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WHAT IS SELF-CARE?
There are many types of self-care, however, this is going to focus on 5 types of self-care.
Self-care is ensuring you are mindful of your personal needs, so you are better equipped to handle the things and the people about whom you care.
The short definition is taking care of yourself the best way(s) possible.
5 TYPES OF SELF-CARE
The five types of self-care here are:
- Physical
- Emotional
- Psychological/Mental
- Spiritual
- Professional
In most cases, things that you can do to support one type of self-care also improves others. For example, if you read a book, it can help you mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. Depending on the book, it can help you to relax through many facets of life.
If you listen to music, it can have the same effect on the aspects of self-care.
Physical
Physical self-care is one of the most common types. In this type, you take care of your physical health and physical needs.
For example, you should drink plenty of water. We have all heard to drink eight 8 ounce glasses of water a day. Now, the Mayo Clinic says men should drink 15.5 cups and women should drink 11.5 cups of water.
I strive for this goal every day, but a lot of days (ok, most days) I do not reach this goal. Maybe I should use a tracker to complete this goal daily.
Another amazing way to take care of yourself physically is getting enough sleep each night. According to the Sleep Foundation, adults should aim for 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night. That goes well with the 8 hours we were taught in school that we should be getting.
One final way to manage your physical self-care is to exercise. A low impact, high benefit exercise is walking. Take a walk. You can walk up and down the hall inside your house. You can walk laps around your house. Or, you can go to the park or gym and walk there.
Find a walking partner. If you can have a conversation without becoming winded, then you are walking at a good pace. If you cannot breathe through talking, then you are walking too quickly. Slow down. Allow yourself to enjoy the walk and/or the person with whom you are walking.
Emotional
Emotional self-care is taking care of how and what you are feeling. If you are experiencing sadness, you recognize it; figure out the triggers, and deal with them. If you are happy, notice it and see what caused it.
Make notes about your emotions. This is where you can use a journal. Write down what you feel and what may have caused those feelings.
To help regulate your emotions, you can post positive affirmations around your home or office. When you pass the affirmations, read them and say them aloud. It will help you to keep a positive mindset and improve your emotional self-care.
Psychological/Mental
According to Project Helping, mental self-care activities help to declutter your mind and reduce stress. This could include anything that has been listed (i.e. walking, sleeping, journaling).
More specifically, though, for your mental self-care, you can listen to music. You may listen to your choice of music, but songs with soothing lyrics and melodies tend to relax the mind and body.
Something else you can do is read a book. I have a few favorites. The one I am currently reading is The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes: A Hunger Games Novel. I have been reading a few pages a day for close to a month now but need to finish it and start something new. I have a really long TBR, and I want to get through it.
An easy way to declutter your mind is to take a break. Save the work on your computer. Walk away. It could be a 5 minute break or an hour long break. Just take a break.
Your brain needs to rest, and you need to protect your mental health. Take breaks and breathe deeply.
Spiritual
All of the types of self-care I am describing are very self-explanatory. Spiritual self-care is no exception.
Whether you are a Christian or not, you need a way to level your spirituality.
This can be through prayer or meditation. If you need to learn to pray the scriptures, you can check out this post and grab the Guide to Praying the Scriptures from it.
Another way to improve your spiritual health. You can spend time with friends and loved ones. Those who are positive, encouraging, and uplifting are great for spiritual self-care. They can help you see the good in yourself and others.
Professional
Millions of people have high-stress jobs. You may be one of those people. You probably hate hearing the alarm clock every morning warning you to get up and head to work. There is a possibility that you work early mornings and late nights.
Reset yourself and take care of your professional self-care.
One thing you can do is read professional journals. These can help you to focus on certain aspects of work that you want to learn more about or improve.
The final suggestion for professional self-care is participating in a peer support group. You can talk out issues and get different perspectives from those who have been there or are experiencing the same thing.
CONCLUSION
Take care of yourself.
I have often heard the example of flying on an airplane. When the flight attendants tell about the oxygen masks, they always instruct passengers to put on their own masks first. Then the passengers can help others. If they try to help others first, they could run out of oxygen before being able to save themselves.
The same is true with self-care. Make sure you are taking care of yourself first. Take care of all 5 types of self-care.
You are worthy, loved, and amazing!
One final note:
If you need a habit tracker, click here for a free printable habit tracker.