You may often hear about how important self-care is to your wellbeing, but how often do you hear about what it truly entails? Self-care is much more than the temporary pick-me-ups, fads, and the retail therapy shopping you engage to try and to improve your mood. Instead, genuine self-care is about focusing on and giving back to yourself. Keep reading to learn more about self-care and the right ways to practice it?
Physical Self Care
This is the most common form of self-care. In essence, physical self-care is the practice of maintaining a nourished body. To achieve this, there are three basic aspects to keep in mind: a healthy, balanced diet, proper rest and sleep, and exercise. Just a few minutes on an elliptical can completely change your outlook. Food provides your body with the appropriate nourishment to function throughout the day, while sleep allows your body to rejuvenate from your day’s activities. These two factors, in addition to exercise, are crucial in having a happy, healthy, and fully-functional you.
Besides the basics, there are plenty of other ways to give your body extra care to help it feel good physically. If taking a long bath is right up your ally, for example, this is a great activity to integrate into your day. To take it one step further, try lighting candles or incense, crank up the tunes, and grab your favorite book. You can also incorporate essential oils into your bath as these can serve to support maximum relaxation.
Seeing as how your skin is the largest barrier against harsh environmental elements, it’s vital that you also devote some time to care for your skin. While you may have your typical skincare routine you perform each day, there may be some essential products that you’re missing out on. For example, retinol-based treatments can boost collagen production and prevent breakouts, leaving your skin smoother, brighter, and healthier. Integrating these products into your skincare regime each day will leave you feeling good, and your skin even better.
Emotional Self Care
Happiness, sadness, anger, surprise, fear, and disgust: these are the six basic emotions you’ll normally experience in your day to day life. While you may be able to acknowledge these feelings, how truly in-touch with your emotions are you? To be familiar with your feelings—also known as emotional intelligence—means that you can identify and manage the emotions of yourself, as well as those around you. This is important to keep in mind, especially when in regards to emotional self-care.
It’s not uncommon to label certain emotions as “good” and others as “bad.” However, in terms of emotional self-care, this action can leave you feeling less than ideal about the emotions you experience. To prevent this, practice coping mechanisms to find which work best for you, and allow you to better react to your emotions in a healthier manner.
To strengthen your emotional intelligence, try seeking support from either a professional or a loved one. Talking through stressful events and feelings is a perfect way to recognize what you feel and why you feel that way. It’s also an excellent idea to establish what your boundaries are, and what triggers you so that you can recognize when you need to step back and reflect on your behavior.
Financial Self Care
Self-care is more than just “treating yourself,” especially when you begin to think about it in terms of your finances. For many, money is the most common source of stress. Not only can it relieve some of your stress, but it can also bring you a feeling of accomplishment.
A great place to start is by visualizing your goals. It’s important to know what you want in regards to short-term and long-term goals. By establishing your wants and needs for your financial wellness, you can then create goals that inspire you as well as a plan on how to achieve them. Another tool you should utilize is a financial self-care checklist. This can support the goals you set for yourself, and also provide you with the knowledge and opportunity to improve your financial self-care. For instance, tracking your spending, setting up an emergency fund, or investing, are just a few ways to manage your money and feel in control. When you take the time for yourself to focus on your finances, it can directly affect your outlook and mood.
