In this post I want to talk about the different types of self-care. Self-care has become such a widely used term that you really can’t figure out what it means these days. It’s quite self-explanatory, to be honest. Anything that helps you become better in any way, that improves upon your existing life is self-care. It has to do with your being, be mindful of that.
We designed everything around us to make us forget all about ourselves and get lost in the busy everyday happenings happening everywhere. That’s where self-care comes in.
Here’s an odd example for you, but it fits really well: you’re like a machine, you need to create some sort of service mechanism for yourself if you want to run for longer, otherwise you’re landing in a junkyard pretty soon. Your body and mind are biological machines that also need some sort of servicing and overhauling, clean out that junk and work on improving your life!
Here are the different types of self-care that’ll truly open your heart, body, and mind!
Emotional Self Care
A very important yet mostly ignored form of well-being and self-care is emotional self-care. Your emotions are literally all the feelings you’ve ever felt. Now imagine the consideration you give to these feelings? If it’s not a whole lot, you’re probably throwing yourself in an emotionally bereft hell form where few come back. Don’t go there. Don’t do this to yourself.
Emotional health comes from addressing your feelings and the changes in them. If the new workplace makes you feel bullied, address it. Maybe the neighbour around the block has been very judgemental towards you and it’s a concern for mental health, take it into consideration and take the action needed to fix the situation. You can’t be feeling abused and misused and then live your best life, it doesn’t work like that!
Here’s what you can do to take care of those emotions and find your own ways to deal with them:
- Maintain a journal- write your feelings and experiences, write about your growth journey. Write the ups and downs. Write it all down like there’s no tomorrow.
- Understand your self-worth and that your feelings are valid no matter who tries to make you think otherwise.
- Make a mood board for yourself — see what pulls you down and at what times. This way you can identify the source of the problem and begin to fix it.
- Talk it out — say it, you’re free to do so!
- Focus on what matters — it could be your goals, your family, your hobbies or whatever is good for you!
- See a therapist — if it gets to that, don’t hesitate a second, you owe yourself this much!
Physical Self Care
You must have heard all those cliche things on your usual Pinterest nighttime scrolls: “Your body’s a temple” and “Body = Home” and all that. Well, let me tell you something, IT’S TRUE! It’s all true. Your body is literally housing all of you, your being, your mind, your thoughts, your hopes, and your aspirations. What are you doing with your body?
If the answers are along the lines of…
“Uh, Lucie, I’m shoving loads of oil and fried food in it.”, “Lucie, I’m starving myself to have my ribs show up.” or “I have no time for the gym and I don’t really like it.” we need to talk!
Your physical self is the first impression you give the people you meet, what do you want that to be like? Tired? Exhausted? Self-hating mess? It doesn’t need to be this way.
Here are some of the physical self-care practices that work for me and might work for you too:
- Maintain a good diet, don’t starve, and don’t overstuff yourself.
- Go for a walk, breathe in the fresh air, sweat a little!
- Get a massage, relax, recuperate, come back to life!
- Clean up, get a pedicure, get those nails shining, it’ll change the vibe of your day, trust me.
- Use bath salts and give yourself that pampering bath you’ve missed out on.
Social Self Care
Who you keep around you has one of the greatest impacts on your wellbeing. An essential, super imperative way in which you can practise self-care is by working on your social life.
There are kinds of personality types: the extroverts like to meet new people and make bonds pretty quick, the introverts tend to take their time and rely on fewer long-term relationships that are defined by comfort level while the ambiverts play both the courts.
Whoever you are and wherever you are, it is always good to know yourself personality-wise and then choose your social circle accordingly. So if you’re quite impressionable, it is always a good choice to not hang out with people who might influence you into doing something you might not be proud of.
Here’s how you can practice some badass social self-care and the world will watch you bloom and grow:
- Go out, go on a date – meet someone, undo the fear.
- Take a friend or many out for dinner – sit, break bread, have hearty discussions and just have a good time. For my introverted friends out there, you can take a day or two to re-energise afterwards.
- Sit with your family-the genuine ones with who you can be yourself.
- Make a pen friend, know their life, and just be enlightened.
Financial Self Care
Managing money can be really hard, it can really take its toll on your mental health if it goes out of bounds. So many people struggle daily with the problems brought about by money. So one more step that you can take while practising amazing self-care is money management.
Debt pulls you down in so many ways, it just creates that depressing outlook of life that you don’t need. So yes, be careful how and where you spend the bucks you make because each cent is hard-earned. If you want to borrow money at least do it for investment purposes and always invest wisely.
Financial self-care can be done in many ways, here are some suggestions that might help:
- Read books about saving and making better investments.
- Use a finance app that jots down your income and expenditure.
- Keep an eye out for sales and promotional prices on items but remember only buy what you need.
- Don’t go shopping when you don’t need to, there are many other ways for you to spend a day out that doesn’t entail you going to the mall.
Spiritual Self Care
This has nothing to do with your beliefs. What matters is whether you find comfort, calmness, and peace with your spiritual self. It always helps to find a centre to keep you grounded and remind you to keep in touch with your core. Spiritual self-care goes hand in hand with emotional and mental health as well. You must ask yourself if you are connected with your inner self or are you just barely surviving like a hollow shell. If the answer is the latter, you need to find that one spiritual activity that would just bring you back to the ground and purify everything within you.
When it comes to spirituality self-care can be tricky, here’s where you can start:
- Meditate. Often.
- Get into yoga.
- Visit a religious place. You’re not just confined to any particular place. You could visit a church, a mosque, a synagogue, or a mandir (Hindu Temple), they work equally well to just blanket all that negative energy and make you feel one with the universe.
- Ask yourself questions that you’ve avoided addressing and include them in your journal.
I wish you all the luck in your journey into self-care. Remember, it’s not going to be perfect from day one onward but you just have to keep going. Every day you spend bettering yourself with self-care is a day well spent! Take care, no, take GOOD care of yourself!
Do you take care of yourself? What do you do to practice self-care? What makes you feel better? I’d love to hear your thoughts and even your suggestions if you have any. We’re all here to connect and learn from each other.
Have a blessed day.
Until next time,
Lucie xx
