Why self care is important? Because, when you show up for yourself mind, body, and soul…and treat each of them with equal importance, that’s when you truly take care of yourself.
So if it’s that important, why can’t we seem to make time for it?
Well mostly, it’s a busy schedule that doesn’t leave time even to breathe or that it would seem selfish when so many people depend on us.
What is self-care really
Self-care is not just for stress relief but way more. It’s like regular maintenance of a car by its loving owner, Treat your mind, heart, body like that, like a prized car because it’s cars like those that make it to the vintage category in superb condition.
Now that I have shown you the why, let’s get into the how of it – how to include self-care in your life meaningfully to be able to approach everything with more clarity and be more productive.
Basically, become resilient to life’s challenges as and when they come.
1. Taking care of social needs
Feeling connected is one of our basic needs. It’s about doing things with people who make us feel good.
It can be as simple as staying connected over mail with someone living far away or it can be spending meaningful time with family and friends who are supportive, respectful, and positive in their approach to us.
Nurture these relationships by committing realistically, appreciating others’ efforts, and taking responsibility for your actions. And in the process, create a safe space and a dependable support system.
Go to a fitness or hobby class, or join a group. The idea is to spend time with people who share your interest.
Because social interaction helps our brain to move from focus mode to diffuse mode, relaxes it enough to make connection between unrelated concepts, and so come up with creative solutions. So basically, it diffuses a situation which could potentially be stressful later on.
2. Physical wellbeing
Take care of your body inside and out. Detox, relax, soothe, tune-up and everything else to get a better sense of overall wellbeing.
Our body is the only tool we have that makes all other types of self-care even possible. There’s a reason why the mind-body-soul connection is such an important part of everything we do.
Go for a walk, opt for the stairs instead of the elevator, go for a run, to the gym or do yoga whatever gets you moving. We are built for movement and that’s what increases the feel-good chemical in our brain.
Do whatever makes you feel de-stressed, energized because it’s all about managing stress and it’s side effects for our body.
3. Mental self-care
It involves doing anything that makes you happy, takes you into a different zone, gives those overworked parts of your brain some rest that we are constantly using while in the go-go-go mode.
If you feel you don’t have time for that or don’t want to add another thing to your to-do list, choose the least hassled part of your day. Tune out everything and do that task with full awareness. Stay aware of every movement your body makes for that action. Consciously note every detail you see, what do your hear, smell, feel with your skin, and may be even taste.
Congratulations! You practiced mindfulness for a whole 5 minutes. It helps our mind relax, reboot, and refocus with a fresh new energy.
4. Reconnect
Connect with your source of hope and guidance. Mindfulness exercises work beautifully whether you are a believer or not in a supreme power.
This is basically about getting in touch with your values, what guides your thoughts and actions. If you are a believer, make time for spiritual introspection. If not, connect with nature & appreciate the beauty around you.
According to studies done at the Department of psychology, Lewis-Clark State College, engaging with natural beauty improved gratitude and life satisfaction. Basically, it puts us in a zone where we tend to look at things from a point which gives us a clearer picture, a better understanding of what’s happening and where we need to be.
This introspection and understanding becomes the source of calm, stability, and balance in our life.
Working on getting more emotionally resilient, maintaining healthy boundaries, taking time for introspection and realigning your life to your changing likes, preferences, needs….those are the cornerstones of true self-care.
5. Emotional self-care
Emotional resilience, the capacity to bounce back from setbacks and getting back to life effectively comes with practice. To be truly there for others and to give your best at work, it’s important to be in a healthy emotional space.
Say yes and no for the right reasons, to keep complications in life to a minimum.
Set time aside to jot down at least one thing you are grateful for each day to remind yourself of the good things in your life, and to find what might be bothering you.
Personal boundaries play a big role in managing our emotions by keeping those situations to a minimum that could become tense or stressful. So it’s more of a preventive action, one that saves you time and effort on stress-relief later on.
The work we do, our equation with family & friends, our physical psychological emotional needs, or our connection with our source of hope – when we treat these with equal importance that’s when we truly take care of ourselves.