The Importance of Self-Care for Mental Health

Many clichés discourage us from looking closely at our self-care, such as, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” “No pain, no gain,” or “If it doesn’t kill you it will make you stronger.” However, without tending to our own mental health needs, we leave ourselves vulnerable to stress, anxiety, depression, and other concerns. Chances are if you’re trying to get through a situation by clinging to those old clichés, you would be better off embracing healthy self-care.

Getting Started with Self-Care

Prioritization

Harvard Health Publishing compares good self-care habits to putting on an oxygen mask when an airplane is in trouble; without first ensuring you will be okay, you can’t help anyone else. When time is tight and energy levels are low, self-care is often the first thing that is pushed aside. However, those are signals to make self-care a priority.

What Self-Care Isn’t

Many people are concerned that self-care is selfishness in disguise, but making good choices that keep you healthy and promote wellness will allow you to better tend to the needs of others, not just yourself. Psych Central explains that good self-care is also saying “no” to overcommitting, and to participating in activities that create stress like attending gatherings you don’t enjoy and checking email before bed.

What Self-Care Is

Self-care won’t happen on its own.  Self-care is planned and scheduled and should happen every day by making a conscious choice. As you establish a good program, you may find it helpful to follow a checklist for guidance. Reach Out Australia offers a template you can download, or you may want to create your own.

Your Routine

Taking care of one’s physical well-being is an imperative first step toward a good self-care program.  When your body has insufficient energy due to exhaustion or lack of good nutrition, you can’t perform well. Experts explain that you leave yourself open to debilitating physical issues, both now and in the future. Good care of your body keeps you strong and resilient, ready to face the challenges life brings your way. It helps lower the risk for heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and even colds, and the flu.

Important Components of a Self-Care Routine:

Sleep

Getting sufficient sleep is vital to good physical and mental health.  Your body and mind regroup during sleep.  Average adults need between seven and nine hours of sleep every night.

Exercise

You don’t need a trip to the gym to improve your fitness program. Jogging, biking, and hiking are excellent, but even taking the stairs instead of the elevator can improve your body’s fitness. Being active increases your body’s release of feel-good, stress-fighting chemicals, so ensure you make physical activity part of your daily routine.

Eat Right

Good nutrition is a building block for staying healthy. Eat balanced meals that provide for your body’s energy needs and don’t contain harmful products. Aim for whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and foods that are not processed.

Relax

It’s important to allow yourself some downtime. Practice methods of relaxation, such as meditation, breathing exercises, prayer, and sensory focusing techniques to lower stress and anxiety and maintain a healthy outlook.

Hobbies

Engaging in healthy hobbies is an important outlet and part of personal development. Reading books, creating artwork, playing sports, and tending a garden are all hobbies noted by experts as helpful to your well-being. Participating even when you’re short on time can improve your energy and perspective.

Relationships

Don’t allow busyness and stress to isolate you. When life is difficult it’s important to participate with your support network. Make sure you nurture your social life and engage with family and friends.

Tips for Implementing a Self-Care Routine

Give Yourself Every Opportunity To Excel

We can’t be our best if our needs aren’t being met. Make sure you’re getting enough rest. Your sleep should be sacred. Create a nighttime ritual such as a warm bath and an hour with a good book before bed. Whatever happens, don’t let anything deprive you of this wind-down time and the good night’s sleep that follows it.

Focus on eating regular meals that provide you with the energy resources you need each day. If you skimp on meals, you’ll make yourself irritable and unhealthy. You deserve to be well-cared for and that includes being well-fed with tasty, healthful food.

Lastly, exercise through an activity you love and give yourself the time to pursue it, at least three times a week. Don’t punish yourself with exercise you don’t enjoy. Think of your workout as playtime — a reward for all your hard work. Choose something that makes you feel happy and you look forward to. Exercise is about moving every part of your body and that can be extremely satisfying. It can produce a natural high that overwhelms any chemical one. Dance, swim, hike in the woods, or take up spelunking — just make sure you’re actively moving regularly, doing something you enjoy.

Make Yourself Feel Safer

Anxiety, fear, and worry feed into depression, self-doubt, and loss of self-esteem. Bolster your sense of safety. Can you separate yourself from negative influences or people? For survivors of substance abuse disorders, this may mean avoiding people and places where they might be tempted to use again. If avoidance is not feasible or desirable, look for ways to make you feel more in control of your environment. If you’re in recovery, one way to take care of your mental health is to pick up a new hobby or start practicing meditation and yoga.

If you worry about your health, take a proactive stance and improve your diet and exercise program. If you are afraid of the future, journal about worst-case scenarios. Putting a name to what frightens you helps to take the mystique away.

If you’re anxious about money, make a budget and list your debts from smallest to largest, and then work at paying them off in that order. Each debt you pay off creates a greater sense of control and order in your life.

If you worry about your physical safety, take a self-defense course or purchase a home security system.

Learn to Self-Soothe

Learning to regulate your emotional responses can help you to de-escalate emotional triggers in your life. We’ve all been there: the encounter you dreaded, with a person who hurt you, or a situation where you failed before. Meditation and relaxation techniques can give you tools to self-regulate when the inevitable occurs.

The next time you’re in a triggering situation, try this: Mentally disengage from the situation and bring your attention to the area of your heart. Recall a moment when you felt happiness and love, or just visualize such a feeling.

What does it look like in your mind? Keeping your attention on your heartbeat and your breathing, re-experience those emotions in your memory.

Take The Pressure Off

It’s very common for people to overcommit themselves out of a sense of social duty or professional obligation, so learn to say, “no.” It’s OK to admit when there’s too much on your plate and you can’t handle anything else. Unless you’re Wonder Woman, you really can’t do it all.

Most of the time, people will understand. Odds are, they’re overcommitted, too. Practice graceful ways of declining. “I’m just so busy at the moment, maybe another time?” Or, the soft turn down: “That sounds lovely – can I get back to you?” That way, you can think about it and decide if you really want to do it, or just feel obligated.

Self-care is important to your physical and mental health, but it need not be challenging. At its heart, it’s really about prioritizing yourself in your own life. You can’t take care of other people if you’re not taking care of yourself.

Self-Care is a Healthy Choice

It’s important to recognize that self-care is a conscious choice and important to your overall well-being.  Incorporate self-care into your routine to improve your energy levels.  Good choices promote your ability to handle situations as they arise, as well as promote your long-term health and wellness.

 

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