Self-care goes so much deeper than taking a spa day. Like many others when I first heard about self-care. I thought of going to a luxurious spa or day full of pampering. But after looking deeper into it. I found out that self-care is more than treating yourself to something special. It’s essential for your overall well being and there different ways to practice self-care. So if you’re new to self-care or looking to improve the ways you practice self-care, this quick guide to self-care may help. So let’s take a look at what self-care is, the different types, and some do’s and don’ts of self-care.
What is self-care?
Self-care is taking the time to do something good for your mental and physical health. Self-care is all about taking time for yourself and your overall well-being and engaging in activities and things that make you happy and relax your mind.
Types of self-care
There are different ways to practice self-care. Here are six types of self-care. You don’t have to do all six focus on the areas in your life that lack self-care and start there.
Emotional Self-care
These are activities that help you connect, process, and reflect on your emotions. We must deal with our emotions in a healthy matter. Because it can lead to depression, a mental breakdown, or burnout. For example, if stress is pulling you down, take the time to figure out why you have stress and what you need to do to reduce it.
Examples of emotional self-care
- Seeing a therapist
- Writing in a journal
- Creating
Practical self-care
Practical self-care is a task that you fulfill to prevent future stressful situations. It’s about supporting different areas in your life like finances or your surroundings. Things, like having a messy room or not having your finances in order, can add to your overall stress. So it’s important to take the time to keep these things in order.
Examples of practical self-care
- Making a budget
- Organizing and decluttering
- Reading self-help books.
Physical self-care
Activities that improve your overall physical health. When you do things like eating a well-balanced diet and exercise, your body gives back to you. You will have increased energy, focus, and productivity.
Examples of physical self-care
- Going for a walk
- Drinking plenty of water
- Eating a well-balanced meal
Mental self-care
Doing activities that stimulate your mind. Your mind is a muscle and like all muscles, it needs exercise to stay healthy.
Examples of mental self-care
- Reading a book
- Doing a puzzle
- Going to a museum
Social self-care
Taking the time to do the things that deepen and nurture your relationships with others.
Examples of social self-care
- Going to lunch with friends
- Calling your parents
- Going on a date
Spiritual self-care
Spiritual self-care doesn’t have to be religious, although for some it is. It’s activities that nurture your spirit and allow you to think bigger than yourself.
Examples of spiritual self-care
- Meditation
- Yoga
- Being in nature
- Going to a place of worship
Do’s and Don’ts
There is no wrong or right wat to practice self-care, but there are some things that you should avoid doing. Here are some basic dos and dont’s of self-care.
The Do’s
- Fuel your body with healthy foods and drink plenty of water
- Be kind to yourself
- Set boundaries
- Spend time with people who enrich your life
- Exercise
- Treat yourself to something because you love yourself
The Don’ts
- Use working out as a punishment
- Alcohol or drugs
- Dieting
- Negative self-talk
- Use it as an excuse for excessive spending
- Saying yes to everyone
For some self-care comes naturally and for others, it’s hard to put themselves first. Either way, self-care is important to your overall mental health and it’s not selfish to take time for yourself. I hope this guide to self-care helps you or even inspires you to put yourself first and practice self-care. What are some ways you enjoy practicing self-care?
Related post: Fight Depression With Self-Care
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Great suggestions! I like that you included some ‘Do’s and Don’ts.’
Thank you, what to do is just as important as what not to do.
Great summary of self care. We tend not to think of self care in this way, you are right. But it is a better & healthier way to live. Too often we neglect these things, for various reasons. But it is important to practice self care daily. Thank you for reminding us to take care of ourselves. Journaling and running are my two favourite self care techniques.
Thank you for stopping by. Focusing on these different areas of our life is a big part of living a better and healthier life. I enjoy running and journaling too as a way to practice self-care.
This is such a wonderful way to look at self care! Thank you for breaking it down like this (and for including self care don’ts). Cause even if you hit some of the bigger aspects of self-care (physical, spiritual), you may not feel like your whole self because you’ve neglected your other needs. I for one often overlook social self-care, which is so so important. Thanks for this!
Thank you! Shifting your focus on those areas that are lacking can help out a lot when You’re not feeling like yourself. I often overlook social self-care as well. As an introvert, it’s easy for me to get lost in my solo activities, and feel like something is lacking. But after an outing with friends, I tend to feel much better.
Love this post. People always assume that self care only means exercising, skincare and reading, but there are other aspects of self care which you have touched on. ☀️
Thanks for giving it a read. Self-care goes a lot deeper than what people think, and focusing on the different aspects of it will help guide you to a happier and healthier life.
Firstly, I love your flatlay picture. There are so many nice things there you can do for self care! I thought it was interesting you pointed out NOT to use working out as a punishment. It can be so easy for us to associate working out as punishment or basically something negative and thus be deterred in the future from doing so. I love doing puzzles! Just not the insanely small jigsaw puzzle pieces though haha. Thanks for sharing!
Geraldine | https://geraldinetalks.com
Thank you, it’s all things I enjoy doing for self-care. It’s important to shift your mindset from working out is awful and punishment to it’s a good thing that improves my overall health. My mom loves doing puzzles too, she has an app on her iPad mini. Those insanely small ones are something else. If put together one of those I would never break it down.
I loved how you included all of the aspects of self-care! It’s important to know it goes beyond exercising and physically taking care of yourself. The Do’s and Don’ts you included were very helpful as well, especially since it shows how closely related some Dos and Don’ts are (like exercising and eating healthy, but not in a way that punishes and restricts yourself). Great post!
Thank you! It’s easy to mistake certain things for self-care if you’re new to it. So knowing what’s considered self-care is as important of knowing what’s not if you want to be successful at it.
This is a great post! It goes with my word of the year: wellness! Thank you for such great tips!
Thank you! Wellness is a great word to focus on for the year.
Just what I needed. I love the name of your blog, too. Fantastic job 👍
Thank you!