What’s self-care and why should I bother?

The most basic definition of self-care is that it is the action we take to look after ourselves, but it’s so much more than that. We’ve all been there where we feel low or stressed or tired (or all three) and we can’t be bothered to feed ourselves healthy food so we fill our body with rubbish, we don’t go outside and get any fresh air, we cancel seeing our friends, and we don’t go out and do the things we usually enjoy. When we behave like this we are showing a lack of self-care, basically we stop looking after ourselves because we simply can’t find it within us to care enough.

When we look after ourselves we’re reminded that we matter and that we’re worth looking after which is good for our self-esteem and our self-worth. It’s amazing how we would hate it if a friend was not prioritising caring for themselves, but yet we find it acceptable to do it to ourselves.

So what do I mean about self-care? I’m talking about eating right, keeping up with personal hygiene, exercising, getting fresh air, getting enough sleep, not drinking too much caffeine/ alcohol, not abusing our body with cigarettes or drugs, having hobbies, unleashing our creative side, seeing people we enjoy spending time with, saying no sometimes, treating ourselves, not putting ourselves down or trash talking to ourselves. This is just a start, there’s so much more.

If you’re after some further reading, I’d really recommend signing up for a free self-care starter kit from the Blurt Foundation

If you’re after some ideas for how to practice self-care, I’ve written a big list here.