Self-Care and Helping Yourself Through the Holidays
The end of the year is a busy time! With so many pressing responsibilities, we often neglect to care for ourselves. For many of us, it may even feel downright impossible to take time for ourselves when there are so many other things on our plate. However, during these stressful and busy periods, it is more important than ever to prioritize self-care.
But, What Really is Self-Care?
Over recent years, self-care has emerged as a popular buzzword… but what does it really mean? For starters, self-care includes any conscious action that people take to care for their own mental, emotional, or physical health - it involves establishing specific behaviors to protect one's overall well-being.
Any activities that you mindfully engage in to promote your wellbeing and happiness fall under the umbrella of self-care. For example:
Emotional self-care might include setting up a coffee date with a friend, declining events or engagements that will cause unnecessary stress, or taking some time to meditate.
Physical self-care might include prioritizing sleep, trying an exercise routine, or adding healthy and nourishing foods to your diet.
Acts of self-care provide us with a sense of feeling recharged, relaxed, positive, and/or refreshed afterwards. To identify what self-care is for you (e.g., socializing with friends vs. staying at home and reading quietly), you will need to pay close attention to how you feel before versus after you engage in an activity.
Self-care can be temporary, like cooking yourself a nice meal, or something more long-term that you add to your routine, like a daily 10-minute walk. Overall, it is about caring for, and paying attention to, yourself and engaging in activities that improve your mood or sense of self afterwards. Self-care looks different for everyone and often depends on a person’s personality, abilities, interests, and values. Figuring out what activities are ‘self-care’ for us often involves trial and error, and self-care may not look as conventional as we often think of it as.
What is not Self-Care?
If you do not feel more refreshed or positive after engaging in a ‘self-care’ activity, then it is not meeting your personal needs. We shouldn’t force ourselves to do it, nor should it be for anyone’s sake but your own.
·For example, exercise is a form of self-care when it leads you to feeling healthy, active, and confident. However, feeling obligated to ‘burn off’ the holiday calories, and then feeling a sense of guilt for not meeting an exercise target, is not a form of self-care.
Why does this matter?
It is fair to say that 2022 hasn’t been easy for many people; life seems busier and more stressful than ever before. In turn, it is more important than ever to take some time out of a busy day to pay attention to yourself. Prioritizing self-care isn’t always easy, but it is nonetheless a fundamental component of our overall health and happiness.
For detailed information on the promotion of self-care and wellness, consider booking one of our expert speakers for your next event! Our talks are designed to provide accessible, science-based wellness education on a wide variety of topics, including mental health, healthy brain aging, positive body image, and more. Take actionable steps towards the protection and promotion of your own wellness, as well as the wellness of others, by booking a WellIntel mental health and wellness talk today!
Written by:
Rachel Mallinson, BA., WellIntel Talks Intern