Improve wellbeing with better self-care

Self-care rituals and treats you can do at home to give yourself a boost

Life can be demanding – whether it is your home, work, caring for others or juggling all this and more! It is so easy to put everyone’s needs before your own and end up feeling drained. 

Working on your personal growth and wellbeing with acts of self-care can help enormously. Self-care can mean anything that brings you physical, mental and emotional pleasure and gives you a break from your daily tasks. It can help to prevent burnout, boost energy levels and also help to boost self-esteem. Taking time to work on yourself and finding the right self-care routine for you is now easier than ever.  

The Seven Pillars of Self-care

There are seven main pillars of self-care: mental, emotional, physical, environmental, spiritual, recreational and social. Getting to know what is involved with these pillars and why you may need them will help you to develop the perfect self-care routine.   

Mental

Developing a healthy mind-set is important in everyday life. Mental self-care allows you to do just that. This includes developing your skills, enhancing creativity and expanding your knowledge. If you’ve been feeling low or anxious, unmotivated or having trouble sleeping, then you may need to engage in some mental self-care activities, like:

• Practicing mindfulness
• Reading a book
• Learning a new skill
• Doing a digital detox
• Taking the time to meditate
• Writing a journal

Emotional

Emotional self-care involves matters of the heart – navigating and understanding your emotions, increasing self-compassion and developing healthy emotional responses. Signs may need to work on your emotional state include having feelings of hopelessness, being detached from your emotions, perfectionism and sensitivity. Take care of your emotional health and learn to understand yourself more by:

• Taking time to reflect on your feelings
• Practicing self-compassion
• Setting emotional boundaries
• Listening to your favourite music 
• Watching a deep movie

Physical

Physical self-care involves taking care of your physical health and body. This means exercising, eating healthy, maintaining good hygiene and getting your daily vitamins and nutrition. If you have been feeling tired or unmotivated, physical forms of self-care will do wonders for not only your physical health but for your emotional state as well. Try these activities to improve your physical wellbeing:

• Taking care of your body and skin 
• Getting a good amount of sleep
• Eating healthy nourishing food
• Staying active whilst listening to your body/ not pushing yourself too hard.   

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Environmental

Creating comfortable sacred spaces separate from work and life’s daily clutter allows you to step away from stress. It is great for creating a sense of belonging and allowing you to feel comfortable in your surroundings. If you feel like you are in need of a safe space, try creating one that appeals to your 5 senses, for example:

• Spraying your favourite scent
• Lighting a candle in your room
• Wearing clothes you feel comfortable in
• Eating your favourite comfort food
• Playing your favourite music
• Adjusting the lighting in your space

Spiritual

There are certain times where we may lose our sense of purpose or simply feel demotivated. If you have been feeling like this, some spiritual self-care can always help. It is a good idea to identify values and beliefs that matter to you. Create your own sense of meaning by connecting to a higher power, whatever that means to you. Some spiritual self-care practices include: 

• Meditating
• Spending time in nature
• Finding a community to become part of
• Writing down things you’re grateful for

Recreational

This involves making time for your hobbies, fun activities and new experiences. Making time for fun activities and tapping in to your inner child relieves the pressure of the important things you have to do and lets you enjoy other things that life has to offer. Some examples of how to do this are: 

• Finding a new hobby
• Spending time doing something you’re passionate about
• Going on little adventures by yourself or with friends and family
• Playing board games

Social

Even though self- care is about you, sometimes it helps to be around or spend some time speaking with the people who love and care about you if you have the chance. Maybe you could try some of the following:

• Spending time with people whose company you enjoy
• Calling relatives or joining a support group

Self-care is a great way to help you feel better both physically and emotionally if you have been struggling in some areas. Focusing on even one area at a time is sure to make a positive impact.