5 Types Of Self-Care

According to the World Health Organization (WHO):

 Health is a state of complete well-being in physical, mental, and social aspects. It’s a goal, a destination that individuals strive for. 

Wellness is the active process of making choices to improve one’s overall health and well-being. It’s about adopting healthy habits and practices to achieve optimal health and well-being, encompassing physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual aspects. 

Well-being is a more holistic concept that extends beyond just physical and mental health. It includes subjective perceptions of happiness, life satisfaction, fulfillment, and a sense of meaning and purpose. Well-being encompasses a wider range of factors, such as social connections, financial stability, and personal growth. 

Key Differences

While all three concepts are interconnected, they have distinct meanings. Health is a state, while wellness is an active process of achieving that state, and well-being is a broader, more holistic view that includes your idea of satisfaction and happiness. So to that end, let’s talk about the 5 Types of Self-Care. 

How are You Caring For Yourself Today?

All the stress-relief activities in the world won’t help if we aren’t taking care of ourselves. Self-care is all about caring for yourself—as the name suggests—to ensure your physical and emotional needs are met, so that we can meet the needs of others. How can we ever hope to show up as our full selves without taking the time to take proper care of ourselves in one way or another?

Self-care is a conscious act people take to promote their physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional health. It is vital for building resilience toward life’s stressors that we can’t eliminate. When you’ve taken steps to care for your mind and body, you’ll be better equipped to live your best life.

Unfortunately, however, many of us view self-care as a luxury rather than a priority. Consequently, we’re left feeling overwhelmed, tired, and ill-equipped to handle life’s inevitable challenges. It’s important to assess how you’re caring for yourself in several different domains so you can ensure you’re caring for your mind, body, and spirit.

Physical Self-Care

We need to take care of our bodies if we want them to run efficiently. Remember that there’s a strong connection between our body and our mind. When we care for our bodies, we’ll think and feel better, too.

Physical self-care includes fueling your body, getting enough sleep, doing enough physical activity, and caring for your physical needs. Attending healthcare appointments, taking medication as prescribed, and managing your health are all part of good physical self-care.

• Are you getting adequate sleep?
• Is your diet fueling your body well?
• Are you taking charge of your health?
• Are you getting enough exercise? 

Social Self-Care

Socialization is key to self-care. But, often, it’s hard to make time for friends, and it can be easy to neglect our relationships when life gets busy.

Close connections are important to your well-being. The best way to cultivate and maintain close relationships is to put time and energy into building our relationships with others.

There isn’t a certain number of hours you should devote to your friends or work on your relationships. Everyone has slightly different social needs. The key is to figure out what your social needs are and to build enough time in your schedule to create an optimal social life.

• Are you getting enough face-to-face time with your friends?
• What are you doing to nurture your relationships with friends and family?

Mental Self-Care

The way we think and the things that we’re filling our minds with greatly influence our psychological well-being.

Mental self-care includes doing things that keep your mind sharp, like puzzles or learning about a subject that fascinates you. You might find reading books or watching inspiring movies fuel your mind.

Mental self-care also involves doing things that help you stay mentally healthy. Practicing self-compassion and acceptance, for example, helps you maintain a healthier inner dialogue.

• Are you making enough time for activities that mentally stimulate you?
• Are you doing pro-active things to help you stay mentally healthy?

Spiritual Self-Care

Nurturing your spirit, however, doesn’t have to involve religion. It can involve anything that helps you develop a deeper sense of meaning, understanding, or connection with the universe. Whether you enjoy meditation, attending a religious service, or praying, spiritual self-care is essential.

• What questions do you ask yourself about your life and experience?
• Are you engaging in spiritual practices that you find fulfilling?

Emotional Self-Care

It’s important to have healthy coping skills to deal with uncomfortable emotions, like anger, anxiety, and sadness. Emotional self-care may include activities that help us acknowledge and express our feelings regularly and safely.

Whether you talk to a partner or close friend about how you feel, or you set aside time for leisure activities that help you process your emotions, it’s important to incorporate emotional self-care into your life

• Do you have healthy ways to process your emotions?
• Do you incorporate activities into your life that help you feel recharged?

Why Is Self-Care Important?

Having an effective self-care routine has been shown to have a number of important health benefits. Some of these include:

• Reducing anxiety and depression
• Reducing stress and improving resilience
• Improving happiness
• Increasing energy
• Reducing burnout
• Stronger interpersonal relationships

Specific forms of self-care have also been linked to different health and wellness benefits, including a longer life. Exercise, finding a sense of purpose in life, and sleep have all been connected to an increased lifespan.

An effective self-care plan should be tailored to your life and your needs. It needs to be something created by you, for you. Customizing your own self-care plan can act as a preventative measure to make sure that you don’t get overwhelmed, over stressed, and burned out.

Assess which areas of your life need some more attention and self-care. And reassess your life often. As your situation changes, your self-care needs are likely to shift too.

Here’s to brighter days!