10 Tips for Creating a Self-Care Practice
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What is self-care?
Self-care has become a buzzword over the last handful of years. From promoting bubble baths to treating yourself to an expensive coffee drink, and more it can be difficult to know what self-care actually means and what it can do for us.
The World Health Organization defines self-care as “tools which support the ability of individuals, families and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a health worker [1]”. Simplified, self-care is an act of self-compassion. It includes a variety of tools that can holistically support YOU.
Categories of self-care
Did you know there are several categories of self-care? Categories include physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, relationships, and work. Self-care can encompass getting a massage, reading your favorite book, saying no, eating throughout the day (yes, this is an act of self-care!!), asking for help, spending time with a friend, setting boundaries at work, and more!
We want to stress that just because there are 6 categories of self-care, it does not mean you need to address all of them every single day. Some activities might overlap categories or you might decide to just focus on one to start. Self-care does not need to be all or nothing.
10 Tips for Creating a Self-Care Practice
A few years ago, when I started my own self-care practice, I created my own self-care fanny pack. Toolbox is the word commonly used but as a fan of the 80s, I wanted to put my own spin on it. Essentially a self-care fanny pack - or toolbox or toolkit - is a physical or mental pack/box filled with a variety of tools that to take care of yourself, ground yourself, and/or cope with stressors.
We want to share 10 tips for creating your own self-care fanny pack/toolkit/toolbox!
If you are not sure where to start when it comes to self-care, consider talking with your therapist or taking this self-care assessment [2]. The assessment gives you an idea of what activities fall under each category, as well as areas that might need a bit more attention. Use this assessment as a guide to help you figure out how to move forward. You could also think through what you would do if you have 2 hours to yourself. This might be a helpful place to start!
If you’ve tried self-care in the past and it hasn’t worked out, take some time to explore why. Was there a time crunch? Were you trying to do too much? Was it difficult to know what to do and for how long? I’m a firm believer that self-care is for everyone, it’s just a matter of figuring out what will work for you. Examining why things haven’t worked in the past can help you determine how to move forward.
If you have activities or practices that you want to try to implement into your life, consider a few variables:
How long does the activity or practice take? Is it realistic to fit this into my life?
How often do you want to do the practice or activity? Every day? Every few days? Once a month?
What resources are needed? Does it cost money? How much energy will it take to make it happen (get a babysitter for the kids, take a half day at work, etc.)?
How will this activity or practice make me feel? How do I want to feel after?
When adding a new self-care practice or activity to your routine or fanny pack, start small and simple. Rather than picking 5-10 new activities, start with 1-2. Instead of making sweeping declarations that you’ll practice self-care every single day and never miss one, consider starting with 1-2 days per week and see how things go. Remember, self-care needs to fit YOUR life. Start small, assess as you go, and slowly add on, if needed or desired.
Think through any potential obstacles to completing your self-care practice or activity. How could family life, work, and just life make it difficult to take time for yourself?
Write down self-care activities and practices that are helpful to you. When the stress of life creeps in, it can be really easy to forget the different tools available to you. Writing your favorite acts of self-care in the notes app on your phone or on the post-it you put on your bathroom mirror can take the guesswork out of deciding what to do when you need that time for yourself.
Consider pairing an activity with your mood. For example, when I’m feeling anxious, deep breathing and shaking movements help the most. When I’m tired but feel like I want to move my body, yoga is a great option. As you begin to implement acts of self-care into your life, identifying activities that help with specific moods or feelings can be really beneficial.
Your self-care practice does not need to be super fancy or complicated; it needs to work for YOU. That might mean you just focus on journaling 2 days a week for a few months and observing how it makes you feel. Manicures, massages, and mental health days are awesome, but don’t forget about things like taking a walk, doing some deep breathing, enjoying a warm cup of tea, or creating a morning coffee-making ritual are also acts of self-care that can be done on a regular basis for minimal cost. Think of both/and when it comes to self-care.
Build in some flexibility and get creative. It can be really easy to turn a self-care plan into a strict regimen that leaves you feeling guilty for not completing activities on a daily basis. Don’t forget to have fun with it and do things that work for YOU.
Test activities and practices out a couple of times. It might just take a bit of time for you to find what works. Journaling, for example, tends to be an activity that some clients say does not work for them. It’s not a requirement to enjoy journaling or find it helpful. However, what usually follows when I ask more questions is something like “I did it for 4-5 days and then just stopped. But it was helpful when I did it.” This is an example of making it work for you. Maybe switch from journaling every day to every other day or every few days. Consider jotting things down in bullet points if you don’t like free-form writing. Test things out. Tweak as needed. And of course, if something is not helpful, move on from it.
Remember that taking time for YOU is not selfish.
We understand how it can feel like that, but, really, it’s the act of taking care of yourself. I heard self-care explained once time like this: Consider yourself a pitcher filled with water, sitting on a table. Often, we pour water out from our pitcher to other things in our life - kids, work, friends, etc. At some point, the pitcher will tip over, pouring out to other people, and could crack, break, and become empty. Ever feel completely burned out and overwhelmed?
What if, instead, the pitcher (you) stands strong and allows water (self-care goodness) to be poured into it? If the water (self-care) consistently flows into the pitcher (you), filling it up, eventually the water pours out of the pitcher. Meaning, if you are consistently taking care of yourself, that will trickle over into all the other things in your life that need your time, attention, and care. You have to be the one that takes time to pour into yourself.
We know that can be really tricky and might feel a little uncomfortable at first. Embrace the discomfort and try out some of these tips. What self-care activities are you planning to add to your routine in 2023?
Sources Used:
[1] Self-care interventions for health. (2022, June 30). https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/self-care-health-interventions.
[2] https://socialwork.buffalo.edu/content/dam/socialwork/home/self-care-kit/self-care-assessment.pdf
Collaborative Counseling & Nutrition is an outpatient nutrition and body image counseling center, with locations in Indianapolis and Carmel, that provides compassionate, holistic eating disorder treatment. Through practicing mindfulness, intuition, and Health At Every Size, we are on a mission to help you find a true state of well-being! We take an anti-diet, weight-inclusive approach with all our clients and work to help guide you towards a way of healthy living designed by you, just for you! This post is for education purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for treatment for an eating disorder. If you are looking for a registered dietitian or therapist to assist you on your recovery journey, please reach out today!
