According to the Oxford Dictionary, self-care is defined as “the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one’s own health.” This includes various methods that we tend to discuss quite extensively on Aware. We talk about many methods you can try physically, such as cooking, journaling, exercising, and going to the beach. However, we also tend to talk about doing things such as opening up to others, going to therapy, and acknowledging your own emotions.
What is Self-Care?
In that sense, we can say that self-care is not just about taking a day off to get your hair and nails done or a day off to game all day long and go out to the bar with “the boys”. Self-care consists of anything and everything that works for you as a coping mechanism. It is very important to note that not everything works for everyone. What works for someone else might not work for you, and what works for you may not work for someone else. Hence, we always recommend trying out different methods and techniques of coping in order for you to find what suits you best.
Self-care consists of you knowing when you should be able to take a step back in order to calm yourself down in order to be able to function better daily and achieve a more stable emotional and mental well-being. In that sense, it is very important for you to, simply, be kind to yourself. Take care of your mind the way that you would take care of your body.
What are the benefits?
- Better productivity
- Improved resistance to disease
- Better physical health
- Enhanced self-esteem
- Increased self-knowledge
- Increased compassion
Types of Self-Care
- Sensory – anything that has to do with calming the mind
- Emotional – fully engaging with your emotions
- Spiritual – getting in touch with your morals and values (even if you are not religious!)
- Physical – taking care of your body
You can always look for self-care ideas that fall under these categories, depending on what you need at the moment. Search it up, look at its benefits, and experiment!
If you are ever out of ideas, check out some of our articles under the Mindfulness & Self-Care section or look for more ideas here.