The Importance of Self-Care

If I were to ask the question " Do you take care of yourself?" most people would answer with a " yes of course I take care of myself".  When asked, " What ways do you take care of yourself?" Many people struggle to answer, making self-care a little tricky. 

What is self-care?

Self-care is described as deliberately engaging in any activity that takes care of our mental, emotional, and physical health.  It sounds rather simple, but it is something that many people overlook or feel that they do not have time for.  Good self-care is essential if you are looking to improve your mood, anxiousness, and stress levels. It can also help in our relationships with ourselves and others.

What self-care is not?

Knowing what self-care is NOT might be even more important. It is not something that we force ourselves to do, or something we don’t enjoy doing.  Self-care should be an activity that reenergizes us or makes us feel good.

There is a common misconception that self-care is a selfish act.  This is untrue.  Self-care allows us to learn what we need to do in order to take better care of ourselves.  this, in turn, builds our capacity to take care of others.  In other words, if you do not take enough care of yourself you won’t have the ability to give much of your energy to loved ones. 

How do you start?

• Make it simple. Pick activities that you have the means to do and you enjoy.  Remember, self-care does not need to be a grand gesture and does not need to take up a lot of time.  It can be as simple as a 5 minute stretch. 

• Self-care should be something you actively plan, rather than something that just happens. It is an active choice and should be treated as such.  For example, add certain activities to your calendar, announce your plans to others in order to increase your commitment, and actively look for opportunities to practice self-care.

•  Keep a conscious mind. Be aware of what you do, why you do it, how it feels, and what the outcomes are. This will keep you on track and allow you to check in with yourself. 

Self-care means different things to different people, but I attached a basic checklist that can be used for kids or adults!