TL;DR [WHAT IS SELF CARE]: You may believe that self-care is just taking an everything shower and baking some cookies to make yourself feel better after a long, stressful week. And even though that’s a good idea, you have to remember that self-care is holistic, meaning it relates to your entire being, not just your hygiene. In this post, I’m going to teach you what self-care really is so you can have a deeper, more informed understanding of it.
Ah, good ‘ole self-care: warm bubble baths, silky face masks, hair up in a messy bun, fuzzy socks, and a delectable home-cooked meal.
Pause… do you think that’s what self care really is? Because if you do, you’re not alone. Social media has made it seem like self-care is only hygienic — and even though your hygiene is important (nobody wants to smell you a mile away), there are many other factors of self-care that are just as crucial and need frequent attention.
Whether you know it or not, you’ve already been practicing self-care your whole life. Things like spending a slow night in, spilling your emotions in your journal, or keeping up with your finances are all considered acts of self care. That said, if you’re looking to intentionally start practicing self-care every day, I’m going to show you how to do just that.
Are you ready, Star? Let’s do this!
This post answers the question, “What is self care?”
What is Self Care? The Real Definition:
As I just mentioned, self-care is more than just taking a relaxing bubble bath, cooking yourself a delicious meal, and binging your favorite TV series. Those are definitely some great ways to take care of yourself — especially after a long week — but I need you to change your perspective on the whole idea of self care.
In the most general, universal sense, self-care is simply doing things to care care of yourself — and that can apply to anyaspect of your life, whether it’s your finances, mental health, relationships, career, education, or spiritual health.
Here’s a more practical definition from Southern New Hampshire University: self-care refers to anything that you do to keep yourself mentally, emotionally, physically, socially and spiritually healthy.
Once you understand that there are various areas of self-care, that’s when you can start doing it the right way: the holistic way!
Types of Self Care:
Now I’m going to walk you through the different types of self-care. In this post, I’m describing 10 categories. There technically are more, but these are ones I’m going to focus on for now.
Physical Self Care:
Physical self-care is all about what you do to take care of your body, including both hygiene and fitness. Remember the bubble baths and face masks I talked about earlier? Yeah, those fall under this category, so it’s likely the one you’re most familiar with.
Below are some examples of physical self-care:
- taking a shower every morning or night
- treating yourself to a relaxing bath after a long day
- getting at least 30 minutes of intentional physical activity each day
Environmental Self Care:
Environmental self-care is probably the category you’re least familiar with. With this kind of self-care, you’re structuring your environment to be something that brings you peace and calmness.
It’s crucial to have a safe, welcoming environment because it can impact your mental health — and if you don’t already know, your mental wellbeing is arguably the most important & most influential part of your overall health.
Below are some examples of environmental self-care:
- lighting a scented candle
- using an essential oil diffuser
- decluttering your environment
- dedicating a special area for one purpose (reading, writing, journaling, etc.)
Social Self Care:
You probably know about social self-care, but you may not cater to it enough. Social self care is all about taking care of your social life, including:
- regularly reaching out to your loved ones
- setting meaningful boundaries
- strengthening the most beloved relationships in your life
Work & Career Self Care:
If you don’t think self-care slithers its way into your professional life, you’re (kindly) wrong! Work & career self careare all about fostering self-care at your workplace — not directly for others, but for yourself.
While every category of self care can include either mental or physical activities, workplace self-care has a slightly more holistic approach.
Below are some examples of work & career self-care:
- taking time off to recharge your mind, body & soul
- letting people know you’re not feeling well instead of projecting your negative feelings onto them
- setting proper boundaries for your work & personal life
- taking breaks when you feel you need them (even if you don’t want to)
Financial/Money Self Care:
Financial self-care is a category we tend to avoid or neglect, both personally and communally. But in order to be wholly well, you have to nurture every single aspect of your self-care regimen and, no matter how you feel about it, that includes your finances.
I acknowledge that money can — but definitely doesn’t have to — be a touchy subject, so I’ll keep this one short and sweet. You can read my post about financial self-care (coming soon) if you want a deeper dive into the topic!
Financial self-care is all about doing things to make sure your finances are in order and you aren’t feeling any stress caused by your financial situation, including:
- checking all of your accounts every morning (checking, retirement, investment, savings, credit cards, etc.)
- actively paying off debt
- avoiding making impulse purchases
- switching to a better, less expensive bank account
Intellectual Self Care:
Intellectual self-care is another category you may not be super familiar with. When you’re engaging in this kind of self-care activity, you’re doing something to increase your knowledge and become a more intellectual person.
I constantly preach and exemplify the importance and power of never-ending education here on The Starform. There are countless resources and methods to learn new things, so you practically have no excuse to stop educating yourself — because learning doesn’t stop when you graduate high school or college.
Below are some examples of intellectual self-care:
- reading a non-fiction book (or even a fiction book; it’s just that non-fictions are naturally more informational)
- completing a free online course on YouTube or Skillshare
- interviewing an experienced individual in an industry you’re interested in
- watching a documentary on Netflix or YouTube
- reading some blog posts about a topic you’re interested in
Mental Self Care:
This is where things get a little confusing. Your mental and emotional health influence each other, and one can’t thrive without support from the other. But there’s an important distinction so you don’t get them mixed up:
Your mental health is all about how and what you think, while your emotional health is more about your connection to your emotions.
Below are some examples of mental self-care:
- assembling puzzles
- listening to podcasts
- saying a positive, uplifting affirmation every day
- watching an episode of your favorite TV series
- coloring in an adult (or children’s!) coloring book
- scheduling an appointment to chat with a therapist
Emotional Self Care:
Emotional self-care is all about being in tune with your emotions and working toward being a highly emotionally intelligent person. Soon I’m writing a post where I dive deep into emotional intelligence (EQ), but for now, just know that it’s absolutely worth putting in the work to increase your EQ.
Below are some examples of mental self-care:
- writing down your feelings in your journal
- chatting with some about how you’ve been feeling lately
- sitting with your feelings rather than letting them pass by
- letting some feelings simply exist instead of trying to label or dissect them
Spiritual Self Care:
Last but not least, we have spiritual self-care. You’re probably reading this and thinking, “But I’m not a spiritual person!” Here’s the thing: you don’t to be spiritual in order to nurture your spiritual health.
Spiritual self-care relates to activities that you do to connect with your higher/inner self or a higher power, giving you a deeper understanding and insight of life as it is.
These kinds of activities can include more than praying or using sage in your environment. It can also look like:
- following a guided meditation video for 10 minutes
- attending a yoga session at your local wellness center
- being one with Earth and standing barefoot outside
Tips for Practicing Self Care:
TIP #1: TAKE IT SLOW & EASY
Doing too much at a time is a surefire way to reach burnout, which is something you really don’t want to experience if you can avoid it (spoiler alert: you can!).
I know this post can encourage you to go and try all sorts of self-care activities, but that’s not my intention. I want you to take some of these activities and slowly implement them in your daily routine.
For example, if you feel resentful toward your job, consider setting some boundaries to inform others how to approach you.
TIP #2: BE UNIQUE
This guide will really only help you if you avoid comparing yourself to others. Sure, someone else may express their emotions really well in their journal. But you might prefer talking to a friend or family member about them.
Don’t force yourself to fit someone else’s mold! Carve out your own instead.
TIP #3: MAKE SELF-CARE AN EVERYDAY HABIT
I encourage you to make self-care an everyday habit because the more you do it, the better you get at it.
But that’s not the only reason!
You have to treat self-care like a non-negotiable daily occurrence. It shouldn’t ever be something that you reserve for the weekends or your free time. Treat it like a newborn baby who needs consistent tender-loving care.
Recap
Today, we answered the question What is self care? I taught you all about the what self care is, why it’s important, the different kinds of self care, some examples of each, and some tips for practicing self care.
Time to Take Action
We’ve reached my favorite part: it’s time to take action. Once you’ve read the entire post, I want you pick one category of self-care to focus on for the next month. Ideally, it should be the category that needs more immediate attention, but feel free to choose whatever you want!
Feel free to share your response in the comments. You can even email me if you’d feel more comfortable doing that. I’m really interested in seeing what category you choose!
As always, if there’s something I didn’t describe something enough or there’s a topic you wanted me to explore, don’t hesitate to ask! Leave a comment, email me, or shoot me a DM on Instagram and I’ll be more than happy to share everything I know.
Until next time, keep shining, Star — one day at a time.
