Imagine a perfect world – no stress, no worries, no baggage. Sounds perfect right? Unfortunately that’s not reality. Truth is, we all have bruises from when life has hit us hard. And as a self help guru, I can provide guidance on taking action and regaining full control over your life.
Self Care
What does that mean to you? 74% of individuals believe self care is the act of caring for ones body, while 57% believe its referring more-so to a mental vacation. The dictionary proclaims it to be “therapeutic treatment of oneself, especially for the purpose of coping with ones personal or emotional problems". Self Care is broken up into six unique forms:
- Emotional
- Physical
- Social
- Practical
- Mental
- Spiritual
Emotional self-care focuses on connecting with your emotions, which can be a tricky, complex task. Luckily simple activities, such as journaling, making art, playing music, etc. can help guide you through the process. Building an emotional self-care regimen really is all about stability within your personal energy. It's as easy as taking 15-20 minutes per day to ground yourself and focus your mind and energy on activities you love. Don’t believe me? Science has proven it a fact that emotional self-care takes a vast effect on human health; it just takes motivation for oneself to work that emotional intelligence muscle.
Physical self-care manages your well-being. Managing your wellbeing comes from a mental aspect. It means to care for your mental health, your lifestyle, happiness, and purpose. For many individuals, the best way to do so is to go for walks, workout, rest, etc. Improving your physical health provides vitamins for your mental health, to say the least. Regularly exercising, whether it’s a full-blown workout or daily walk, is the most important step when healing mentally – and physically!
Social self-care is when you take that much needed time with friends or family. Its all about balance within your lifestyle. Spending time with those close to you is known to boost not only your mood, but your mental health as well. It's prime to make time to go out and socialize, however alone time is essential too. It's really up to you – whatever balances you, socially or solitary. Go get lunch, see a movie, fill that fun meter!
Practical self-care is the act of de-stressing and essentially “getting your ducks in a row”. This can be done by budgeting, learning, or putting those organizational skills to work around the house. This form of self-care is important for your mental health as well. The majority of the stress we face comes from daily chores, bills, work, family needs, etc. and not many take the time to slow down. Let’s be honest, not many have the time to slow down though. Luckily this form of self-care allows you to heal while also taking care of those day-to-day tasks.
Mental self-care is the biggest form of healing. It necessitates tasks that reduce stress and boost your overall happiness. Planning out a mental health routine is difficult and takes a chunk of time out of your day; however, the aftereffects are bound to assist the growing positivity process. Practicing mental self-care provides you with the opportunity to dissect any unwanted feelings and change them for the better. All it takes it a few minutes each day to contribute to positive activities, such as:
- Walking
- Riding a bike
- Yoga
- Dancing
- Etc.
Spiritual self-care focuses on one’s mind, spirit, and soul. According to the Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine, there are five characteristics to spirituality. These characteristics include: meaning, value, transcendence, connecting (with oneself, others, the environment, etc.), and becoming (the growth and progress in one’s life). As well as this, spirituality dispenses:
- Reassurance in beliefs, greater forces
- Purpose/meaning of life
- Internal wisdom
- Understanding pain and suffering
- Making connections
- Positive reminders
As you can see, self-care is a positive, growing chain within the aspect of healing yourself. Self-care is a easy, effective way to understand what’s happening and why its happening, while providing you with a chance to learn more about yourself. It has become a popular alternative to in-person therapy sessions and statistics show that over the past year (2020-2021), these age groups have been widely accepting self-care as their prime therapy:
76% Gen Z – ages 24-40
68% Gen X – ages 41-56
67% Millennials – ages 25-40
47% Boomers – ages 57-75
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