Since I started studying Social Work the concept of self-care as been spoken about over, and over, and over again. When I first heard "self-care" I had no idea what that implies or why we should all try to practice good and routine self-care. If you're like me you probably think self-care is useless to you and you may be unsure what it actually is, but I've found, and I hope you will too, that self-care is super important.
What Is It?
Self-care is anything that you do that benefits your mental, physical or emotional state of being. Self-care is not a one-time deal, it's something you get into a routine of doing to take care of yourself.
Why Should I Care?
I mean why shouldn't you care? Self-care is a great way to feel better and who doesn't love feeling good? It improves your self-esteem and when you feel good you perform better. Self-care insecure that you're being the best you that you can be. When you take care of yourself you're able to be more productive more efficient.
So...How do I do it?
Self-care is very open-ended, it could be going for a run twice a week, setting aside time to watch your favorite T.V show or building one fancy Starbucks drink into your budget per week. It's really anything that makes you feel better. A lot of people like to journal or write their highs and lows of each day and each week followed by each month. This is super cool to look back at the end of the year. When first starting a self-care routine try to keep track of what you did each week and then eventually you won't need to keep track it will just become, well, routine! One of my professors stressed that starting self-care young or before you start a professional career is really beneficial because once you do enter the professional world you know how to take care of yourself. With that being said as you go through life what you do to take care of yourself may change and that's to be expected.
However you chose to take care of yourself, as long as you're taking care of yourself, you're doing it right. There is no guidebook to self-care it's all very self-regulated because you know yourself the best. Whatever it is that makes you feel like a better version of you, continue to do that, because self-care is really really important regardless of your age or how you chose to take care of you. And remember, selfcare isn't selfish.
