What Is Self-Care and Why Is It So Important

Many people struggle to take care of themselves and prioritize their own needs. We live in a society that values hard work, dedication, and putting others before ourselves. Many people feel guilty when they need time for themselves or do things that benefit them rather than others. Yet neglecting our own self-care can lead to poor mental health and even illness.

Self-care is the practice of taking time to prioritize our own needs and well-being. In this article, we'll define what self-care is as well as explore some ways that you can incorporate it into your life.

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Self-Care Defined

Self-care practices are those things that each person does or experiences to take care of themselves or to make themselves feel better. In this way, self-care is somewhat subjective as different people seek out different methods for taking care of their own needs. A person might enjoy going for a run to take care of themselves whereas someone else may have a strong preference for drinking tea and reading a book.

Self-Care vs. Self-Indulgence

On the surface, self-care might seem similar to self-indulgence. The key difference between the two is that self-care practices focus on improving the person's well-being whereas self-indulgent practices focus on instant gratification or sensory pleasure rather than improving mental health or happiness. For example, watching your favorite TV show when you feel bad may be a self-indulgent choice rather than a self-care one.

Self-Care and Mental Health

Poor mental health can have a significant impact on the quality of your life. Stress, anxiety , and depression can all significantly interfere with people's lives, often making it difficult to function in social, work, or academic settings. Mental health problems also tend to be underreported and undertreated due to the stigma associated with mental illness .

The good news is that self-care practices have been shown to improve mental health. For example, a number of studies have looked at the effect of exercise on depression and anxiety . These studies show that as little as 20 minutes of physical activity can help reduce symptoms such as fatigue, tension, and poor mood. Other research indicates that practices such as meditation , deep breathing exercises , and yoga can also help improve mental health. This makes sense when you consider that self-care activities such as exercise and meditation force you to focus on your own well-being rather than the problems in your life.

Self-Care Ideas

So if we know that neglecting our own self-care can lead to poor mental health, how do we go about incorporating self-care practices into our lives? Here are some ideas for self-care activities.

Doing something nice for yourself - As mentioned earlier, self-care is somewhat subjective so it's not always easy to know exactly what you need. One way to engage in effective self-care is to do something nice for yourself. This could be buying yourself a new shirt, taking your dog for a walk, or spending some time at the spa.

It's important not to make self-care all about treating yourself because this may reinforce negative feelings such as selfishness and guilt . Instead, try to focus on showing appreciation for your own body and mind by doing things that make you feel happy and satisfied.

The more often we practice self-care and the better we get at it, the less likely we are to neglect ourselves when things start getting stressful around us.