Self-care
Making yourself a priority in your life
There's more to self care than journaling and yoga - although those activities are great examples. At its core, self-care is the practice of checking in with yourself and pursuing what you need in ways that increase your overall well-being.
Why would I need any of this?
It's been said that you can't pour from an empty cup. Self-care is about making sure to prioritize and care for yourself, viewing it as a necessity rather than an indulgence. It can be hard to make this mental shift - we don't all have experience tuning into our needs and noticing when our tank is running low, and some of us may have even gotten used to things being that way. But, when we take care of ourselves first and pay attention to how we're doing in the various domains of our lives, we are better able to function as our whole selves and thrive.
How do I know what I need and what to do?
It isn't always easy to figure out what might benefit us most in the moment! In part, experimenting with different forms of self-care and paying attention to their impact on our mood and well-being leads us towards identifying helpful strategies - suggestions on this site are one place to get started. Engaging in mindfulness practices give us a better grasp on what's going on internally, and may help us notice and then choose what we want to engage with next.
Sometimes, even remembering that we are worthy and deserving of self-care is challenging. Across the different domains, self-care involves integrating self-compassion into our lives and extending the same care we have for others to ourselves as well. Self-compassion is regarding ourselves with compassion; self-care is taking action inspired by that compassionate stance. Without self-compassion, self-care is just going through the motions - the two are inextricably linked.
SELF-COMPASSION
SELF-COMPASSION
Extending the same care you have for others to yourself.
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