
Do I care for Myself? Do you ever care for yourself? Care for myself – Self-care is essential to ensure good physical and mental health, it is the practice of protecting our own well-being and happiness. We, all are running in the rat race of life- running to get more and more wealth, success or power- running to give best things, best scope to our family and friends. Is not it? But we forget to take care of ‘self’- ‘care for myself’ throughout the race of life and usually ending our run by the exhausted, tired ‘self’. So, the Self-Care i.e. practicing those activities that ensure our holistic well-being and happiness is the must for our true existence.
What is Self-Care?
Table of Contents:
Take’ Care for Myself’ is the Self-care as per its literary meaning- self-care is the way of recharging our self, it is the practice of taking time to do those activities that give us happiness, a feeling of well-being- a feeling of peace within our inner core. It may be different for different people as the perception of peace, happiness is different for all. In short, self-care is the absence of self-neglect- it is the practicing of those activities that ensure absence of any physical, mental or social health issues.
‘Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.’ George Barnard Shaw
5 Pillars of Self-Care to Practice Everyday
Self-care is not the way of pampering your self for a single day- giving you the expensive gifts or spending time in a beauty parlor or gym. It is the regular practice of all those activities that make healthy physically, mentally or socially.
Physical Self-care
Physical self-care is the doing of those activities that can make you physically healthy- free from any kind of illness. To be physically healthy we should practice the following-
. Take Exercise Daily- It is very important to do exercise daily minimum for 30 minutes, it may be warm up or free-hand exercises of body or jogging or running or any kind of outdoor play. Walking for 30 minutes is also very beneficial for our body, you can use staircases instead of lift at your workplace also. Any kind of physical exercises give us the ‘Feel Good’ Feeling as it lowers the level of stress hormones in our body and enhance the secretion of Feel-Good chemicals Epinephrin in our body.
. Take a Balanced Diet, Avoid Fatty foods and Fried food.
To make us physically fit, we should take a balanced diet and plenty of water. Our diet should include fresh fruits and vegetables, adequate amount of protein and carbohydrates. To care for myself physically, we should avoid fatty foods, fried foods and junk foods .
. Take Sufficient Sleep and Rest
Proper sleep and rest is also needed to be physically healthy as sleep is the phase when the healing and repairing of our body take place. A minimum of 6 hours sleep is needed for us but it also varies with person to person. I try to take little break in between the long working hours to care for myself.
. Maintain Your Hygiene
To care for myself, it is also important for me to maintain my personal hygiene irrespective of the too busy schedule.
Read More-Happiness is a Choice. 12 Simple Ways to Be Happy in Life. – Wingsofwishes
Mental Self-care
To care for myself is not only take care of my physical health but also my mental and emotional well-being. We are now thinking only to take care of our mental health but it was neglected for a couple of years. Almost most of the people in the world are suffering from tension, anxiety, stress or failures and cannot cope up with these. As a result, they also become physically ill and exhausted. So, to care for myself we should learn to take care of our mental health in the following way-
. Spend Time with Yourself
To take care for myself, it is very necessary to spend time with me- everyday you should manage some time to spend with yourself, may it’s for 15 minutes or half an hour. It’s the time only for you- to know you- what you want to do, what you like or what you don’t like, what are your desires, what are your limitations and also strengths. You can take a cup of Tea\ coffee or any drinks, sit in a quiet place, take a sip and talk with yourself to know you- yes, to know the true you.
. Engage Yourself in Those Activities that Give you Happiness, joy
The activities that you like to do- that give you happiness, fulfillment like your hobbies, passions etc. should be in your routine. For example, You should spend some time in reading books everyday may be for 15 minutes if you like it or just listening to music of your choice or spend some time with pet dogs or take care of your indoor plants. Engage yourself with the activities of your choice will always refresh your mind.
. Maintain a Mood Journal
To care for myself, I always maintain a mood journal where I share my issues, my doubts, my sorrows, my secret emotions – I treat my journal as my friend and this is truly beneficial for me. You can also make your own journal which really helps you to make you mentally healthy.
Read More-https://wingsofwishes.in/what-is-self-respect-10-ways-to-show-self-respect/
. Don’t Feel Guilty for your Mistakes- for Your Self- Care
Self-care is not only the act of selfishness, it is the act of taking care of your self so that you can take care of others. So, never be guilty for taking care of self- never be guilty for your mistakes as mistakes are common for all. To care for myself always I am kind to myself, will you?

Social Self-Care
Social self-care is to make relationship with people- communicate properly with them, make a friend circle who will be with you in your both good times and bad times. To care for myself as the part of social self-care I like to do-
. Enhance My Socialization Skills so that I can communicate properly with people.
. I value those Relationship- my family members, my close friends and always try to keep in touch with them.
. I have learnt to behave with people with more courtesy, more generosity and also get back the same.
. I have learnt not to affected by the words of people easily and this helps me to enhance my social self-care
You can follow these to make yourself socially healthy – you can also do more and more things that make you good at maintaining social relationship and give you a quality social life.
Read More-9 Major Signs of a Failing Relationship that you should know (wingsofwishes.in)
Emotional Self-Care
It is the care to make you emotionally healthy- make you capable to regulate your emotions so that your inner self is protected. To care for myself, I have learnt to identify my emotions, level my emotions and then regulate it. But remember never try to absorb your emotions completely- it will surely make you stressed, anxious and lost. Learn to express your emotions but in a positive way- in a regulated way. Here yoga, meditation, mindfulness techniques etc. are beneficial to regulate your emotions- to provide you the emotional self-care. Emotional self-care is the-
. Identify your emotions. level those and learn to regulate those emotions.
. Learn the better coping strategies to regulate the negative emotions like anger, jealousy, hate etc.
. Make yourself emotionally stronger and matured.
. Help others to manage their emotions.
Spiritual Self-Care
Spirituality is the search for meaning and purpose in life- it is the way of exploring the awareness of self and feel the connection of self with the universe. It is not only the practice of religious activities or rituals- it is the sense of inner peace and fulfillment- it is the transition of yourself from the materialistic perspective to the humanistic collectivism. Is it essential for life? Yes, care for myself includes the spiritual self-care that allow us to really feel our inner peace and inner joy. Yoga, Meditation, Prayer, Gratitude practices, helping the people in need- in distress always enlighten our inner soul- provide us the spiritual self-care.
Words from Wingsofwishes.in
According to World Health Organization,
Self-care is the ability of individuals, families and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a health worker. So, care for myself- self-care is the ultimate care for us and we should try to provide self-care to us in those 5 pillars of self-awareness and live a Happy Life.
References
1.Self-care interventions for health (who.int)
3.Self-care in the context of primary health care (who.int)
4.5 Self-Care Practices for Every Area of Your Life (verywellmind.com)
5.Self-Care: 12 Ways to Take Better Care of Yourself | Psychology Today
2 thoughts on “What is Self-Care? 5 Important Pillars to Care for Myself.”