise class or gym.

3. Having a pamper day.

4. Getting creative by painting, coloring, doing a puzzle, or board games.

5. Going to the cinema, watching Netflix or classic movies. ( if you like them).

6. Spending time in nature.

7. Reading fiction, magazines, or comic books.

9. Professional Self-care:

It provides a sense of purpose and reflects personal values, interests, and beliefs.

Ways To Practice Professional Self-care

1. Celebrate your academic or career milestones.

2. Update your resume.

3. Learn a new professional skill or certification.

How It Works

Find what makes you feel centered. Starting small may make the habit easier to get into, so try adding just one new self-care practice at a time.

Self-Care Routine Plan

A 6-Step Approach for Creating a Self-Care Routine

Step 1
Evaluate your current habits.
What’s happening in your life? Take a moment to consider how you’re currently feeling and what you’re doing to cope. Acknowledge your stressors and negative coping mechanisms.

Step 2
Identify your self-care needs.
On your self-care planning worksheet, write down a goal you would like to achieve by practicing self-care. This can include a list of all your physical, mental, and emotional needs. Consider what you value most in your day-to-day life when developing this goal.

Step 3
Write down practices that can support these needs.
Using the 9 areas of self-care, brainstorm a list of potential activities that could bring you energy, joy, peace, relaxation, or satisfaction. You can add as many or as few activities as you’d like. Keep the list achievable.

Step 4
Write them into your daily or weekly schedule.
Find time throughout your day or week to practice any of the activities identified above. Start one activity per week to avoid overwhelming your schedule with events and increase your frequency as needed.

Choose rewarding activities to start as a way to stay motivated.

Step 5
Make a list of your supporters.
Write down a short list of friends, family, or community that you can lean on to support your self-care goal. If there are people who can cheer you on from the sidelines, walk with you on your journey, and hold you accountable, then you’re much more likely to stick to your plan.

Step 6
Remove any barriers.
A barrier is an unproductive or potentially harmful coping mechanism that may get in the way of your self-care plan. Start by picking the most detrimental habit and replace it with a self-care practice instead.

Takeaway

Find activities that you are fond of. Take good care of yourself and do not neglect any areas of self-care.
Apps like BetterHelp or Talkspace are good for self-care practices.