Now that the holidays are over
and we can slow down a little. The New Year often brings New Year’s Resolutions
with it. Now would be a good time to start some self-care. But what is self-care?
Self-care has become a trendy term that is thrown around all the time. Many
people believe that self-care includes getting pedicures, manicures, hot baths,
massages and facials. All of these things are nice and who doesn’t want to be
pampered? However, is that really self-care?
The things listed above can be included in self-care
but I think that self-care is much deeper than that. Self-care includes taking
care of our mental, emotional and physical self. Things like planning, making
budgets and living within our means are included in self-care. I believe that
we also need to include things like journaling, getting enough sleep, drinking
water, listening to music that we enjoy, exercise and going outside in our self-care
toolbox. Self-care should be something that you plan on doing for yourself
because you enjoy it. Self-care should not be another box to check off the to
do list. It is important to note that self-care is not being selfish. In her
article, This is What ‘Self-Care’ REALLY Means, Because It’s Not All Salt
Baths and Chocolate Cake, Brianna Wiest states “True self-care is not salt baths
and chocolate cake, it is making the choice to build
a life you don’t need to regularly escape from”.
Setting the goal of
incorporating self-care into our lives can start out small. We do not have to
make large changes in our lives to get benefits from those changes. Try adding
one new self-care skill to your day and practice this for a week, then try
adding another small self-care skill to your week.
Tiffany Hayner, LMSW