Selfcare is still mistaken for treating yourself to luxury bubble baths, skincare or going to spa. While these may infact be calming activities, theres much more to selfcare than meets the eye. In it’s simplest form selfcare means “the practice of taking an active role in protecting one’s own well-being and happiness, in particular during periods of stress.”
This does not mean that you practice selfcare in periods of stress, it’s quite the opposite. Selfcare is preventative, meaning that it helps you prevent or avoid burnout. Selfcare helps you maintain your physical, mental and emotional wellbeing. It’s the daily habits or activities that we partake to help us manage our stress.
If you do meditation once in a while for example, it probably would not be effective as doing it 4 times a week. Think about how often you would like to eat fresh fruit and vegetables to nourish your body and apply it to selfcare. Consistently practicing selfcare will aid you in many aspects of your life.
What works for me may not work for you but that’s the beauty of it. Building your own selfcare regime and making it part of schedule is lots of fun. In this post I am going to sharing the 5 dimensions of selfcare and giving you some examples of them so that you can incorporate selfcare into your daily life.
5 DIMENSIONS OF SELFCARE
We know as humans we are multidimensional so it only makes sense that our selfcare needs are varied. Think of these 5 dimensions as the main pillars of ours selfcare because there’s actually a few more I will highlight at a later stage. 🙂
Are you ready? Let’s get into it.
Physical selfcare
Fuelling your body with the right nutrition, getting enough good quality sleep and movement are all key to being a healthy functioning person. Physical selfcare is probably the most commonly practiced selfcare that we are all aware of.
Physical selfcare activities include going for a walk or run, taking a nap, doing pilates, applying your skincare, cooking something nourishing, dancing and many others.
Intellectual selfcare
You may be aware of this type of selfcare without knowing it’s name, intellectual selfcare is the way in which you think and develop your mind. It’s about expanding your mind and intelligence in effort to learn. Examples of intellectual selfcare is reading, learning a new language, researching a topic or listening to a podcast on it. Other ways of practicing this may be learning a new skill, playing a game, doing a puzzle or practicing mindfulness. A healthy mind is the foundation of a healthy self overall.
Emotional selfcare
Being human means we have emotions, and most of the time instead of dealing with them we tend to numb them or pretend as if all is okay. Hence why emotional selfcare is so important for our well-being. There are many ways to process your emotions, journaling, having a support system, enjoying your own company, meditating or expressing your feeling through a creative outlet. If it all feels too much asking for help is also an option.
Spiritual selfcare
This is any ritual or practice that connects you to your highest self. Your highest self is who you truly are as an individual, the one that is not influenced by ego or fear. It does not need to be religious but it can be, it’s truly upto you. Some examples could be yoga, which connects mind body and spirit. Practicing your affirmations or reading some inspirational stories, starting a creative project or engaging with a community of like minded individuals could be other examples. This could even mean connecting with nature or practicing gratitude.
Social selfcare
We are social by nature as you may have heard before. We rely on on cooperation from other humans to thrive and survive. It’s the best way to understand that we truly need community. As we have learned in the past year especially we crave this social connection and while we are still experiencing the pandemic, there are many ways to connect. We can prioritise ourselves and our relationships with the use of boundaries, perhaps now you may only want to meet virtually. Maybe you can plan a home date night, loadshedding will help for a candle lit dinner. Perhaps you can have a hike and be socially distant.
Now that you understand the 5 dimensions of selfcare, you may write out all 5 sections of each one and name your favourite activities under them. Thereafter you can fit them into your schedule more often and really see which works out best for you. I do hope this post has helped you.
Watch my latest video on this topic below:
xoxo
Miss Dhanusha
