Self-care is something that we hear about a lot these days and it happens because you are not able to know exactly who you are if you don’t set a time away for you to care for yourself. Maybe you don’t believe that you need to practice self-care, but when you work, take care of your family, and live your life, you forget that you aren’t caring for yourself in the meantime.
Self-care is important because it helps you to make changes in your life that help you to be better.
What is Self-Care?
Self-care is something that has to do with doing good things for yourself. This can mean that you are kinder to yourself and that you allow your energy to recharge.
Self-care can mean that you show yourself more compassion when you mess up and you learn to forgive yourself. You don’t use things like drugs and alcohol to survive, but you choose to do activities that build you up and that change your life.
When you use unhealthy coping activities, it will be bad for you in the end and when you use self-care, it will help you to better your mind, body, and soul.
Good Things About Self-Care
Self-care is good for people because it helps you to have a better mood, more energy and to love yourself more. This can take away your stress and anxiety and help you to live a happy life.
Benefits of Self-Care
There are many benefits of doing self-care and one way that it improves your life is by allowing you to be more productive. When you learn to say no to people and things that you don’t have time for, you have more time to reach your own goals without overextending yourself.
Resists Diseases
Self-care can help to increase your nervous system and help your body to rejuvenate over time and this will improve your immune system so you can fight off diseases.
Health
You will have better health and it will prevent you from getting things such as the flu or other sicknesses.
Better Self-Esteem
Doing self-care will help you to boost your self-esteem and help you to see your value. It will help you to get rid of negative thinking and talking.
Self-Knowledge
You will learn more about who you are, and you will learn to love yourself for the things that you know. It will also help you to understand yourself more.
Giving
When you practice self-care, you can learn to give more of your time and energy to others and this will help you to feel even better.
Kinds of Self-Care
People often forget about self-care because they feel that they don’t have time. They know that self-care can require planning and they don’t feel that they have time for that. They have a routine, and they follow it. But once you start adding self-care to your routine, you will see that your life will be more productive and happier.
Here are some different kinds of self-care that you can add to your life:
Sensory Care
This kind of care helps you to calm your mind and your emotions. When you can deal with the emotions and the feelings around you, it can help you to have less stress.
Think bout this kind of self-care as dealing with your senses. When you respond to things that are around you, you can use self-care such as:
- Cuddling under something soft.
- Going outside in nature to smell the air and to feel the breeze.
- Watching a fire in the fire pit.
- Focusing on your own breathing.
- Listening to music while relaxing.
- Sitting in the hot sun in the afternoon.
- Eating chocolate.
- Getting a massage with essential oils.
- Holding a pet.
- Letting water run down your body when you shower.
Emotional Care
Emotional care is very important and when you learn to embrace your emotions, you can learn to face them. This can help you to deal with anxiety.
You might want to push away feelings such as sadness or anger but when you learn to accept them and move forward, you will see that your emotions are good or bad, but they are a part of your life.
Here are some emotional self-care ideas you can try:
- Keep a journal about your feelings.
- Be honest about what you are feeling.
- Talk to a counselor to help you through hard feelings.
- Write a list of feeling words you have.
- Spend time with people that love you and understand you.
- Cry when you need to.
- Laugh at old memories that are fun.
- Sing songs that deal with your emotions.
Spiritual Care
Spiritual care can help you to get in touch with what you believe in and what values you have. This can help you to get rid of depression. It isn’t about religion but about caring for yourself.
Here are some spiritual care activities that you can do:
- Meditate each day.
- Go to a religious service.
- Read different books and poetry.
- Go out in nature.
- Make a list of things that you are thankful for.
- Be creative.
- Say positive affirmations.
- Take pictures of things that inspire you.
Physical Care
One important thing about self-care is that you take care of your body. Your body will help you to be strong and compassionate to yourself.
Here are some self-care tips you can take for your body:
- Dance around your kitchen.
- Attend a yoga class or do it on your own.
- Go out and try a new sport.
- Go for a run.
- Go for a walk.
- Go for a bike ride.
- Take a nap when you are tired.
- Say no to things that you don’t have time to do.
- Let yourself work hard in your exercise routine but don’t over push yourself.
- Commit to having at least 7 hours of sleep at night.
Social Care
Social care is important so that you can learn to connect with other people, and you can have different kinds of people in your life.
This helps you not to be alone and can help you to be seen by people around you. Social care isn’t about doing things for others just to do them, but it makes you feel better about who you are.
Here are some great social care tips:
- Go out with a friend for dinner.
- Send an email to someone you care about.
- Talk to someone you haven’t seen for a while.
- Join a group of people that have the same things in common.
- Talk to someone that you don’t know.
- Join a support group to battle your struggles.
- Take a class to learn something new and meet new people.
Other Self-Care Ideas
- Stop saying should and just do it.
- Go a different way when you go to work.
- Watch your favorite television show.
- Create a new healthy lifestyle.
- Get off of spam emails.
- Celebrate things you have won at.
- Go out in the sun.
- Visit your library.
- Do chores around your house.
- Watch a video that is motivating.
- Speak to people you love.
- Laugh
- Have fun.
- Write a review for something you have tried out.
- Make your bed.
- Do a puzzle.
- Journal.
- Write down positive affirmations and say them.
- Drink a lot of water.
- Dance in your kitchen.
- Give yourself a massage.
- Write yourself a letter.
- Do an electronic detox.
- Go to the movies on your own.
- Give something to charity.
- Clean out your house and car.
- Go to a therapist.
- Cook something you haven’t cooked before.
- Do something fun you did as a child.
- Look at history.
- Make your phone remind you how good you are.
- Watch a documentary film.
- When you are stressed, call in sick.
- Change your sheets.
- Read your favorite book again.
- Join a support group.
- Read happy quotes.
- Make a self-care box of goodies.
- Smile at yourself in the mirror.
Stop Being Negative
If you want to have a fulfilling life, get rid of the negativity in your life and learn to care more about yourself and who you are. Find ways to make yourself feel good and to be happy.