The idea of self-care has become more familiar to lots of us in recent years – with many of us adding wellbeing-boosting activities into our days. But what exactly is self-care? And what are its potential benefits?
Here, we’ll cover everything you need to know about self-care and explore ways to add more of it to your routine.
What is self-care?
Self-care can mean different things to different people. Some researchers and organisations take a health-oriented approach. For example, the World Health Organization defines self-care as “the ability of individuals, families, and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a health worker.”
However, as self-care has become more mainstream in recent years, many people view it more broadly. Now, it’s widely understood as a practise of tuning into your personal needs and taking time to improve your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing.
Some researchers, for example, define it as “the self-initiated behaviour that people choose to incorporate to promote good health and general wellbeing.” Some people use self-care to deal with stress or difficult life situations, while others as a way of maintaining their day-to-day happiness.
Types of self-care
Self-care looks different for everyone. However, we’ll explore some of the main categories of self-care below.
Physical self-care
Physical self-care generally refers to anything that positively contributes to your physical health. This could mean prioritising a regular sleep routine, staying active, and choosing whole, nutrient-dense foods over highly processed ones.
Mental/emotional self-care
Self-care can be important for mental health too. Mental health charity Mind recognises self-care techniques as beneficial for mental wellbeing, and preventing the onset of mental health symptoms.
Emotional self-care involves doing things that help you to relax, unwind, de-stress, and feel happy.
Examples can include mindfulness, taking a social media break, taking a bubble bath, reading a book, or listening to your favourite music. For some people, it can be as simple as learning to say ‘no’ to things that cause unnecessary stress and scheduling ‘me time’.
Spiritual self-care
Spiritual self-care is all about connecting with your purpose and meaning. For some people, this might involve practising gratitude, meditating, connecting with nature, or praying.
What are the potential benefits of self-care?
There are many benefits to practising self-care – for everything from health and relationships to employment and finances.
In the long-term, self-care can prevent unhealthy habits from forming, improve self-esteem and happiness, contribute toward better sleep, and increase energy levels. It can also help to strengthen the immune system and speed up recovery from injury and illness.
Practising self-care can lead to happier relationships too, because when you’re more content and relaxed, the chances are, you’ll engage more positively with those around you. Plus, self-care routines that include taking breaks and periods of relaxation can help you focus better and reduce the risk of burnout; leading to improved productivity.
The benefits of practising self-care can all tie together to improve overall life satisfaction, and lead to a happier, more fulfilling life.
7 tips for adding self-care into your routine
When thinking about what sort of self-care to add to your routine, it can be helpful to consider what aspect of your life you’d like to flourish most. Do you need a mental or physical boost – or both? Once you’ve thought about this, the following tips may help.
1. Start with the basics
If self-care feels unfamiliar to you and daunting as a result, then it can help to start slow. Small things like drinking a glass of water, doing a few minutes of stretching, or taking some deep breaths can have a significant impact. They also make a great foundation for you to build on when it comes to other self care practices.
2. Brainstorm self-care ideas
Knowing where to start when it comes to self-care can be daunting so it can help to begin by making a list of things that make you happy – for example exercising, listening to music, or watching a movie. You could also rank these activities on a scale from 1-3, with one being reserved for the activities that you’d relish most, and so on.
If you’re feeling short on time, this ranking system can help you prioritise the activities that will give you the largest rewards. Do you need more quiet time or social time, for example?
3. Schedule self-care, like you would any other commitment
Treating self-care like an important commitment to yourself – one that needs to be added to your calendar and is non-negotiable – might make you more likely to stick to it. You could add one small task a day or a couple of larger tasks each week, depending on what you think would be most helpful.
4. Track your progress
Try to spend some time evaluating how each act of self-care makes you feel – you could even do this in a journal. For example, are there any that give you an especially big boost? Do you find some activities easier to add to your schedule than others, making you more likely to do them? If you find one activity isn’t working for you, you could try something else instead.
5. Experiment with different self-care activities
If you’re not sure what sort of self-care you might enjoy, consider experimenting with different activities to see how they feel and if they’ll work for you. For ideas, you might want to check out the hobbies and activities section of our website.
6. Take steps to make self-care a habit
Turning self-care into a habit is a great way to make it stick. It could be that, first thing in the morning before even getting out of bed, you say your affirmations or do some breathing exercises. It can also help to find a time and place that feels good to practise self-care, such as your bedroom or a favourite chair in your living room.
7. Be kind to yourself
Remember to take things one day at a time and don’t be too hard on yourself if you miss an activity or don’t keep to your routine. Just keep trying until it sticks – and remember that you’re worth it.
Final thoughts...
While it can look different for everyone, self-care is all about taking care of your wellbeing. Intentionally taking time for yourself can feel strange or difficult, but research has found many benefits of self-care to your life in general and those around you.
For further reading, head over to the healthy mind section of our website. Here, you’ll find information on everything from building confidence and self-esteem to maintaining healthy relationships. .
Do you have any self-care tips you’d like to share? We’d be interested to hear from you in the comments below.
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