Self-Care
Self-Care is:
- deliberate and purposeful engagement in one or more activities that you enjoy and that promotes good physical and mental health
- a regular habit NOT just u2018when it is neededu2019
- improves resilience and distress tolerance
- increases your energy for coping with challenges, for yourself AND others
When youu2019ve taken steps to care for yourself as a priority, youu2019ll be better equipped to live your best life and therefore be able to help and care for loved ones.u00a0 u00a0Unfortunately, many people view self-care as selfish or a confronting challenge, rather than a life affirming priority.
Self-Care is:
NOT a selfish thing u2013 you cannot be your best for others if you are struggling yourself
NOT doing tasks or jobs that u2018need tou2019 or u2018shouldu2019 be done
NOT necessarily something which needs to take ages. It could be as little as 30min a day
NOT u2018foru2019 others, this is something for YOU, which recharges YOU
NOT about AVOIDINGu2026. It is not a method of avoiding other important tasks. If you use it in this way, you will feel guilty and procrastinating will increase your stress!
Misunderstanding, misusing or NOT using self-care can leave us feeling frustrated, overwhelmed or just tired.
We cannot be the best version of ourselves in this state.
Your choice of self-care activity will depend heavily on your personality type:
- Introverts will tend to recharge by having space, time and lower levels of external stimuli [e.g. fewer people, noises and action]
- Extroverts tend to need to engage with people, activity and increased external stimuli.
Will your batteries be charged with time in your own space or by interacting with crowds of people? Regardless of the level of stimulus, your preferred type of self-care might fall into one of the following categories: Physical, Social, Mental or Spiritual. It could of course, be a combination of these.
