Modern life can take an incredible toll on people both physically and psychologically. Though there is always a societal push to keep doing more no matter how you feel, it’s important that you take care of yourself. Dedicating time to self-care is not only a good way to make sure that you don’t suffer from professional and personal burnout, but to stay healthy and keep your mind in shape. If you’re interested in ensuring that you are able to rise to life’s challenges in a healthy way, you’ll want to focus on learning how to take care of yourself.
What is Self-Care?
Self-care is, at its heart, the process of taking care of your mental, emotional, and social well-being. It is an acknowledgment that you have to make an active effort to take care of yourself and that certain actions will be beneficial for you in the long-run. Self-care is less a single action than a series of actions that lead to a greater feeling of well-being.
For most, self-care is the process that helps them to get back to a stronger place both mentally and physically after they deal with the challenges of daily life. Those who engage in self-care are individuals who understand that they don’t necessarily just bounce back from the tough things in life – it takes a very conscious effort for a person to regain what they may have lost to stress and unexpected circumstances. While self-care is absolutely different for every person, there are a few basic types of care on which every person can focus.
Physical Self-Care
The first type of self-care is physical self-care. This type of care focuses on the physical steps that one can take to support his or her own body. Though these are physical actions, it should be noted that physical self-care can still have tremendous psychological and social benefits. Focusing on this type of care often allows individuals to take care of their most basic needs so that they can move on to concentrating on those needs that tend to be a bit more complicated.
Get Enough Sleep
Most adults don’t get enough sleep. There are plenty of people who brag about how little sleep they get, choosing to view this as a sign of productivity or some kind of mental fortitude. In reality, your body needs sleep in order to maintain your health and to ensure that you are mentally aware enough to make it through the day. While self-care certainly does not mean that you should sleep the day away, it does mean that you should seek to get an appropriate amount of sleep whenever possible.
Adults generally need seven to eight hours of sleep a night, while teens can benefit from sleeping a bit longer. It’s important that you’re not just looking at time, though – the quality of the sleep matters as well. Getting seven to eight uninterrupted hours can do wonders for your health, especially if you can manage to do so on a regular basis. If you find yourself having difficulty getting this much sleep, try taking a look at your pre-sleep routine to see if anything is disrupting your ability to rest. Like all types of self-care, getting enough sleep is a very intentional process that may take some effort to accomplish.
Eat Well
Another necessary part of physical self-care is paying attention to your diet. This isn’t a matter of conforming to a physical ideal or making sure that you fit in certain clothes – eating healthier gives your body the fuel that you need to get through the day. For most, this means taking the time to do more than just grab something to eat on the way out the door. Instead, you need to intentionally plan your meals and look at them as a way of helping your body’s systems to do their jobs. Eating a balanced diet will do wonders for your energy levels and can even help to improve your moods.
A good general rule is to stop and examine what you eat. If the things that you’re eating are making you feel slow or sluggish, it might be time to change things up. It’s always a good idea to add some fruits and vegetables to your diets, as well as healthy fats and other sources of protein. This can be tough for those who feel like they’re in a rush to eat, but taking the time to eat and to prepare a meal can be incredibly beneficial.
Prioritize Your Health
One of the most important ways you can care for your physical health is to actually put a premium on your health. The modern world seems to want people to keep going despite any danger to their health, but the truth is that ignoring your body’s needs will only make your life worse. In short, those who feel sick need to actually stop and let themselves get better in order to provide themselves with the care they need.
One way to prioritize your health is to actually take time off when you are ill. While there might be pushback from work and some might even try to guilt you into working when you don’t feel well, you need to remember that taking time off not only helps you but it helps to prevent others from getting sick. It’s better to take a short break now than to take a long break when your illness gets serious.
For others, this may also mean giving themselves permission to go to a doctor. If you’re sick, go see a physician. Don’t try to tough it out – instead, find out what’s wrong so that you can give yourself the ability to fix the problem. You aren’t weak because you seek out help – you’re strong because you are willing to prioritize your own care.
Mental Self-Care
Taking care of your mental health is every bit as important as taking care of your physical health. Mental self care is vital for anyone who wants to have a healthy and functional life. When you engage in mental self-care, you’re allowing yourself the time and space to make sure that your mind is in the right place. While professional help can be an incredible asset for this kind of self-care, there are also things you can do for yourself at the same time.
Unplug
Today’s world is incredibly plugged in. It’s easier than ever to keep up with others and to maintain relationships over long distances, but that has come at a price. It can feel virtually impossible to get a sense of healthy isolation, and the constant barrage of information can make it hard for anyone to relax. If you are interested in helping your own mental health, it’s wise to take some time to relax and to unplug.
What unplugging means varies from person to person. For some, this means a total blackout on media. For others, it might mean agreeing not to answer any work emails after a certain time. What’s important here is that you get some distance from the things that cause you stress. If you’re perfectly happy playing video games or reading books online, keep doing that. Don’t take away the things that bring you joy – remove those distractions that make your life worse.
It’s okay to acknowledge that unplugging is difficult and not always possible. That’s why you need to adapt this bit of advice to your own circumstances. For some, even deciding that the television needs to go off after a certain time can have a huge impact.
Consider Meditation
If you’re going to get rid of the input that comes with always being unplugged, it’s often a good idea to replace it with something else. A classic aspect of self-care has long been meditation, a practice that gives you a chance to stop and center your mind in the midst of a busy world. It’s important, though, to remember that the kind of meditation that’s practiced in this case is not important in its form so much as it is important in terms of its content.
Meditation can mean many different things. Some prefer classical techniques with controlled breathing and mantras. Others might consider meditation to be the process of sitting in a cool, dark place and letting their minds let go of the day’s stress. Others might even find solace in prayer, strengthening their own mental health through communing with a higher power. What’s important is not how you choose to meditate, but rather why you choose to do so. If you can intentionally take time to let go of your stress and get your mind back on the right track, you’ll find yourself better able to deal with some of the challenges that lie before you.
Create
Another fantastic way to care for yourself is to learn how to focus on the act of creation. Simply put, making things is a good way to convince yourself that you are able to accomplish tasks. The modern world is one where labor and creation don’t always go hand in hand, with many people feeling like they accomplish relatively little despite the very long hours that they work. If you’re looking to remember that you have the ability to do something of substance, creation can be an incredible outlet.
For some, creation works best when it is married to an existing strength. This might mean writing, painting, sculpting, or acting. You might create by building a birdhouse, creating a work of art out of trash, or cooking a meal. What’s important is that you go through the process of making something from beginning to end.
Others find creation more meaningful when they learn how to do something new. You can take up a new hobby and allow yourself the joy that comes from watching your own skills grow. Creation, in this case, can help you to remember that you have the ability to improve when you turn your mind towards that process.
Social Self-Care
Another important aspect of self care is social self-care. Social care refers to those actions that you use to build up the connections between yourself and others. Even introverts can benefit from this type of care, as all humans are social to some degree. When you practice social self-care, you’re acknowledging that your relationships have value and that the way you define yourself in relation to others is important. This type of care is as much about learning how to set healthy interpersonal limits as it is learning how to share your experiences with others.
Give Yourself Permission to Say No
One of the greatest sources of social stress is the inability of many people to say ‘no’ to requests. Saying no seems so incredibly negative, making it an action that causes as much pain to the person saying no as it does to the person who they deny. It’s no wonder that so many people choose to go out of their way to say yes to others no matter what kind of bind it puts them in. If you are willing to learn how to say no to others, you’ll be better able to take care of yourself.
Giving yourself permission to say no means that you are placing a value on your time. It means that you are ensuring that you are making yourself at least equal in importance to the people with whom you interact and that you’re giving yourself permission not to always be ‘on’. This is useful for almost anyone, as being able to pick and choose the social activities in which you wish to participate will allow to reserve your energy for those things that are actually important to you. Exercise this type of self-care to avoid burnout.
Engage in Constructive Activities
Engaging in constructive activities is a great way to help build up your relationships and to avoid falling into destructive ruts. In short, it’s important to find time to pursue activities that will result in some kind of good – whether that means charity work, working on a project with a friend, or participating in some kind of organized activity, doing so will help to recharge your social abilities while accomplishing something.
One of the big benefits of choosing constructive activities as part of your self-care routine is that it takes some of the pressure off of your social engagements. Rather than worrying about pleasing an individual, you’ll be able to focus on a goal while socializing. Having a shared sense of purpose is great for bonding and it’s also a fantastic way to nurture new relationships.
With that said, it’s important that these activities occur in a way that fits your need for self-care. These should not be obligations that cause you pain or stress. Regardless of what you choose to do, you should ultimately get something out of your choice to undertake any activity that’s meant to fall under the umbrella of self-care.
Nurture Your Relationships
Finally, it’s important to set aside time just to nurture your relationships. While much of what goes into the process of self-care can feel like it’s meant to benefit only you, the truth is that this particular activity is one that’s meant to benefit all the parties who are involved. Your goal should be to acknowledge the importance of your relationships and take the necessary steps to maintain those connections so that you can continue to be nourished by their presence in your life.
A good example of this type of care might be scheduling a night out with friends once a month. While this kind of standing arrangement can be difficult to coordinate, it shows that you are prioritizing spending time with the people who are close to you. Note that you don’t have to engage in some kind of complex activity – sometimes making the choice to meet for coffee once every few weeks will be exactly what you need to perform maintenance on the important relationships in your life.
The fact that you have to be intentional about maintaining relationships is indicative of how self-care works as a whole. You can’t simply hope for the best and assume that things will turn out your way – you do have to put in an effort. If you do make that effort, though, you’ll be able to reap the rewards.
Remember, self-care is a vital part of maintaining a healthy and balanced life. You should try to take care of yourself physically and mentally, but also make sure that you pay attention to your social connections at the same time. If you are willing to put in the effort to take care of yourself, you’ll notice the impact on many areas of your life. Though adjusting to routines of care can be difficult, it will give you a chance to improve your life.
[cp_popup display=”inline” style_id=”8924″ step_id = “1”][/cp_popup]