Figuring out Self-care

When someone says self-care what do we think of... getting a self-care routine, booking a spa day, or even starting to eat healthier? I want to add that all those examples are perfect; however, self-care can mean so many other things.  Breaking down into categories was foreign to me. Reading Virginia Commonwealth University’s (2023) article about the different types brings a perspective that there might be more ways that we humans should be taking care of ourselves. So, breaking it down we have the usual physical and social self-care; however, do you know the difference between emotional, environmental, mental, spiritual, environmental, educational and financial self-care?

Let's start with emotional and mental self-care. Emotional and mental self-care are two areas where they tend to be ignored and burnout can start to become visible. An impactful activity to help this type of self-care is pursuing therapy. Therapy can provide the external expression of emotions or start problem-solving issues that have arisen. Mental self-care activities could also include “learning a new skill or language, setting big intentional goals or mini personal ones, reading self-help or personal growth books, journaling, practicing gratitude, doing a social media detox, engaging in a game of chess, and/or practicing positive thinking” (Rocky Vista Health Center 2022). Now this does not mean doing every single activity on each of the self-care. However, this is trying to reflect on which areas need attention in your life and find the activities that make sense for your life to be attainable. SMART goal-making is a helpful tool to make goals and to start making self-care a more consistent and healthy habit.

Self-care is not about how much you pamper yourself but more about how you address the areas of your life and how you take care of yourself.