5 Types of Self-Care

By Niki Olsen LCMHC
@nikiolsencoaching
NikiOlsenCoaching.com

Why is it so difficult to make time for yourself? Does the idea seem selfish, take too much time away from others, or are you simply already exhausted? If you fail to take care of yourself, how can you expect to have anything left to share with others?

Self-care is a great strategy to fortify yourself for future challenges. Self-care begins with being conscious of your own needs and how much you can give to others. Recognizing, understanding, and acknowledging the emotions you feel is important to discovering what your needs are in each area. Each person’s self-care is going to look different based on what their needs are at the time. This is where it is vital to be in tune with yourself and what you truly need.

As you read through these different types of self-care, check in with yourself and see if you are in need of some extra care in a certain area.

Physical

If you aren’t taking care of your physical health, it not only affects your mental health but also your spiritual health. 

Clues you need physical self-care:

• Feeling sluggish
• Tired
• Physically overwhelmed 
• Getting frequent headaches 
• Stomach aches 
• Tension in your body 

Focus on a self-care tactic that will refuel your physical health: 

• Prioritizing sleep
• Drinking more water 
• Cutting out caffeine
• Eating more fruits and vegetables 
• Moving your body more

Social

This includes close relationships and connections. You might be around people or children all day but never feel a connection with those people.

Clues you need social self-care: 

• Lower self esteem
• Anxiety
• Sadness 
• Harder time dealing with stressful events

Ways to make more meaningful connections in your own home:

• Putting down your phone and focusing on a person for 10 minutes
• Listening without judgement or advice when your kids are upset
• Asking questions about what your family members are interested in without being involved in something else like dishes, laundry or making dinner 
• Planning something to enjoy with your family

Emotional

How well do you deal with negative emotions? Do you try to push them away, distract yourself or find ways to get rid of them as soon as you feel them?

Clues you need emotional self-care: 

• Negative thoughts consume you
• Getting irritated easily
• Hard time setting boundaries
• Feeling overwhelmed easily

How to help relieve emotional pressure:

• Journaling without judgement 
• Finding someone to talk to who will just listen
• Having a good cry 
• Working with a professional who can teach you to feel emotions rather than push them away

Mental

How are mental and emotional are different? Mental self-care is about how your brain is functioning.

Clues you need mental self-care: 

• Thoughts feel slow, foggy or cluttered 
• Hard time recalling things
• Memory problems
• Hard time coming up with words 

How to care for your mental functioning: 

• Learning what thoughts trigger your mind to feel that way 
• Reading something you enjoy
• Playing puzzle-like games 
• Meditating

Spiritual

This involves nurturing your spirit—not just doing a spiritual habit to check it off your list but to do it for a spiritual connection. 

Clues you need mental self-care: 

• Feeling alone
• Unsure of direction in life
• Feeling an uneasiness internally
• Not feeling like yourself

You can help your spiritual self by:

• Writing down ways you saw the hand of God in your life that day
• Writing down what you are grateful for like a thank you note to God
• Writing down your prayers before you say them so you can concentrate on a conversation in the prayer rather than a checklist
• Doing yoga

Don’t start working on all five of these areas at once. Look for the one that you needs the most attention and pick ONE thing to do in that area. Then make a habit of reevaluating what area you are needing for self-care regularly and implementing a strategy to help.

Remember, self-care doesn’t have to mean implementing a giant plan. In fact, if you pick something giant you will be less likely to do it. It is by small and simple things that great things are brought to pass.

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