What is Self-Care?
The official definition from Oxford Languages defines self-care as “the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one’s own health. The practice of taking an active role in protecting one’s own well-being and happiness, in particular during periods of stress.”
WHO defines self-care as “the ability of individuals, families and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and to cope with illness and disability with our without the support of a healthcare provider.”
Everyday Health explains that self-care means “taking care of yourself so that you can be healthy, you can be well, you can do your job, you can help and care of others, and you can do all the things you need to and want to accomplish in a day.”
Self-Care has Many Definitions
Self-care has many definitions and interpretations depending on who we ask or where we look. One thing all definitions agree on is the part that actually matters, that practicing self-care is taking action to better our own health. We all have our own reasons for wanting to be healthier. Our individual reasons actually make a huge difference in how we treat ourselves, approach our health, and practice self-care.
There is no right way to practice self-care except on a regular basis as much as possible! Self-care also doesn’t have to cost anything. Most of my favorite self-care activities don’t cost me a penny. One other important note, prioritizing ourselves and taking care of ourselves does not mean we are selfish. It means we love ourselves; we care about how we feel, and we respect our mind & body.
Practicing self-care involves a wide range of areas relating to health such as nutrition, fitness, hygiene, mindset, or can be anything we do for ourselves to reset, put a smile on our face, and feel nourished.
Domains of Self-Care
- Physical
- Mental
- Social
- Practical
- Professional
- Emotional
- Spiritual
Physical Self-Care
Physical self-care is what most of us think about when we hear the word self-care. This type includes activities we do to enhance our physical well-being. This one is pretty straightforward. The ultimate goal is to feel good – balanced, calm, present. This area also includes how we take care of our body regularly including physical activity, hydration, and the food we fuel our body with.
Examples of Physical Self-Care
- Enjoy a bubble bath.
- Take a nap.
- Getting 7-8 hours of sleep each day.
- Move your body – go for a bike ride, hike, exercise – that you enjoy, take a walk in nature.
- Stay hydrated.
- Cooking nourishing whole food meals at home.
Mental Self-Care
Mental self-care involves actions we take to stimulate our minds or help declutter the mind to reduce stress. Like emotional self-care, practicing mental self-care can seem tough when life feels super busy and we have to do all the things. When feelings of overwhelm and stress creep in this is a sign to amp up mental and emotional self-care practices.
Mental self-care looks a bit different for each of us, the goal is the same, caring for our own mental health. By taking time each day to practice mental self-care it becomes easier to recognize unhealthy patterns, reduce our stress levels, and increase self-awareness. There is no wrong way to take care of our mental health.
Examples of Mental Self-Care
- Read a book.
- Listen to a podcast.
- Listen to an audiobook.
- Get creative – sewing, woodworking, crafts, scrapbooking, make something.
- Unplug from technology and social media.
Social Self-Care
We are social creatures! This means in order to live our best life and live a healthy lifestyle we must experience connection with other humans, this includes introverts as well. How we feel about our social life defines so much more about us individually than we might expect. The people we choose to surround ourselves with impact our lives and health in many ways. This is why surrounding ourselves with people who support us and our goals, encourage us to step outside our comfort zone, and love us exactly as we are unconditionally is essential for reducing stress, conquering challenges, combating loneliness, realizing completely new perspectives, and much more.
Most of us know deep down how beneficial interacting with people we love is for our emotional well-being. The problem is life gets busy and hectic and just overwhelming at times. When we consider or go through with canceling plans and withdraw into ourselves further and further is when connection is needed most. I am definitely guilty of doing this!
I don’t mean squeezing in another event on the to-do list when our schedule is already full, and someone suggests a meet-up that we feel obligated to agree to. Remember it’s ok to say ‘no’. I’m talking about when we cancel because we are indulging in negative emotions and just don’t feel like being social. The things we don’t want to do are often exactly what would help us at that moment. When making this decision don’t forget to consider how amazing it feels after a heart-to-heart with someone special!
Examples of Social Self-Care
- Hosting a regular game or movie night with friends.
- Scheduling a date night with our significant other.
- Writing a letter to a loved one.
- Touching base with siblings or parents regularly.
- Having a standing lunch date with our bestie.
There also may be relationships in your life having a negative impact on our health and well-being. I’m going to say this again, it’s ok to say ‘NO’. Take some time to notice which relationships are no longer serving you or are no longer in alignment with your values. The people we choose to spend time with have a tremendous impact on our lives. Our relationships benefit our lives most when we feel safe and uplifted rather than draining or one-sided.
Practical Self-Care
This form of self-care includes any action taken to fulfill core needs and reduce stress. These are everyday actions that don’t seem all that important but truly make a difference in how we feel and show up in the world every day. When we think of practical self-care it may not seem super exciting or that doing these things regularly makes a huge difference but let these things pile up and we will surly notice the increased stress level. Performing practical self-care daily ensures a more organized lifestyle with a greater sense of control and certainty.
Examples of Practical Self-Care
- Meal planning and preparation each week.
- Organizing email inbox each day.
- Cleaning up our home each day.
- Organizing our closet
- Lay clothes out the night before.
Professional Self-Care
Professional self-care includes activities and actions to support feeling fulfilled in our career.
Examples of Professional Self-Care
- Take short breaks regularly plus a break for lunch each day.
- Leave work at work when the workday is over.
- Pursuing continuing education courses to keep developing skills within the desired career path.
- Set strong boundaries with clients and staff.
- Attend professional development seminars.
Emotional Self-Care
Emotional self-care is the actions we take become aware of, identify, and allow emotions. Being willing to feel all our feelings and emotions is vital to our quality of life and overall health. Practicing emotional self-care has a lasting impact on our life rather than a temporary effect on our mood for a short time. Let’s take the practice of mindfulness for example. According to Everyday Health when we practice mindfulness regularly for only 8 weeks led to changes in gray matter concentrations within the brain areas involved with learning and memory processes, emotion regulation, self-referential processing, and perspective. You experience these benefits long-term. Taking action which positively impacts our health going forward.
We can’t fix how we feel by changing circumstances or other people
We are taught that negative emotions and feelings have to be fixed by something outside of ourselves. When we see someone crying, we want to make it better. When someone is in pain, we want to save them, stop their pain. We think, when someone is crying that means something is wrong, and that something needs to be fixed. The problem here is, what it means to be human is to sometimes be sad or frustrated or afraid or happy or excited or proud. When we strive to be happy all of the time, we seriously limit our human experience.
We don’t have the good without the bad or the negative without the positive. So why would we want to be happy all of the time? How would we know we were really happy if we never experienced sadness? Instead, strive for having the full human experience accepting everything that comes with it. There is a time for all emotions. When we lose a loved one do we really want to feel happy? When bad things happen in the world do we really want to be excited about them? It’s ok to experience negative emotions. When we accept this, there is less resistance allowing the negative emotion to pass more quickly.
Examples of Emotional Self-Care
- Working with a life coach, health coach, therapist, or other counselors
- Practicing positive self-talk
- Journaling
- Meditation
- Practicing gratitude
Everyone benefits from practicing regular emotional self-care. This is a critical area of our lives that has not gotten enough attention, in my opinion. If you are someone who struggles to cope with strong feelings of anger, unworthiness, shame, guilt, jealousy, and embarrassment, have difficulty controlling emotions, or are easily affected by others in any way; practicing emotional self-care regularly will increase self-awareness and improved emotional health.
Improving emotional health means learning to say ‘no’ to things we don’t want to do or that add unnecessary stress to life, give ourselves permission to slow down and make ourselves a priority, pay attention to self-talk and learn to recognize negativity in the mind.
By practicing emotional self-care regularly and learning to be compassionate with ourselves we develop improved emotional health and self-confidence. We show up in the world fully as the amazing women we are taking action with courage even when we feel afraid. We learn how to notice old habits of negative self-talk and shift our thinking towards better feeling beliefs and thoughts. When our emotional health is improved our lives are forever transformed.
Spiritual Self-Care
Spiritual self-care doesn’t necessarily mean religion. This form of self-care involves anything we do to connect with and nurture our soul, such as meditation or yoga. Connecting to our inner spirit could be honoring a belief in a higher power such as God or the Universe or could be a completely different form of inspiration.
Examples of Spiritual Self-Care
- Spend time in nature.
- Practicing Yoga.
- Create a vision board for inspiration.
- Attend a worship service or praying.
- Reflective practices such as meditation.
- Perform acts of kindness.
Self-care can be free and quick or an all-day spa or shopping day
Self-care doesn’t have to cost anything or take tons of time to be impactful! If you are new to the concept of self-care start with one or two extra actions daily develop the new healthy habit regularly then add more as you are able. There is no right way to perform self-care and there are many ways to do it, let your creativity shine. The goal is to feel good by creating new healthy habits, that’s it.
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Keep your plan in a place where you can see it daily. Share with your friends, family, or coach for a higher level of accountability.
Stick to your plan, practicing the activities you have chosen regularly. I always recommend keeping a journal of any changes you experience. This is a great way to look back over time and have documentation of how much growth and change has occurred. Measuring the benefits of your efforts can be a great motivator if ever needed in the future.
Lastly, at the end of a couple of weeks or a month assess what can be adjusted or changed. Take a look at what is working and what would you like to add or switch up. The goal is to feel good if you are not feeling any better double-check that you have set realistic expectations for yourself and aren’t adding too much to your plate at once. This is a marathon, we are in this for the long-term healthy transformation, not a quick fix!!!
Jenn Rodemick
HEALTH & WELLNESS COACHI AM GRATEFUL TO HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO HELP WOMEN CREATE POSITIVE CHANGE IN THEIR LIFESTYLE.
I BELIEVE A HEALTHY FAMILY IS A HAPPY FAMILY!!
THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH.