What is self care?

What is self care? By basic deductive reasoning, it is caring for yourself. But what does that mean? Has the phrase been transformed into some buzzword and been reduced to a meager marketing tactic on Sundays? What does it look like? What does it feel like?

Self care is definitely more substantial than what Instagram may lead someone to believe. It is defined in healthcare as “any necessary human regulatory function which is under individual control, deliberate and self-initiated.” Okay, cool but, WHAT is self care? What does that even mean? When are you supposed to do it?

Self care is a daily practice. Self care does not have to be a big production and most of the time it isn’t. Self care can be as simple as making sure you get up everyday and eat breakfast. Self care might be cleaning the entire house or doing nothing at all.

Self care can be generally grouped into 4 types: physical, psychological (or mental), emotional and spiritual:

Physical

Physical self care includes activities you can do to enhance or improve your overall physical well-being to contribute to better overall health. This includes exercise, diet, sleep, rest, hygiene; basically anything with physical attributes embody this category. Try going for a walk or doing a yoga sequence. Remember that a clean environment helps improve overall health; spend some time making sure you tidy up. Make it fun, listen to music! Even as short as 15 mins a day quickly adds upland makes a huge difference!

Psychological (Mental)

Psychological self care doesn’t only mean seeking therapy (though it is so helpful to have an objective person to talk to!) Actively engaging our brains is just as crucial to our health as physical exercise. A big part of psychological (and emotional) self care is self reflection. Learning to examine yourself may take time to add to your daily or weekly self care routine. However, learning to spend time with yourself will help you learn yourself better and create an overall more effective and insightful approach to your self care. Try by starting a journal. Write down your daily experiences, thoughts, likes, dislikes, really anything. You will soon see how this will be a helpful tool.

Emotional

Emotional self care is simply the act of allowing yourself to feel your emotions as they are without shame or judgement. “Good vibes only” is honestly just unrealistic. No one has a good day EVERYDAY. We are human, bad days happen. But allowing ourselves to experience this emotion and releasing it is what is important. It’s okay to have a bad day, just don’t carry this emotion with you throughout the whole day, week, month, year, lifetime. Allow yourself time to evaluate and process your emotions, all emotions. Again, self reflection plays a big part in this and journaling is a helpful way to decipher and process your feelings. If you are having a bad day, try including activities that bring you joy.

Spiritual

Spiritual self care in this case does not specifically mean in a religious or spiritual act but more so refers to the act of getting in touch with your inner human spirit and soul. This may include activities discussed in the other categories. Other spiritual self care activities are meditating, spending time in nature, or watching inspirational videos. Try taking a mindfulness class or spend time meditating. Meditating isn’t always easy at first, it takes time. Allow yourself room to grow comfortable especially, when trying new activities.

Do it!

Try to spend at least 30 mins a day focusing on each of these types. Start small.

Remember the goal isn’t to have a grand production and stress yourself in the process; the goal is to improve your well being. Keep in mind it’s okay if you forget, don’t beat yourself up about it. Just pick up when you remember.

I find it helpful to first make a short list where I jot down things I would want to do for the week or things I want to work on, being realistic with my likes and dislikes. This helps me envision and plan how my self care activities will go for the week. I try to incorporate something new every week, but this doesn’t always happen.

Some of my favorite self care activities are nature walks, reading, sound baths (really love these), crafting and baking.

Daily affirmations have also been proven to help with psychological, emotional, spiritual and in some cases even physical health.

Follow us on Instagram for daily affirmations: @moonlight_selflove