When life gets busy and work, school, or family responsibilities start to stack up, it can be all too easy to fall into a pattern of neglecting your personal needs and sacrificing your own health. Staying busy can be a positive thing, however, while you navigate life, it’s important to engage in activities that promote health and boost mental and emotional well-being. While it may be challenging to prioritize at times, developing a self-care routine is a beneficial and highly effective mental wellness strategy that can be implemented with only a small investment of time.
What is self-care?
Self-care is providing adequate care and attention to your own physical, emotional and psychological well-being. Self-care encompasses everything you need to manage stress, maintain health, and feel as mentally well as possible. On a fundamental level, it’s any activity that fulfills our personal needs.
There is no one-sized approach to self-care and self-care strategies will not be the same for any two people. What works for one person may not resonate with another. Some may prefer a good workout, others may enjoy relaxing bubble baths, and some may feel best when they spend time outdoors or catch up on their favorite book. There are endless ways to practice self-care, and the best strategies for you will depend on your needs and interests.
Self-care can be categorized into three groups, physical self care, emotional self care, and mental self care. Establishing a routine that embodies all three groups will provide the best results when it comes to fostering a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
Physical Self Care
There are many ways to take care of yourself physically which in turn, translate to improvements in your mental and emotional health, physical wellbeing, and overall quality of life. This type of self-care can be implemented with a few lifestyle changes and once you gain some momentum, it can become second nature.
Here are some forms of physical self-care you can start practicing today:
- Exercise: Engaging in regular exercise is a great way to simultaneously invest time in your physical and mental health. Establishing an achievable exercise routine, whether it’s a daily walk, run, bike ride, or consistently going to the gym can generate self-esteem, reduce stress, and promote a healthy lifestyle.
- Prioritize Sleep: Getting enough sleep throughout the week is a challenge for many, however, the physical and mental benefits of being well-rested are a motivating factor to adjust nightly routines and do your best to get a full 8 hours of rest. Setting time aside for yourself to wind down, avoid electronics, and fall asleep at a reasonable hour can lead to feeling refreshed the next day and ready for whatever life throws your way.
- Eat Healthy: Fueling your body with proper nutrition is an often overlooked self-care strategy that can positively impact mental and physical well-being. When you consistently eat junk food, you deprive yourself of the necessary vitamins, minerals, and sources of energy that the body and brain need to function properly. A well-balanced diet consisting of fruit, vegetables, lean protein, and clean carbohydrates can promote healthy functioning that will lead to improvements in mood, energy, brain health, and more.
Emotional Self Care
In addition to taking care of yourself physically, emotional self-care involves caring for and attending to your feelings and emotions. It can be easy to overlook this vital part of being a human as you rush through the week taking care of responsibilities with no regard for your emotional state. Once you start to prioritize and nurture your emotions, you may notice a positive shift in how you interact with yourself and others.
Here are some ways to incorporate emotional self-care into your daily routine:
- Keep a Journal: Start with today by documenting any feelings and emotions that crop up throughout the day. As you find a self-care routine that works for you and stick to it, you might notice positive changes in your emotional health over time.
- Set Boundaries: Relationships with friends, family, and significant others can be emotionally taxing at times. Setting healthy boundaries with those around you can safeguard your emotional well-being and sets a precedence for your interactions. Whether it’s by limiting the amount of time you spend with certain people or specific topics you’d like to avoid, these are just some examples of simple boundaries with significant emotional benefits.
- Practice Gratitude: Focusing on things you’re grateful for on a daily basis can stave off negativity and improve emotional well-being. It can be as simple as paying attention to the little things that bring you joy throughout your day.
- Express your Emotions: Emotional self-care isn’t all about the good feelings. It’s about taking into account your emotional state and finding ways to improve little by little. As opposed to bottling up negative emotions, finding constructive ways to express them whenever they pop up is a great way to push yourself in the right direction. Perhaps you have a friend or family member you are close with who doesn’t mind a call or conversation once in a while where you vent to each other, air out any frustrations, and show up for each other in supportive ways.
Mental Self Care
Along with the physical and emotional side of things, another piece of a balanced self-care routine is actions that are focused primarily on mental health. While emotional and physical self-care produce mental health benefits, the focus of mental self-care practices is to engage in activities that improve your mental well-being.
Here are some mental self-care methods:
- Engage in Mindfulness: Mindfulness practices including meditation, breathing techniques, and grounding exercises can help you remain present. Shifting your focus to yourself in the present moments keeps you away from dwelling in the past or fearing the future.
- Creativity and Passions: Finding time to pursue creative outlets and passions can bring joy and fulfillment to your life. Whether it’s getting back into an old hobby or finding something new to get excited about, setting aside time throughout the week to pursue these outlets will give you fulfillment and nourish your mental well-being.
- Foster Connections: Social isolation is a serious issue that may lead to a destructive pattern of loneliness. Calling friends and family, being of service, or simply going out for a night will keep you connected to your social circle and involved with the people you care about.
- Setting Goals and Priorities: Prioritizing your time and setting achievable goals for yourself are great ways to stay focused and work towards improving your overall well-being. Setting time aside to follow through on your self-care routine is a great place to start.
How is self-care connected to mental health?
Practicing self-care includes the things you do to protect your mental health as well as any strategies or habits you maintain for your physical and emotional health. Self-care involves meeting your psychological needs, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that practicing self-care has a significant effect on your mental health.
Starting and following through with a self-care routine boosts self-esteem, self-improvement, and self-awareness. When you prioritize yourself, you develop a better relationship with the person that matters the most—you. By regularly caring for yourself and making self-care a priority, your feelings of happiness and self-worth will increase. Conversely, when you avoid things that make you feel mentally and physically well, you may deplete your self-worth.
Regular self-care greatly enhances self-awareness. When you become more self-aware, you’ll be able to step back and observe your thoughts and feelings as they unfold. You’ll recognize patterns in your emotions, and you’ll learn which events or situations can trigger negative feelings. Being self-aware allows you to make changes and be your best self.
Not to mention, as self-esteem and self-awareness improve, it has a positive effect on your overall mindset. This, in turn, enables us to care for our friends and loved ones in a way that we might not have been able to do before.
What prevents people from practicing self-care?
While self-care is important for mental and physical health, it’s something that many people fail to practice regularly. Some people report that a lack of energy, money and/or time prevents them from practicing self-care. However, there are many ways to practice self-care that don’t involve enormous amounts of energy, money or time. It’s often quick, simple self-care strategies practiced regularly that bring the most joy and rejuvenation.
According to the World Health Organization, half of the world’s population doesn’t have access to essential health services, highlighting the importance of self care interventions for everyone. There’s no better time than now to establish a self-care routine. Make yourself a priority by discovering the best ways to meet your physical, emotional and psychological needs.
Where Self-Care and Mental Health Treatment Meet
At times, a self-care plan alone is not enough when it comes to healing from mental health disorders. If you need extra support from mental health professionals, reaching out is a courageous step in the right direction.
The intersection of mental health treatment and self-care routines represents a holistic approach to well-being that incorporates professional interventions and personal practices. Mental health treatment typically includes group and individual therapy sessions, medication management if necessary, one-on-one case management, and learning healthy coping mechanisms.
At Clear Behavioral Health, we understand how important it is to include achievable self-care strategies in our treatment plans. Treatment involves a lot of work on yourself both inside and outside of a facility setting. If you or a loved one is struggling with depression, anxiety, stress, or any other mental health condition, contact us today to learn more about our treatment programs.
We offer a full continuum of care for mental health including residential mental health treatment for severe conditions, outpatient mental health programs, and virtual IOP serving all of California. If you’re struggling with addiction or substance abuse, we also offer drug and alcohol detox for stabilization, residential rehab, and dual diagnosis outpatient programs. Don’t let mental health struggles get in the way of living the life you deserve. Your journey toward improved mental health and well-being is only a call or click away.
