Whenever you get involved in activities that lead to an improvement in general health, you are actually applying self-care.
The 8 main areas of self-care include:
physical, spiritual, emotional, psychological, social, professional, environmental, and financial.
1) PHYSICAL SELF-CARE
Examples of physical self-care include:
- Getting adequate sleep
- Taking a bath
- Strolling regularly
- Eating balanced diet
- Taking fruits regularly
2) SPIRITUAL SELF-CARE
It is important to have beliefs and values that guide you in life. We can engage in spiritual self-care by:
- Meditating (quietly/on God’s Word)
- Going for a personal/group retreat
- Listening to edifying messages
- Watching edifying godly movies
3) EMOTIONAL SELF-CARE
This is very helpful in managing stress. It includes:
- Refusing to meditate on/blocking access to negative news
- Saying NO when necessary
- Creating emotional boundaries
4) PSYCHOLOGICAL SELF-CARE
This involves:
- Learning a new skill
- Reading a book
- Shutting off social media from time to time (“digital detox”)
- Practicing gratitude in every situation
5) SOCIAL SELF-CARE
As social beings, it is paramount for us to maintain healthy relationships. We can care for ourselves socially by:
- Making new friends
- Deliberately interacting with others on social media
- Spending quality time with friends and family
- Staying in touch with friends and family
- Asking for help when needed
6) PROFESSIONAL SELF-CARE
Professional self-care involves:
- Staying within the confines of your professional boundaries
- Living your goals and dreams
- Attending professional trainings
7) ENVIRONMENTAL SELF-CARE
- Having a clean environment
- Wearing clean clothes
- Decluttering your home and work environments
- Keeping your environment safe from domestic harm
8) FINANCIAL SELF-CARE
This aspect of self care is important because it affects every other area of one’s health. It includes:
- Having a record of all incomes and expenses on a daily basis
- Having a saving habit
Self-care is all-encompassing and optimizing the above activities would help in improving every aspect of the young professional’s life.
