Self-care and wellness encompasses much more than bubble baths and face masks. Self-care is so much larger than a buzzword. Self-care is holistic and more and more people are starting to realize the importance of taking some "me time" and how essential it is for a healthy and balanced life. We’ve all heard about it, seen Instagram or Facebook posts about it, and might have even given it the “Old College Try”.
The six types of self-care are: emotional, physical, practical, mental, spiritual, and social. Each form of self-care requires attention, and should be practiced throughout our busy lives. Self-care is NOT selfish. Taking the time to make small strides toward self-care is an important preventative measure against reaching our breaking point.
Emotional Self-Care
Feeling good is easy. Simple joys are easy to appreciate. But what about our negative and more complicated emotions? If you think back to childhood, you've more than likely been told "Don't be sad," while you were in an emotional maelstrom and spouting tears. No matter how well intentioned the sentiment may be, feelings are meant to be felt, whether they be joyous feelings or sad feelings. Oftentimes, we have a hard time connecting to our more complicated emotions because of our resistance toward them. Putting on a brave face and appearing happy while burying our negative emotions is no way to honor our emotions. Life has its ups and downs, at all ages. We deserve a little self compassion at every stage. So how can we better take care of our emotional well being?
One of the best ways to get in touch with our innermost feelings is by seeing a therapist or joining an emotional support group, and talking it out in a safe space. However, therapy isn't always easy to come by, or affordable for that matter. But practicing mindfulness is an effective and low-cost method of managing our feelings. Journaling is a great way to practice mindfulness. Furthermore, looking back on our emotions and recalling how we handled those feelings will only serve to benefit us when a similar situation arises in our lives. A great way to start would be to find some mindfulness exercises or prompts online, to sort of help jumpstart the process.
Another way to practice emotional self-care is by finding inspiration in the things that we love. For some, inspiration could come in the form of tending and curating a garden. For others, it could be making art or music. Art and music help us to reflect and process our full range of emotions. Doing something that matters to you, and doing it often, is a great way to bring more joy into the life you live.
Physical Self-Care
Physical self-care includes anything that improves the function of our bodies. This can be as simple as ensuring adequate water consumption for optimal hydration, some light stretching, a brisk walk during lunch breaks, and even getting a full eight hours of sleep at night. Practicing these simple physical self-care techniques can greatly improve the mind-body connection and improve our lives in many ways.
Keep in mind, the goal isn't some magical number on the scale, a dream clothing size, or maxing out in the gym. Exercise is a celebration of what our bodies can do, and not punishment for what we ate the other night. It's important to really care for ourselves when starting to incorporate exercise, at any intensity, into our lives. It's called self care, after all, so show yourself a little love. Celebrate small wins. Nobody is asking you to become an Olympian. Instead, we encourage you to find a form of exercise that is sustainable and releases endorphins into your bloodstream. Sometimes a simple walk IS the workout, and there is no shame in that.
Motion is lotion. Keep those joints mobile and loose. Taking a warm bath to help mobilize any stiff joints is a great way to ease into the process. NM Thera offers various soothing and relaxing bath soak kits, such as the Essentials Kit, to help you take your first steps into improving joint health and mobility. NM Thera also offers foot bath bags, for a more localized soak experience that will liven up your feet and help you start incorporating the aforementioned walks into your routine!
Practical Self-Care
At first glance, practical self-care can seem like a chore. But, if we change our mindset about this, we can discover how much we stand to gain from it. In a nutshell, practical self-care is all about preparation and knocking out the small stuff, to keep life running like a well-oiled machine. Once the organizational work is complete, the stressful processes of our lives can truly start to run smoothly.
So how do we get practical with our self care? First, take inventory of what in our lives is stressing us out. Taking the time to organize your closet is one way to reduce stress, especially in the mornings when it's time to pick an outfit for the day. Creating a budget plan is another way we can reduce stress. How many times have we ever felt as though there was too much month left at the end of our money?! Creating a budget plan, and sticking to it, will not only reduce stress, but will also help us practice being mindful of our spending (two for one). For many families, the pre-school rush can be a whirlwind of stress and frustration, on a tight schedule. Preparing lunches the night before, should help mornings run much more smoothly. What about cooking, and the enormous pile of dishes at the end of mealtime? A simple way to reduce the clutter is to clean as you go. If something is baking in the oven, take the time to clean what is in the sink at the time. Cleaning dishes in small doses over time can help minimize the seemingly monumental task of cleaning up.
While seemingly insignificant, practical self-care can make life much easier. Ironing out the kinks of our messy everyday lives is so satisfying, that you'll more than likely begin rewarding yourself for a job well done with tasty desserts, relaxing quiet time in the bath, or something else that gives you great joy.
Mental Self-Care
Mental stimulation is a great way to take care of our mental health. Depending on the person, stimulating the mind can be anything from playing chess, solving puzzles, rearranging the furniture to optimize feng shui, visiting a museum, or having friends over for game nights. Anything that tickles our minds and really lets our individual personalities shine is considered mental self-care.
Reading more books is a great way to stimulate our intellect and engage in expanding our minds. Frequent trips to the library, eBooks, and audiobooks all engage the mind and are integral in maintaining our mental health.
For the more crafty types out there, getting hands-on with a home improvement project is a great way to let creativity flow freely and stimulate that all important mind. Mental self care can be anything from a fascinating book to a DIY project at home.
Spiritual Self-Care
Spiritual self-care activities are those that nurture our spirit and help us connect to something larger than ourselves. For some, this may be religious expression. For others, it can be spending time outdoors in a forested area, a nature hike, or a stroll through a botanical garden. We can also use meditation and yoga as a way to keep our spiritual energies healthy.
Spending time in nature is a wonderful way to practice spiritual self-care. Hiking, fishing, spending time with our feet in some grass or sand, or even something as simple as watching a sunset can help ground us and connect us to this physical world we all occupy. Dedicated self reflection can also be incredibly helpful in maintaining spiritual health.
Daily life has a funny way of placing us at the center of our own little worlds, which has the undesirable effect of diminishing our connections to friends, family, the outside world, and even our own individual spirits. This can be highly stressful. Taking the time to reconnect is well worth the effort, and is something that is super personal and differs from person to person. Find what best feeds your soul, reduces stress, shifts your focus away from the self, and keeps your individual spirit healthy and vibrant.
Social Self-Care
Finally, our social life keeps relationships healthy, and interpersonal bonds strong. Social self-care isn't entirely about agreeing to more social obligations. It also includes setting boundaries, and saying "No" to our friends and families when we need to. Creating a healthy balance is the key here.
Some fun ways to maintain our social lives would be getting together for brunch with friends, making time to call your parents, or date nights with significant others. Additionally, a little friendly competition goes a long way in maintaining friendships. Effectively practicing social self-care comes down to doing what you enjoy to do and sharing those experiences with friends and family.
With the pandemic and the lockdown orders, gathering together in a social capacity has dropped off significantly. However, video calls over Zoom, or FaceTime calls are still viable options to maintain social health. Whether you gather for brunch with friends, take the family out, or play some pickup basketball locally; making time to nurture our relationships is essential to our mental health and well-being.
We hope you make time for yourself in all the different ways of holistic wellness and self-care whether emotional, physical, practical, mental, spiritual, or social.
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