Suggestions for Self-Care

Suggestions for Acts of Self-Care

Self-care involves taking care of ourselves in all the different aspects of our lives. It can be surprising how some acts of self-care we might already do every day without even thinking about it, but some involve setting aside time for ourselves. We have divided this list up into the different areas of life, but some acts overlap with different areas.

Psychological Self-Care

  • Remove yourself from the bustle of life every so often; take breaks; step away from technology; say no to things
  • Turn your attention to yourself; reflect, listen to what you are telling yourself; engage your senses
  • Do something creative, or in engage in something creative that someone else has done
  • Try things; new ones, ones you aren’t good at, ones where someone else is in charge
  • Develop stress prevention/ reduction tools for yourself
  • Seek help if you need it, and people with similar experiences to yourself if it helps

Emotional Self-Care

  • Engage with the people in your life whom you enjoy and who are important to you
  • Allow yourself to feel both pleasant and unpleasant emotions; laugh and cry
  • Seek positivity; take time to enjoy things, and give yourself positive feedback; give yourself a break from time to time; forgive yourself
  • Identify things that make you feel safe, happy and secure, and do those things
  • Find something good about the day and take a moment to be grateful for it
  • Get involved in making the changes you want to see in the world

Physical Self-Care

  • Eat and drink healthily; do this often; choose something nice and nourishing to have
  • Be active often; do something you enjoy while being active
  • Take care of your medical needs Take any regular medications, go for preventative check-ups, see a professional when something isn’t right
  • Take time off; for a break, a holiday and when you are unwell
  • Do things that help you to feel good, like getting a massage or being sexual
  • Develop good sleep habits; create a bedtime routine; sleep nap, rest
  • Wear clothes that you feel good/ confident in
  • Find somewhere safe to live/ stay
  • Take care of your hygiene regularly; wash yourself, your hair, your teeth and your clothes often
  • Leave the house/ your room

College/ Work Self-Care

  • Try to prevent it from taking over your life; take breaks, set limits/boundaries, delegate if/ when possible/ necessary, take mental health days
  • Control what you can – your workspace, how you engage with those around you, what you prioritise
  • Seek and use support; get supervision – a mentor, a peer support group; negotiate for your needs
  • Find your purpose; think abut what you are doing and why, and what it could lead you to

Relationship Self-Care

  • Make time and plans with people who are important in your life
  • Check in on people; respond to people when they reach out to you
  • Spend time with pets
  • Put effort into keeping up with those you don’t see often (especially during COVID-19); touch base, send cards
  • Let other people in; let them do things for you, ask them for help if you need it, let them get to know you
  • Reduce negative relationships; set boundaries and distance yourself when necessary

Spiritual Self-Care

  • Disconnect from the modern world; take time to reflect; spend time in nature; think about the non-material parts of life, what is meaningful to you and how that fits into your life
  • Find something to connect with; people, actions, a feeling, and connect with it; take part – meditate, pray, write about it
  • Try to be open to inspiration and not knowing
  • Connect to your inner child; play, dance, dream, sing, laugh
  • Engage in something bigger than yourself; do something for someone else; contribute to, or get involved with, something you believe in

Personal Self-Care

  • Learn who you are; spend time figuring out who you want to be and what to do to become that person
  • Figure out what you want in life; make short- and long-term goals
  • Take time to check-in with yourself and your self-care levels

 

Do you engage in acts of self-care that we haven’t included above? We’d love to hear about them – let us know on our social feeds!