Holistic Self-Care is personal health maintenance. It is the extent to which an individual, family or community engages in any activity with the intention of improving health, preventing disease, managing conditions, and restoring health.
Self-Care is about people taking responsibility for managing their health themselves in conjunction with, when needed, healthcare professionals and other information and support services.
Encompassing a broad spectrum of behaviours, Self-Care includes all health decisions consumers make for themselves and their families to maintain a good level of physical and mental health. These include maintaining physical fitness and good health to preventing disease or managing conditions, using self-medication to treat and prevent illness, and managing one’s health after discharge from tertiary health care”. (Self-Care In Australia: Australian Self-Medication Industry [ASMI]).
“Self-Care is a way of living that incorporates behaviors that help you to be refreshed, replenish your personal motivation, and grow as a person. It’s the equivalent of keeping your car filled with gas so that you are ready to “motor” when you want to go somewhere!
Three Main Components of Self-Care
The following are examples of Self-Care in action:
Physical
Moving your body, whether in some structured sport or exercise, or just dancing around, stretching, walking over to the park to feed the ducks. Give it something good to eat, that doesn’t come in a bag or box from a drive through. Cook it yourself-take time for yourself, not just what ever is the fastest thing. Get the massage or something to wear that has great texture and color. Go to the doctor when you are sick.
Mental/Emotional
Be accepting, kind, easy to forgive yourself. How would you treat a good friend who needed some TLC? Take every 3rd “I Should” out of your vocabulary and say “No” at least once a week! Reasonable expectations. This doesn’t mean the end of motivation or working hard. The point is to stretch yourself, not break yourself. Set limits if that is what you need- overindulgence is not nurturing either.
Get enough people in your life, that you can laugh with, share that pizza with, talk to seriously when an occasion comes up, who respect you and don’t expect you to do all the work of keeping up the friendship or relationship. Do a variety of things for fun and stimulation, some that you can do with others, and some to do alone. Having trouble coming up with an idea? Remember things you liked when you were a child, but have long ago given up. Get the creative juices flowing? Paint, draw, get out the hammer and nails and construct something.
Spiritual
Develop a practice that exercises your mind and soul. However you define that. Whether it is a routine of prayer, meditation, attending services, that build up your spirit and faith with like minded others, exploration of yourself that helps you to identify your values and priorities, reading wisdom literature and discussions with others that deepen your knowledge of yourself and the universe, finding a way to contribute to the well being of others”. (Self-Help: Self Care - The University of Texas at Dallas).
“Self-Care is an important aspect of Stress Management. Many of us have so many responsibilities in life that we forget to take care of ourselves. While it’s hard to prioritize something like taking a bath when you have so many other priorities in life! A massage, soak in the tub or other forms of pampering revitalize you inside and out.
Taking time out to treat your body like the temple it is has other benefits:
Self-Care & Your Physical Health:
While self-pampering doesn’t always lead to major improvements in overall health the way healthy diet and exercise do, the relaxation you get from it can trigger the Relaxation Response, which can prevent Chronic Stress from damaging your health, so in a sense, Self-Care is good for you inside and out.
Self-Care & Your Emotional Health:
Taking time out to care for yourself can remind you and others that you and your needs are important, too.
Having a well-cared-for body can make you feel good about yourself and your life, and conveys to others that you value yourself. This can contribute to long-term feelings of wellbeing.
Self-Care Makes You a Better Caretaker:
People who neglect their own needs and forget to nurture themselves are at danger of deeper levels of unhappiness, low self-esteem and feelings of resentment. Also, sometimes people who spend their time only taking care of others can be at risk for getting burned out on all the giving, which makes it more difficult to care for others or themselves. Taking time to care for yourself regularly can make you a better caretaker for others”.
In addition to pampering yourself, more substantial forms of Self-Care involving healthy lifestyle choices are important, too. Consuming a Healthy Diet, getting Regular Exercise, and being sure you Get Enough Sleep are all important for long term health and Stress Management as well”. (The Importance of Self Care for Health and Stress Management - Elizabeth Scott, M.S., About.com/Stress Management).
“Practicing Self-Care First Is Not Selfish. It’s smart, and it makes good sense. Practicing Self-Care First means nurturing, renewing and fortifying your mind, body and spirit first, before attempting to nurture, renew and fortify others. Self-Care First means replenishing your well and refilling your own tank before trying to fill someone else’s.
When we have the Self-Care sequence out of order and think Self-Care should be last, we set ourselves up to be taken for granted, underappreciated, overextended, overworked and undernurtured.
At its core, Self-Care is about wisely managing and using your energy - your physical, spiritual and psychic energy - so that you can give more fully of yourself by first giving to yourself” (Debrena Jackson Gandy [2000]. All The Joy You Can Stand: 101 Sacred Power Principles For Making Joy Real In Your Life).
