All the work you do trying to mitigate your stress won’t help if you’re not taking proper care of yourself. Meditation won’t do you any good if you aren’t getting the amount of sleep you need. In fact, when you sit down to try to still your mind, you might doze off because you’re exhausted! In the same way, going to the gym regularly won’t change anything if you’re eating and drinking unhealthily.
You need to make sure your basic needs are being met first. Only then will your other activities start having a positive impact.
Mental Self-Care
The things you think and fill your mind with will have a big impact on your psychological well-being. Mental self-care includes doing tasks that keep your mind active, like crosswords, puzzles, and sudoku. Have some fun, too! Read books that interest you, watch movies you enjoy, play the online slots real money Canada has to offer when you feel like a little downtime.
Make a point of staying mentally healthy by practising self-compassion and accepting yourself. Keep an eye on your inner dialogue, and shut it down when it’s unkind.
Physical Self-Care
You can’t expect your body to keep running efficiently if you’re not taking care of it. Remember, there’s a strong mind-body connection, too, so when you’re healthy physically, you’ll feel the benefits mentally and emotionally.
Look at how you’re fueling your body, examine your sleeping patterns, and make sure you’re getting enough sleep. Schedule doctor’s appointments as necessary, take your medication as its prescribed, and remember to drink water.
Social Self-Care
Adequate levels of socialisation are key to self-care. But it’s difficult to make time to see your friends and family with a demanding work and home life, and it’s all too easy to neglect these important relationships as a result.
Close connections are very important to your overall well-being, and the best way to cultivate and maintain these relationships is by putting time and energy into building them. While there isn’t a specific number of hours you should be devoting to this area of your life, since everyone has different needs, you need to figure out a schedule that allows you to have healthy interactions with people.
Spiritual Self-Care
Research has shown that lifestyles built around religion or spirituality are healthier. Nurturing this aspect of yourself doesn’t necessarily have to mean going to church, however. It involves anything that helps you develop a sense of meaning, understanding, and connection with the world around you. Whether it’s meditation, attending religious services, or praying alone at home, make sure you tick this box.
Emotional Self-Care
You need to develop healthy coping skills to deal with uncomfortable emotions like anxiety, pain, and sadness. These can include simple activities like journaling, which help you to acknowledge and express how you’re feeling on a regular basis. Emotional self-care can also take the form of talking to a partner or a close friend about what you’re going through or even enlisting the help of a licensed therapist.