In today’s culture the term self care is used in abundance. However does anyone truly know what the term itself represents? Self care is a valuable concept that speaks to each of us when we experience distress. This term in its simplest form means the action of taking care of oneself. Therefore, self care is a process that we take to help manage our overall health with respect to our emotional, mental, physical functioning. This practice is necessary to incorporate, not just in dire moments, but rather each and every day in order to restore the daily stressors that come our way. Self care activities can be expressed in variety of responses depending on the irritant that presents itself. There are different forms of self care which we are going to explore to assist in understanding, which behavior would be appropriate to assist with balancing our needs.
Physical Self Care Needs
When looking for the use of physical self care needs, this would address what our body needs in order to run as efficiently as possible. These needs can include: getting enough rest and sleep through out the day and evening hours, eating healthy foods during the day, or being active in terms of exercise and moving around from time to time.
Emotional Self Care Needs
Expressing our emotional wants and needs are vital to us. When we create space to process our feelings, this information can be beneficial in guiding us to understand what makes us happy, sad, angry, excited, worried or anxious. Feelings let us know how we are taking wealth of knowledge about our surroundings to let us know where its safe for us to understand ourselves and environment on a deeper level.
Mental Self Care Needs
Besides our emotions, we can have certain internal thoughts about these stressors that can come up as well. These are what we call more of a mental processes that speaks to the way we think and the things that we’re filling our minds with greatly that relates to our overall health. Some examples that touch on mental self care needs includes promoting self compassion and acceptance. Through sympathy and recognition can assist us by reaching our intrapersonal goals through the use of in-depth intimate conversations.
Social Self Care Needs
Being human, lends it self for a need of bonding with others. It is so easy to isolate and be socially withdrawn during times of distress. This form of self care relates to our own sense of meaning, understanding, or connection of self and others through the use of attachments to the outer world.
Hopefully the art of self care can become an everyday task that can facilitate a growth mindset to tackle all that life has to offer.