what self care truly is + how to practice it
Raise your hand if you have continuously tried different self-care routines and have yet to see any true benefit or added value to your life?
I know that in my experience, it took me YEARS to see any benefit from a self-care routine or anything I have deemed as “self care”. I discovered that the reason I was seeing little to know benefit was because I wasn’t doing the things that would benefit ME, instead I was just following what worked for others. I have realized over the years that self-care is truly unique to each person as everyones needs are extremely different. In order to be able to develop a beneficial self-care routine, you need to understand what YOU need and what may truly impact your life in a positive way.
Learning how to take care of yourself in the best way possible is the best way to support yourself in life. Knowing what works for you, what doesn’t, and how to implement self-care into your daily life is essential to your self discovery path. Being able to recognize what self-care truly is and how it will benefit your life will be a life changing perspective for you.
what is self care?
Self care is exactly what it sounds like, it is simply the way that you take care of your self. Self-care is where you focus on your well-being and do things that support your physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, social, and basic needs. Practicing self-care is how you nourish and replenish yourself. It is the act of filling your cup so that you can easily pour energy and love to others without depleting yourself.
why is self care important?
Most of us, especially women, tend to put others needs before our own. This can lead to many issues including increased stress, higher risk of illness, and lack of joy in your life.
When you take the steps to develop self-care habits, you are taking the time to nourish and care for yourself in a way that promotes wellness. This allows you to show up better in your life not only for yourself, but for others.
Benefits of Self-Care:
Improves Physical Health: When you take the time to understand what your body needs, you will undoubtedly start to give it what it needs which will improve your physical wellness.
Reduces Stress + Anxiety: Attending to your mental health by incorporating self-care practices that promote mindfulness and understanding your feelings will help reduce stress and anxiety.
Promotes High Self-Esteem: When you tend to your overall care and wellbeing, you will likely experience higher self-esteem.
Improves Relationships: When you are living in a place of serving others and neglecting yourself, you will start to resent the people that you are caring for. When you are filling your cup and needs, you will be less likely to feel resentment or frustration while taking care of others in your life.how to practice self confidence + trust:
common myths and misconceptions of self-care:
Most of us think of self-care as all of these "TREAT YO SELF" activities that are extravagant and luxurious. Things like spa treatments, yoga retreats, and shopping sprees are all wonderful and great at times, but aren't sustainable self-care practices that will fundamentally improve your well being. Effective self-care practices are often basic and unglamorous activities that aren't flashy or "insta worthy" but they are extremely beneficial. It is important to adopt the mindset that self-care isn't meant to be flashy and glamorous. It is meant to be purposeful and meaningful.
There are so many myths and misconceptions of self-care that can keep us from practicing self-care. Here are some of them explained and broken down for a better understanding.
self-care is an indulgence OR SELFISH ACT
In our society, it is very often said that devoting time to yourself is selfish. This couldn't be farther from the truth. When you take care of yourself, it opens you up to take MORE care of others.
self-care is a temporary fix
It has been said that practicing self-care is just a temporary fix for issues in your life. If you are taking the time to find the things that truly promote your wellness and do them consistently, you will see a lasting difference.
it is too time consuming
Most of us are super busy and the thought of trying to incorporate anything else into our jam packed lives seems impossible. Self-care does not need to take up hours of your day. There are many different things to do that take mere minutes but will making a noticeable different.
Self-care is the same FOR EVERYONE
All of us are uniquely different and what works for one of us, may not work for the other. This is extremely important to know when it comes to self-care. You. need to find the activities and practices that work for YOU. You will have different needs than your friend and that is OKAY and NORMAL.
Self care vs. self indulgence
Understanding the difference between self-care and self indulgence can help us feel more comfortable with pursuing self-care. See below for a detailed breakdown on self care and self indulgence.
how to practice self-care:
There are so many ways and avenues to explore when diving into self-care but here are practices that I find extremely beneficial:
Learn all about the 8 types of self-care-
In order to know what to include in your self-care routine or habits to practice, it is important to know about the different types of self care. A simple google search will help you discover what they are and dive deeper into them.
Start a self care journal using journal prompts:
Journaling is a great way to dive into a certain subject and using journal prompts can also be a great way to dive even deeper and will help you discover what self-care you actually need.
Please see below for 5 journal prompts to get you started:
1. What hobbies or activities bring me joy? How can I incorporate them into my day/weeks?
2. Describe a place or environment where am I most at peace and why?
3. What is my favorite way to spend my time alone?
4. What is one positive change I want to make in my life?
5. What's something I can do to step outside my comfort zone to grow more?
Create a self-care routine that works for YOU
Having a self-care routine will insure that you are developing that daily habit of caring and showing up for yourself. If you are unsure on how to set up a self-care routine, you can get my FREE workbook on how to create your perfect self-care routine HERE.
Work with a counselor or therapist :
If you find that tapping into this side of yourself is difficult or if you need more support, working with a licensed mental health professional would be a great option if that is an available option for you.
Guided Workbooks:
Guided self-care workbooks can be extremely helpful if you are wanting to do this journey on your own. There are so many wonderful options out there and the one I have created would be an extremely wonderful option as well. You can find our Self Care Guided work book here!
As always, I hope you found this information helpful. If you have any questions or just want to chat, please feel free to reach out HERE. Remember that you are worth the time, effort, and energy it takes to learn what works for you so that you can show up for yourself in this one beautiful and wild life you get.
i am so glad that
you are here!
Thank you so much for hanging out with me a bit today, I hope you found it helpful. If you every have any questions, please feel free to reach out HERE.