By Mia Bennion

“Self-care” is a term you may have heard banded about a lot; I certainly have. When I initially thought about self-care, I pictured a facemask on, in the bath, with a glass of wine…and this may well be your form of self-care but one of the first things I want to convey in this post is that self-care comes in various forms – what matters is discovering what self-care looks like for you.

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure

Put simply, self-care refers to the act of restoring your energy to enhance your own well-being. To bust the myth, self-care isn’t about just relaxing, it’s about taking care of yourself physically and emotionally. This means that self-care can be considered as any activity or strategy that does just this!

So, if your way to unwind after a stressful day involves sticking on heavy metal and cranking up the volume then go ahead! Conversely, if classical music is more your cup of tea, Mozart could become your self-care go-to. Self-care can involve something which works to relax a busy mind, like watching a film, or something which stimulates your brain, like a puzzle. It could be scheduling in some alone time away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life or arranging to see friends to fill up your social cup. The point I’m trying to make here is that self-care takes many different shapes and sizes and something I would recommend is testing out what works and what doesn’t work for you in terms of self-care.

You can’t pour out of an empty bucket

Self-care doesn’t have to be grandiose and time-consuming; you can integrate small acts of self-care into your daily routine. This could be things like going for a walk at lunchtime (it helps if you have a dog who forces you to do this!), listening to a podcast or music while you’re doing less mentally taxing work/admin tasks or spending that little bit of extra time to make yourself a nutritious lunch (which isn’t instant noodles – I’ll hold my hands up to this!). One of my favourite self-care activities is to simply breathe but the key is to do this mindfully. Pay attention to your breathing just for a couple of minutes and focus on the movements of your lungs. Why not try out diaphragmatic breathing or ‘belly breathing’? This is something you can do anytime, anyplace – see a 3-minute video tutorial here.

Rest is productive

Taking the time to practice self-care can create feelings of guilt about not working or make you feel like you’re avoiding other responsibilities. You might think “How can I possibly go grab a coffee and take a nice walk when I’ve got a ‘to-do’ list as long as my arm?!”. But what we know is that when we haven’t allowed ourselves to rest and recuperate, our motivation, productivity and creativity can drop and our ‘outputs’ take a real hit. Self-care allows you to fulfil your potential and experience joy whilst doing this.

Self-care isn’t selfish

Self-care can not only benefit you, but also others in your life. If you feel better in yourself, this allows you to more freely give your energy to those around you, such as family, friends and co-workers. By fulfilling your own emotional and physical needs, this gives you a greater chance of being present and responsive to individuals around you. With sufficient self-care, you can feel better equipped to handle life’s inevitable challenges – you may have more patience and empathy with a co-worker who hasn’t completed the tasks they were meant to, you may be more emotionally available for a conversation with your partner or feel able to read your child a bedtime story, even after a difficult day’s work. Once you become comfortable with making yourself a priority, chances are you’ll see the positives for not only yourself but also those around you.  

Take home messages

• Invest the time in discovering your own personally effective self-care strategies – it’s not a ‘one size fits all’.
• Identify the triggers or tell-tale signs which indicate you should implement some self-care – don’t wait until burnout hits.
• Develop a habit of practicing a simple form of self-care every day, don’t just do it when you have time – make time.
• Self-care is a priority, not a luxury!