“Health is more than the absence of disease. Health is really about wellness and a capacity to thrive” (Arianna Huffington, Founder & CEO of Thrive).
Today in Australia 1 in 5 people will be managing a mental health issue (Beyond Blue). The upheaval, uncertainty and stress of the last two years as we have navigated COVID has exacerbated mental health issues and a range of other issues such as addiction, eating disorders and domestic violence across the community. People’s physical, mental and emotional health has been significantly affected.
We believe self-care is a radical political act of self-love and a strong protective factor against psychological distress, disorders and physical health issues.
In this post, we’ll define what self-care is, discuss self-care planning and give you some examples and practical tips on how you can start to implement self-care sustainably into your life today.
What is self-care?
Self-care is the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one’s own health and well-being.
“Self-care refers to activities individuals, families and communities undertake with the intention of enhancing health, preventing disease, limiting illness and restoring health” (The World Health Organization (WHO))
Self-care has been a little hijacked by the beauty and wellness industry but actually involves so much more than doing a face mask in a bubble bath (although we do love that).
We can think about engaging in self-care tasks that cover the following ten domains:
- Mental Health (E.g set boundaries).
- Emotional Health (E.g notice your inner experience – observe your thoughts, beliefs, feelings).
- Physical Health (E.g prioritize rest and sleep).
- Social Health (Eg. spending time with friends and family).
- Spiritual health (E.g make time for awe experiences)
- Identity (E.g learn who you are by defining your values)
- Professional Health (E.g seek role/task clarity when needed)
- Space / Home environment (E.g create your bedroom as a sanctuary).
- Financial (E.g create a budget and monitor your income and expenses).
- Environmental (E.g walk, ride or get PT instead of driving, if possible).
Why is self-care Important?
We consider self-care to be an important preventative measure against psychological distress and the development of mental health issues and disorders and physical health issues and disorders. Self-care helps us to manage stress and the ups and downs of life.
Through meaningful self-care activities, we develop better ways of identifying the signs of stress and developing and implementing strategies to help us mitigate stress.
Self-care also makes us more effective. “When you take time for yourself and give your body the food, rest, and activity it needs, you will actually have more energy to meet the demands of daily life” (Black Dog Institute).
Another key benefit of self-care is that it helps us to develop self-awareness. This is the skill of becoming more in tune with ourselves and those around us. For example, when we develop greater self-awareness, we become more attuned with our emotions and learn ways to identify, process, regulate and express our emotions in more healthy and productive ways. We also become more aware of how our behaviours, moods and actions impact those around us and vice versa.
Developing self-awareness also has positive flow-on effects in helping us engage and manage all the relationships in our life – from our friends and family to our work colleagues. The more self-awareness we have the better we are at identifying the ways our behaviour impacts the people around us and the more choice we have in how to engage and respond to those around us.
Creating a self-care plan.
We strongly encourage everyone to prioritize creating a self-care plan. The process of developing a self-care plan encourages us to think about our values and what’s important to us in life. It helps us to think about what food, people, activities, or places help us feel nourished, relaxed, joyful, grounded, rejuvenated. Having a self-care plan helps us to identify what coping skills and strategies we already have that are helpful to us when we are stressed, tired or overwhelmed, and can provide an opportunity for us to explore alternative strategies as well.
“A self-care plan can help you focus, make decisions and stay healthy” (Black Dog Institute).
Self-care isn’t necessarily about tapping out, like binge-watching Netflix all weekend. Sometimes self-care is the thing you don’t want to do but know that it’s what’s best for you in the moment, such as having a break from social media, going for a walk or cooking yourself a nutritious meal.
It’s important that self-care be integrated into your lifestyle and not something you do as a reward or when you’ve had a bad week. This can be a reactive way to take care of yourself and you won’t be able to access the preventative benefits from the practice this way. We truly believe if you dedicate this time to yourself, it can also help you nourish yourself and increase the quality of your life which will help you thrive in life.
Tips and Reminders for self-care
Spend time thinking about and planning for your self-care
Our self-care activities should be informed by our specific needs and values and what we find meaningful. Take time to brainstorm what’s important to you and how you would like your life to look. Take time to work out what your values are, for example, if you value relationships then you can plan to spend meaningful, connecting time with your loved ones during the week as part of your self-care.
Spend time thinking about activities or strategies you currently use that help you to relax, calm or ground yourself when you are feeling stressed or overwhelmed. Write these down so that you can easily access them when you need them most.
When we are busy or stressed, we often forget what we need, just go on autopilot managing the day and ourselves and miss opportunities to practice self-care. When we are overwhelmed sometimes making any decisions can be really hard work. Planning for your self-care is really useful as it helps us to stay focused when busy, stressed or overwhelmed and helps us to identify what is helpful when we are tired, stressed or need to take a break.
Find ways to integrate self-care into your day today
The most effective and sustainable way to practice self-care is to find ways to integrate it into your daily life. For example, increase incidental exercise by catching public transport or walking or riding to work if you can. Listen to stimulating podcasts on the way to work if you love to learn. Meal prep on the weekends to ensure you have nutritious and quick meals during the week. Integrate your mindfulness practice whilst you complete your morning and nighttime routine.
Ready to start your self-care journey today?
Self-care is a holistic practice that can have powerful benefits in all areas of your life. We believe self-care can be a powerful preventative measure in protecting you against psychological distress, chronic stress, mental health and physical health issues. Planning around your self-care is so important. Planning will help you identify the people, activities and places that you need for your self-care and help you work out how to build these things into your day-to-day life so that you can start practicing self-care regularly and sustainably.
If you are ready to get started today on your self-care journey head to www.centreself.com.au to access our Self-Care Planner which is free to download from the resources/blog page. If you are feeling a little lost and would like to talk through these concepts of self-care with a therapist you can also book in for a session with one of our Accredited Mental Health Social Workers today through the booking page on our website.
Good luck and all the best on your self-care journey.
Tamera x