50 Shades of Self-Care: How to Note Every Occasion and Treat Yourself with Love

It’s time to discuss *all* forms of self-care, such as environmental, social, emotional, mental, and physical. We are here to support the ongoing trend of self-care. It’s a valid strategy to enhance or preserve your wellbeing. However, self-care is much more than just using face masks, candles, and bubble baths. (Although NGL, those things are also really amazing.)

We can better establish a self-care habit or ritual to support that area of our lives when we pinpoint exactly what it is that requires extra care. For instance, a bath by itself is unlikely to make you feel better if you’ve noticed that you’re a little lonely. Alternatively, self-care could entail reaching for the phone to make a long-lost friend, even if you do it while soaking in the tub.

Here are some tips for implementing self-care in all facets of your life.

What does self-care entail?

Similar to #situationship or #finfluencer, it appears that self-care is something that we, the online community, are just now coming to terms with.

However, there is an official definition provided by the World Health Organization (WHO): Tools for self-care include those that assist individuals, families, and communities in:

• Encourage and preserve health;

• Avert disease;

• Manage infirmity and disability

Additionally, researchers stated in a 2021 study that the capacity to take care of oneself in a healthcare setting includes the following:

• consciousness
• Restraint
• Independence

Therefore, it stands to reason that self-care is crucial to leading a balanced, healthy, and happy life. Furthermore, despite the paucity of research on self-care to date, what is known about it is encouraging.

Researchers discovered in a 2017 study that self-care practices might aid in illness prevention. Additionally, a 2018 study by researchers discovered that medical students who engaged in self-care practices reported lower levels of stress and an improved quality of life overall.

Self-care types

There won’t be a test, so don’t worry, but the five categories of self-care you should be aware of are as follows:

• Self-care on a physical, mental, emotional, and environmental level;
• Self-care in society

We can better nurture ourselves when we are more deliberate about the kind of self-care we pursue.

Self-care in the physical realm

Physical self-care is any kind of self-care that takes care of your body. Perhaps you need to recover after a strenuous workout, or perhaps you’re stiff from spending all day at a desk. Anything that supports your physical health, regardless of the need, fits into this category.

Among the physical self-care pursuits are:

• You guessed it: work out! Do some jumping squats in your living room, Zumba, biking, hiking, or walking.
• Drinking from your brand-new hydro flask to ensure you consume enough of that excellent H2O
• Indulging in a fancy salad and smoothie as a financial #treatyoself
• Having a massage
• Undergoing acupuncture
• Dancing (optional: by yourself in your panties in your room)
• Taking a nap when you’re tired (yes, napping counts as self-care).
• Setting aside time to get adequate rest

Additionally, you might want to assess your physical health by asking yourself the following questions:

• What is the current feeling of your body?
• What is the need of your body?
• What is your body aching for?

Self-care for the mind

Baby, brains. Anything that feeds your mind (or sometimes just gives it a break or reset) qualifies as mental self-care. Given the importance of mental health to general health, you might want to try:

• Taking in audiobooks or podcasts (sure, you’ve heard of these already).
• Picking up a new language or ability
• Heading to a museum
• Writing (not grocery lists, please—poems or letters to your future self count!)
• Playing games that require mental stimulation, such as chess or sudoku
• Solving a puzzle
• Going cold turkey on social media
• Taking a book to read
• Adopting a constructive mindset (PMA FTW)

Additionally, you can evaluate your mental health by posing queries like these:

• What kinds of thoughts are you having at the moment?
• Are these ideas significant or pertinent? If yes, how can you deal with them?
• If not, what other thought would you prefer to consider?

Mental well-being

Anything that aids in the processing, management, or reflection of your emotions is considered emotional self-care. Taking care of your emotions is a fantastic way to find balance and serenity in life, regardless of whether you’re experiencing an intense rollercoaster or feeling a little numb.

Among the emotional self-care exercises are:

• Consulting a therapist (people are right; these professionals are effective)
• Expressing your emotions to a loved one
• Writing down your feelings in a diary
• Expressing your feelings through art (whether through dancing, painting, sewing a new garment, or creating TikTok videos).
• Engaging in meditation
• Expressing gratitude
• Singing along to uplifting affirmations or mantras (this song may be intended for children, but Snoop Dogg gets it).
• Engaging in happy activities (pro tip: write down happy things you do first)
• Talking to your inner child
• Pardoning oneself and other people
• letting it out loud

Anyhow, where are your feelings? To find out, some good questions to ask are:

• What feelings or experiences are you having at the moment? Try to be as detailed as you can.
• In its place, what feelings would you prefer to experience? What could assist you with that?
• How could you let go of your unwanted feelings? (For instance, directing them toward therapy, art, or journaling)

Self-care for the environment

Even when traveling, everyone should have a comfortable, safe, and safe home life. Anything relating to your living environment is considered environmental self-care, and this could include:

• Arranging your bed when you wake up.
• Adorning your home with items that bring you joy (hint: twinkle lights aren’t just for kids).
• Going on a trip (or staycation).
• Tidying and organizing your area (or, hey, using some sage to clear the bad energy)
• Occasional work from home (or, to get out of the house, working from a co-working space or coffee shop)
• Taking in calming music
• Igniting a few candles
• Purchasing some indoor plants
• Purchasing useful items that simplify your life, like an instant coffee maker or closet organizer.
• Creating a conducive atmosphere for healthy habits by, for example, placing a fruit bowl on the kitchen table or adding cushions to a comfortable spot for meditation.

Here are a few inquiries you may wish to make regarding your surroundings:

• How do you feel about your daily space? Does it work? Does it help you?
• What does your dream environment look like?
• What modest changes can you make to your environment right now?

Self-care in society

Humans need other humans, even if you’re on the #introvert team. Since humans are social animals, social interaction has been shown to have a positive impact on our general health and wellbeing.

The following are a few strategies for social self-care:

• Arranging frequent phone conversations with close ones
• Penciling in a date night with your boo
• Having a game night with your friends
• Cuddling with your pet (or someone else’s pet)
• Writing your best friend a letter
• Working together as volunteers
• Signing up for a group or club

To evaluate your social welfare, think about asking yourself:

• To whom can I go for assistance in need?
• Which connections do I wish to foster?
• Which ones might not be doing me any good?

Additional forms of self-care

It is impossible to neatly categorize self-care into these boxes, just like most things in life. Other sorts that might also speak to you are as follows:

• Engaging in spiritual self-care can include visiting a place of worship, going on a nature walk, practicing meditation, or writing in a journal about the universe and your role in it. Spiritual self-care is essentially anything that feeds your soul; you don’t have to be religious to engage in it.
• Useful self-care. Oftentimes, self-care entails thinking about your future self. That could be spending money on a personal development course, making and maintaining goals, organizing your daily activities more efficiently with the aid of an app, a new planner, or even hiring an assistant.
• Self-care with finances. Our lives will always involve finances, which can be extremely stressful for some people. You may need to practice some financial self-care in order to have a better relationship with money. Start by evaluating and revising your financial beliefs. (For example, “With my degree, I can’t make a lot of money,” could change to “There are lots of high paying jobs out there for people like me,” or “I can always go back to school or improve my skill set to earn more.”) A financial advisor can be hired, “fun money” can be set aside, or investing or saving can be made easier with an app.
• Taking care of oneself. Anything that entails learning a little bit more about yourself is considered personal self-care. Perhaps that entails making lists of the things you love and why, responding to journal prompts, or testing out some new music. And why not go on a date with yourself? In the process, you may find a new passion.

To be honest, self-care can ultimately mean whatever it means to each individual.

Conclusion

There are many different types of self-care, such as environmental, social, mental, emotional, and physical. You can adopt new habits to raise your quality of life once you identify the areas of your life that require assistance.

Naturally, these adjustments don’t have to take place right away! Minor actions can compound to significant gains in self-care. You can take care of your physical body in the morning by exercising physical self-care by dancing around your room, or you can engage in emotional self-care by discussing your feelings with a loved one.
It matters not what form your self-care regimen takes; what matters is that it supports you and your particular sense of wellbeing.