Self Care is not Selfish

Self care is not selfish because you must fill your own cup before you can pour into others. With our lives being so busy, self care is often low on our list of priorities. However disregarding this aspect of self love can be detrimental to our mental health and physical wellbeing. Taking care of our body, mind and soul enables us to create a fulfilling life. Our needs are important. Self care is about taking care of ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. When we take care of ourselves, it enables us to be healthy, do our job well, take care of others and accomplish all the things we want.

Let’s take a look at each of these different areas and discuss a few tips for a self care plan.

Physical (the Body) Self Care

Physical self care is, how we fuel our body, what physical activity we do, and how well we sleep. Regular exercise is key to keeping our physical body strong, healthy and mobile. Rest and plenty of sleep is also a crucial component enabling our bodies to recharge and replenish energy used. When you start to feel better in your body, you start to think better.

Self Care Tips

• Eat a healthy, nutritious diet that nourishes your body and provides all the nutrients it requires
• Get the recommended sleep of 7- 8 hours for optimum health and longevity.
• Take a walk out in nature
• Relax with meditation or a massage

Psychological (the Mind) Self Care

Psychological self care is to do with what you feed your mind. Recognise what influences your moods. Constant news and social media consumption can promote negative feelings and thoughts of inadequacy and lack. Keep your mind sharp by learning new things, it fuels your mind. Our mind needs mental stimulation to grow. Also engaging in practices that bring compassion and acceptance keeps our minds healthy.

Self care Tips

• Do a weekly or daily digital detox
• Read a book
• Learn a new skill
• Join a club or volunteer

Emotional (the Heart) Self Care

Emotional self care is to be aware of any feelings of stress, anxiety, anger or sadness that arise and to address them. Talking to close friends or family can help. Humans are social beings which means we require social connections. Spending time with people we care about and receiving love and support, is important.

Self Care Tips

• Give yourself time to wind down and chill
• Saying no sometimes
• Have a chat and a catch up with a friend
• Nurture your friendships
• Do something nice for someone

Spiritual (the Spirit) Self Care

Spiritual self care is the taking care of your soul. It’s finding that connection with what it is that you want in life. It doesn’t have to be religious. It involves developing an understanding as to what lifts your spirit. What gives you energy to live every day? Dedicating time for self reflection.

Self Care Tips

• Journaling
• Mindfulness and Meditation
• Volunteering

To Summarise

When we take time out to care for ourselves we can feel guilty and when we neglect self care we can feel resentment. It can be a tug of war affair between caring for others and self love. We have been conditioned to feel guilty for taking time out to care for ourselves but looking after ourselves is the most selfless thing we can do. I’ll finish with a beautiful quote….

Living Agelessly

Kath