A Guide to Self-Care
Self-care is essential for maintaining overall well-being. It involves purposefully engaging in activities that promote your physical, mental, and emotional health. It’s what inspired the beginning of White Earth – a space to connect, unwind and inspire you to create your own self-care environment at home.
Definition: self-care is a multi-dimensional, multifaceted process aimed at enhancing well-being. i.e. conscious actions to care for your mind body and spirit.
When considering what self-care is to you, approaching it from a holistic perspective enables you to create practices that align with your needs and life circumstances. What someone may do for themselves may be totally irrelevant or unattainable for you. So, it is really important that you consider the below when understanding what kind of self-care you need and how you can create your own daily/weekly/monthly rituals to ensure you are filling your cup as best you can.
A holistic approach to self-care involves these key aspects…
Physical: prioritise adequate sleep, nutrition, and exercise
Social: connect with loved ones and build supportive relationships
Mental: practice mindfulness, manage stress, and engage in activities that you enjoy
Spiritual: explore practices that align with your beliefs
Emotional: acknowledge and express your feelings
Recreational: engage in hobbies and leisure activities that bring joy
Environmental: create a positive living and working environment.
Create your self-care plan
- Assess your needs – list the different areas of your life and major daily activities
- Consider stresses – identify stresses within these areas and explore ways to address them
- Develop strategies – create a personalised self-care plan that suits your needs and preferences.
- Prioritise consistency – regularly engage in self-care practices to build resilience and enhance your overall well-being.
I have come to believe that caring for myself is not self-indulgent.
Caring for myself is an act of survival.
– Andre Lorde
Let’s remove the stigma that self-care is luxury, self-indulgent or selfish.
And understand that it looks different to everybody, and changes with the seasons and also your seasons of life.
What daily practices nourish you?
