Self-care

What is self-care?

According to  Oxford languages, the definition of self-care is:

In other words, it is, as it states, taking care of oneself. For most, this is so that they may better take care of their lives and those in their lives. How can you take care of others if you don’t take care of yourself? As individuals, we must come first, being our number one priority to prevent ourselves from breaking down so much, physically, mentally, and emotionally that we cannot be there for others when they need us most.

Women especially are taught throughout their lives that others must come first. Is it any wonder that women and those who are always putting others first, parents, teachers, etc. who develop the most health problems?

The four critical dimensions of self-care

According to CTRI (Crisis & Trauma Resource Institute), there are four critical dimensions to self-care. These are:

• Physical
• Emotional
• Psychological
• Spiritual

And according to themighty.com, there is a fifth dimension of self-care:

• Professional

How a lack of self-care can lead to burnout

Proper self-care is what stands between you and burnout. Burnout is when you have reached the limit of your energy in any or all aspects of your life. It shows itself in various ways, and for each person, it will present in different symptoms. A physical manifestation results in chronic illness or pain or continually being sick. An emotional manifestation would be rage or melancholy. A psychological presentation would be clinical depression and high anxiety. The spiritual expression of burnout can appear as a severe existential crisis or loss of all faith, not just religious sense. Professional burnout manifests itself in an employee being unable to focus on their work or feeling a lack of connection to their assignment; they may even feel like their regular workload is more than they can handle.

What are some example of self-care?

Self-care is limitless following are just a few possibilities

• Taking a daily walk
• Regular exercise
• Drinking plenty of water
• Limiting or restricting foods that are hard on your body
• Taking regular breaks at work
• Going on vacation
• Journaling
• Seeing a therapist
• Talking with friends
• Turning off your phone outside of work
• Meditation

For even more ideas, you can go to https://schools.au.reachout.com/articles/developing-a-self-care-plan

Of course, self-care looks different for everybody. Sometimes it means doing more or less of certain activities or even picking up a new activity. It can sometimes even be as simple (or should we say difficult) as setting boundaries with the people in your life. Whatever you do to practice the self-care we here at Zen Is In The Name are here if you wish to include massage in your self-care regimen. Just text 480-359-7452.