6 Self-Care Dimensions
TO HELP LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE
Self-care is a conscious action taken to promote physical, mental, and emotional health. There are many aspects to self-care. Consider self-care as deliberate actions that are a part of our everyday tasks. Like ensuring you get enough sleep every night or stepping outside for a few minutes for some fresh air. Self-care tasks can be assessed as a multidimensional process of engaging in strategies that promote your health and enhance your overall well-being. Self-care is essential to building resilience and pivoting away from stress. You can work on eliminating stress daily. When you actively take care of your mind and body, you practice a daily ritual necessary to live your best life. Self-care is a daily task, just like brushing our teeth or preparing food. We would never purposefully forget not to do these daily tasks. Unfortunately, many people make excuses. Making statements like, “I don’t have time for that.” Or “I cannot meditate. I could never sit there and do nothing.” Many people view self-care as a luxury rather than a priority. Yet, it is the same naysayers that suffer from feeling overwhelmed, tired, and ill-equipped to handle all of life’s challenges. Being mindful of our self-care can help during difficult times or when a flare arises. It is essential to assess how you are caring for yourself. There are six dimensions
to focus on to ensure you care for your entire mind, body, and spirit. Suppose you think of a wheel or a tier. For the wheel to roll correctly, a few factors need to be in check. There should be no holes, leaks, or tears. Routine maintenance is required to ensure integrity. If one area gets overused or seems to be overinflated, it makes a bumpy ride. What will happen over time is the wheel will break, and repair or replacement will be necessary. There are six self-care areas to focus on: physical, social, professional, psychological, spiritual, and emotional. The center of the wheel is you. We need to balance these dimensions to maintain a healthy, well-rounded you. Let’s look into each aspect. 1. Physical Self-Care You need to take care of your body if you want it to run efficiently. There is a strong connection between your body and your mind. When you care for your body, you feel and look your best. To work on your physical self-care, ask yourself: - Are you getting enough quality sleep? - Is your diet fueling your body well? - Are you taking charge of your health? - Are you getting enough exercise?
The central part of physical selfcare is how you fuel your body. Treat your body with kindness, respect and honor your body like a temple. Caring for your body includes tasks like attending
your appointments, taking your medication as prescribed, and managing your health as a part of self-care. Even simply relaxing and taking time for a massage can help the physical body. 2. Social Self-Care It is easy to run out of time and neglect making time for our friends. Over time that failure can sever a relationship. Socialization is a crucial part of your well-being. Each one of us has different social needs. The goal is to figure out your needs and make time in your schedule to create an enjoyable social life. Questions to ask yourself: - Are you getting enough face-toface time with your friends? - What do you do to nurture and build your relationships with your friends and family?
Certainly, our social life has significantly transformed this past year, making it so important to reach out to your friends and family now more than ever. To have a good friend, you need to be a good friend. 3. Professional Self-Care Professional self-care involves being conscious of your workload stress and balancing your tasks. You need to take notice of your well-being during your daily work tasks regularly. Relegating stress at work and using de-stressing activities on breaks and outside of work LIVING WITH LUPUS MAGAZINE
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