Get more out of your self-care practices with these 6 types of self-care. Learn how to take care of yourself beyond the basic understanding of self-care.
You’ve probably heard the term self-care tossed around a lot in the past couple of years but the definition of that term is still deeply misunderstood.
When I first learned about the importance of self-care, I thought that the term was referring exclusively to relaxation. Every holiday and day off, I would set aside tons of time to fit in a spa activity and veg out while binge-watching a tv show I’ve had my eye on.
But here’s the thing: these activities weren’t doing much to help me feel ready to return to work.
I still felt tired and burned out.
Sometimes I even felt more stressed than when I began.
The reason I was still feeling stressed after tending to self-care was that I was misunderstanding what self-care truly meant.
When you think of self-care, you probably think of spa days, long naps, and lounging around watching television.
And the thing is, you wouldn’t be completely wrong.
Self-care does involve relaxing activities like this.
However, true self-care practices involve 5 other types of activities that most people don’t ever do.
No wonder we don’t feel fully recovered after a self-care day!
In order to take care of yourself effectively, you need to pay attention to all 6 types of self-care, not just the one that we always focus on.
Today I’m going to share with you what these 6 types of self-care are, what they are good for, and how you can practice them yourself in your daily life so that you can take care of yourself more effectively.
Related Post: 80 Simple Mindful Activities to Calm Your Anxiety and Worry
What is true self-care?
True self-care involves more than just pampering yourself. It involves taking time for every aspect of your life in order to maintain a healthy, balanced lifestyle.
True self-care involves paying heed to 6 different areas of your life: emotional, practical, physical, mental, social, and spiritual.
True self-care involves learning more about yourself, organizing the things in your life that stress you out, spending time with friends, and taking care of your physical, mental, and spiritual health.
This kind of genuine self-care practice takes work and is much more fulfilling than the pampering style of self-care we’ve grown accustomed to.
Want another opinion? Check out this blogger’s explanation of the 6 types of self-care.
Why does self-care matter?
Self-care and rest often seem selfish in a world that’s all about the hustle but there are actually a lot of important reasons to take time for self-care practices in your daily life.
Reasons why self-care matters:
- You learn more about yourself by discovering your likes and dislikes and understanding more about what you have learned from your experiences and where you want to go from there.
- Personal growth becomes more likely, making it easier for you to become the best version of yourself from day to day.
- Daily stressors are much easier to handle, your anxiety is reduced, and burnout is much easier to avoid.
- You will have more energy left over to care for others from a place of love, not obligation.
Related Post: How to Simplify Your Life with the 80/20 Rule
What does good self-care look like?
Good self-care practices involve taking time for all 6 different areas of your life- emotional, practical, physical, mental, social, and spiritual- so that all aspects of your life have received some attention.
When you take care of yourself this way, you should feel healthy both physically and mentally and you will also have a more organized life overall.
Why is self-care so difficult?
This is a question for the ages, isn’t it? When something is so obviously good for us, why is it that we struggle to make it a priority in our lives?
Self-care can be a hard thing to prioritize because of the hustle culture that we live in.
So many people are hyper-focused on getting to-do lists accomplished and tackling big projects on a daily basis. We’ve also placed a bigger focus on caring for others more selflessly.
Now, don’t get me wrong, these are all good things, but we’ve made it such a priority that it can be hard to prioritize your own needs without feeling guilty about it.
Taking time for self-care is often seen as selfish or lazy in the hustle culture, which can make it even harder to prioritize.
On top of that, we’re busy people! It never feels like there’s enough time in a day to get everything done and still have time for self-care practices.
And if that doesn’t make it any easier, sometimes we ignore self-care because it can be downright difficult and, well, sort of unpleasant.
Some types of self-care involve exercise, healthy eating, and household maintenance, which can be hard and unpleasant at times.
Other aspects of self-care involve slowing down and actually paying attention to our current emotions- something a lot of people would prefer to ignore.
With all of these difficulties, it’s no wonder we struggle to take time for ourselves to observe a little self-care!
Related Post: 73 Magical Self-Care Sunday Ideas For A Better Week
How do you find time for self-care?
You will always have enough time in a day to fit in a little self-care; the trick is to prioritize it.
It’s best not to try to find time for self-care. Instead, you need to actively make time for it.
Set aside intentional moments to practice a little self-care every day.
It helps to separate that time into smaller chunks to ensure that you do it.
Sometimes, it can be easier to do twenty minutes of something once a day instead of 2 hours of something once a week.
Try scheduling in time for self-care and honouring that schedule. If someone tries to book that time with you, tell them you’re busy!
Incorporate some of that self-care time into your daily routine, as well, and you will be sure to spend more time for yourself easily.
Related Post: How to Find Work Life Balance When You’re Too Busy
6 Types of self-care and why they’re important
1. Emotional Self-Care
What it is
This type of self-care involves listening to your thoughts and noticing your feelings at the moment.
It involves quieting the noise of the outside world and taking time to really listen to yourself.
It also involves doing things that you love to do. Doing things that make you feel inspired, happy, and rested all count as emotional self-care.
Related Post: 27 Unbelievably Easy Ways To Practice Emotional Self-Care
How it can benefit you
Taking time to pay attention to this type of self-care can be incredibly important for your overall well-being.
It allows you space to better understand who you are.
Your personal growth goals will also be more achievable in your life because you are actually taking time to reflect on your progress.
It can even help you feel more creative and inspired on a daily basis!
Questions to ask to assess if you need some emotional self-care
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, you are probably in need of some emotional self-care:
- Am I losing awareness of my own emotions and feelings?
- Has all of my energy been going into other people and not myself?
- Are my creativity and inspiration withering away?
- Have I ignored doing things that I love to make time for work and other people’s needs?
- Do I feel a little lost in my direction in life right now?
Examples of activities that provide emotional self-care:
- Meditation
- Journaling
- Doing a hobby
- Going for walks outside
- Making time for personal reflection
- Goal-setting
- Letting out your emotions
- Pampering yourself in whatever way you like best
2. Practical Self-Care
What it is
Practical self-care is one of my favourite underrated types of self-care.
It involves any task that you can do today that will prevent future stress.
You could call them administration tasks or organizational tasks if that helps make it easier to understand.
Basically, anything that you can do today to make your life easier tomorrow counts as practical self-care.
Related Post: 21 Simple Ways To Implement Practical Self-Care For Anxiety
How it can benefit you
Practical self-care can be incredibly useful in your life because it can help actively reduce the number of stressful situations you will have to deal with in the future.
It will also provide you with an overall more organized and productive lifestyle.
For people who often feel guilty about self-care, this type of self-care can feel easier because it has practical benefits for your life.
Questions to ask to assess if you need some practical self-care
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, you are probably in need of some practical self-care:
- Am I stressed or overwhelmed by tasks I have to do that I haven’t made time for?
- Does the disorder in my house or office make me feel tense and uncomfortable?
- Is there an event coming up that has been causing me stress because I feel unprepared?
- Do I feel like my life is falling apart because I haven’t had time to address some important administration tasks?
- Have I been waking up every day feeling like I’m already behind schedule?
Examples of activities that provide practical self-care:
- Tackle to-do lists that have been ignored
- Clean the house
- Organize closets, drawers, and files
- Go through mail and emails
- Create a budget
- Create plans for future events
- Book appointments you’ve been ignoring
- Do a brain dump
- Donate unwanted items
3. Physical Self-Care
What it is
Physical self-care is probably the most straightforward term to define. It has everything to do with your physical health.
This type of self-care is meant to address everything related to your body’s physical health.
Related Post: 15 Physical Self-Care Activities Guaranteed To Boost Your Health
How it can benefit you
This is another type of self-care practice that can benefit you on a more practical level.
Paying attention to physical self-care will directly affect your overall physical health.
Your body will be in better shape and you will feel healthier as a whole.
Related Post: How To Start A Healthy Lifestyle Using These 29 Physical Self-Care Tools
Questions to ask to assess if you need some physical self-care
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, you are probably in need of some physical self-care:
- Am I currently at an unhealthy weight?
- Has my body felt a little dysfunctional lately? (Poor digestion, aches and pains, etc.)
- Have I been failing to give my body what it needs to function optimally? (Water, sleep, sunlight, exercise, etc.)
- Is there something I could be doing more of to make my body feel better physically?
- Do I feel like I might be coming down with an illness of some sort?
Examples of activities that provide physical self-care:
- Getting a massage or visiting a chiropractor
- Getting a check-up at the doctor’s office
- Exercising or stretching
- Going outside for some sun
- Making a delicious and healthy meal
- Prioritizing sleep
- Trying natural remedies for your ailments
- Drinking more water
4. Mental Self-Care
What it is
Mental self-care is similar to physical self-care but focuses on the physical aspects of the brain itself instead of the body as a whole.
It involves doing what you can to make sure that your brain is in optimal health so that you can perform at your best.
How it can benefit you
Though it can’t outright prevent mental illness, mental self-care definitely helps with your psychological well-being to better help you combat mental illness.
It might alleviate anxiety or depression (though this isn’t a guarantee) and it can also help you feel more inspired and creative, much like emotional self-care does.
Related Post: 30 Powerful Self-Care Activities For Brain-Boosting Mental Stimulation
Questions to ask to assess if you need some mental self-care
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, you are probably in need of some mental self-care:
- Is my mind feeling a little more ‘fuzzy’ than usual or am I feeling more easily distracted than I usually do?
- Has it felt like a long time since my brain has been stimulated or challenged?
- Have I been feeling more irritable or unusually emotional lately?
- Have I had less energy for my daily routines and work?
- Are my sleeping habits different than usual? (Waking up throughout the night or sleeping in more often)
Related Post: 25 Fun Games For The Brain To Sharpen Your Mind The Easy Way
Examples of activities that provide mental self-care:
- Eating healthy brain foods
- Exercising
- Practicing mindfulness or meditation
- Visiting a therapist
- Practicing brain exercises (sudoku, crosswords, etc.)
5. Social Self-Care
What it is
Social self-care is a type of self-care that people often don’t consider but is equally as important as the rest of them.
It involves taking time to have meaningful interactions with the people you love.
It means taking time to enjoy the company of another living being in a way that restores you.
Related Post: Your Complete Guide to Social Self-Care
How it can benefit you
Introverts and extroverts alike can benefit from time spent connecting with others.
Social interaction can help you cope with stress a lot more easily, improve your psychological well-being, and maintain healthy self-esteem.
Related Post: 47 Tips On How To Make Friends
Questions to ask to assess if you need some social self-care
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, you are probably in need of some social self-care:
- Have I felt lonely recently?
- Has it been a while since I last reached out to friends and family?
- Do I have a friend I’ve been thinking about a lot but haven’t connected with?
- Have I been feeling any symptoms of depression lately?
- Have I been craving a social event lately?
Examples of activities that provide social self-care:
- Going out with friends
- Inviting a friend or family member to your home
- Calling someone you haven’t spoken to in a while
- Cuddling with your pet
- Cuddling in general!
- Playing games online or in-person
6. Spiritual Self-Care
What it is
This type of self-care practice is probably the hardest one to get a grasp on.
It involves activities that nurture your spirit and take you outside of yourself so that you can see the bigger picture of life.
These activities are often religious but they don’t have to be.
It has to be something that inspires you at the deepest level and lets you interact with the world without being tied down by your own thoughts and feelings.
How it can benefit you
Taking care of your spiritual health is the aspect of self-care that contributes the most to your overall happiness in life.
It helps you gain a better perspective of the world so that your problems and worries don’t feel as big as they did before.
Related Post: 19 Powerful Spiritual Self-Care Practices For Better Spiritual Health
Questions to ask to assess if you need some spiritual self-care
If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, you are probably in need of some spiritual self-care:
- Do I lack a feeling of peace and joy in my daily routine?
- Do I feel disconnected from the world, as if my problems are the only ones that matter?
- Have I been questioning the point of life?
- Has my daily life felt emptier than usual lately?
- Do I feel like I’ve lost connection to the important things in life?
Examples of activities that provide spiritual self-care:
- Visiting a place of worship
- Going for a walk through nature
- Meditating or praying
- Practicing self-reflection
- Reading spiritual or inspiring texts
These 6 types of self-care are all equally important for your overall health and wellbeing.
Try to fit an equal amount of activities from each of these sections to reap the greatest benefits.
You might have noticed, too, that some activities count as multiple types of self-care.
For example, going for a walk is good for your spiritual, mental, and physical health.
If you truly feel that you have no time for self-care practices, you could save time by choosing activities that address more than one type of self-care at a time.
I hope that this post encourages you to try out some of these other types of self-care in the future. I am confident that these self-care practices will greatly improve your life!
What types of self-care are your favourite? Do you have any tips on how to take care of yourself?
0 Comments