5 Self-Care Practices for Every Area of Your Life
Promote Your Physical, Mental, and Emotional Health With Self-Care Practices
What is self-care?
Self-care has been defined as "a multidimensional, multifaceted process of purposeful engagement in strategies that promote healthy functioning and enhance well-being." Essentially, the term describes a conscious act a person takes in order to promote their own physical, mental, and emotional health. Here are the different types of self-care you can consider practicing:
1. Physical self-care
You need to take care of your body if you want it to run efficiently. When you're caring for your body, you'll think and feel better. Physical self-care includes how you're fuelling your body, how much sleep you're getting, how much physical activity you are doing, and how well you're caring for your physical needs.
2. Social self-care
Socialization is key to self-care. The best way to cultivate and maintain close relationships is to put time and energy into building your relationship with others. Everyone has slightly different social needs.
3. Mental self-care
The way you think and the things that you're filling your mind with greatly influence your psychological well-being. Mental self-care includes doing things that keep your mind sharp, like puzzles, or learning about a subject that fascinates you. You might find reading books or watching movies that inspire you fuels your mind.
4. Spiritual self-care
Research shows that a lifestyle including religion or spirituality is generally a healthier lifestyle. Nurturing your spirit, however, doesn't have to involve religion. It can involve anything that helps you develop a deeper sense of meaning, understanding, or connection with the universe.
5. Emotional self-care
It's important to have healthy coping skills to deal with uncomfortable emotions, like anger, anxiety, and sadness. Emotional self-care may include activities that help you acknowledge and express your feelings regularly and safely.
Develop your self-care plan
Here is a list of steps you can take to develop your own self-care plan:
Assess your needs: Make a list of the different parts of your life and major activities that you engage in each day. Work, school, relationships, and family are some you might list.
Consider your stressors: Think about the aspects of these areas that cause stress and consider some ways you might address that stress.
Take small steps: You don't have to tackle everything all at once. Identify one small step you can take to begin caring for yourself better.
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Recipe of the week
Avocado Salsa
Total time: Prep: 20 min. + chilling
Ingredients
1-2/3 cups (about 8-1/4 ounces) frozen corn, thawed
2 cans (2-1/4 ounces each) sliced ripe olives, drained
1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
4 medium ripe avocados, peeled
Tortilla chips
Directions
1. Combine corn, olives, red pepper, and onion. In another bowl, mix the next seven ingredients. Pour over corn mixture; toss to coat. Refrigerate, covered, overnight.
2. Just before serving, chop avocados; stir into salsa. Serve with tortilla chips.