Benefits of Self-Care

Types of Self-Care

• There are several types of self-care, including emotional, spiritual, physical, and sensory self-care.

Emotional Self-Care

• Keep a daily journal to express feelings honestly.
• Attend therapy sessions for personal development.
• Expand emotional vocabulary by writing "feeling words".
• Spend time with friends or family who understand you.
• Allow yourself to cry when needed.
• Watch funny videos or laugh with old memories.
• Sing along to songs that express current emotions.

Spiritual Self-Care

• Practice daily meditation or mindfulness.
• Attend religious or humanistic services.
• Read poetry.
• Walk in nature and reflect on its beauty.
• Make a daily list of things you're grateful for.
• Engage in creative activities like art, music, or writing.
• List things that make you feel alive and incorporate them into your life.
• Use affirmations to ground your sense of self and purpose.
• Take a photography trip to capture inspiring things.

Physical Self-Care

• Engage in physical activities like dancing, yoga, learning a new sport, running, cycling, or walking.
• Remember that physical self-care is about what you don't do, like napping when needed.

Benefits of Self-Care

• Increases self-knowledge through understanding what you love to do.
• Gives you the resources to be compassionate to others.

Sensory Self-Care

• Cuddle up with a soft blanket.
• Focus on the smell of the countryside air.
• Watch candle flames or a fire.
• Feel the water on your skin during a hot bath or shower.
• Focus on your breathing.
• Listen to music with your eyes closed.
• Sit in the heat of the afternoon sun.
• Enjoy delicious chocolate.
• Walk barefoot in the grass.
• Get a massage with essential oils.
• Hold a pet in your arms.

Adaptive Ways of Coping with Stress

• Practice effective time management to work efficiently.
• Seek social support to minimize stress and improve health.
• Use positive reappraisal to re-construe stressful events as beneficial.
• Engage in leisure activities to reduce stress.
• Avoid relying on caffeine, alcohol, and nicotine as coping mechanisms.