Self-care is often confused for self-centeredness, many people unconsciously neglect themselves until they, either become self-aware or they can no longer function and seek help. Unfortunately, many others in their lifetime never get to consciously practice self-care. Self-care is basically being in control of your own health and well being. It includes the things that you can do to protect your health and guard your happiness. This means looking after your needs to maintain emotional, psychological and physiological resilience. Self-care is not a one-time occurrence but a day to day choice of behaviour. All human beings require self-care to function at their best and to derive optimal benefits from their environment.
ELEMENTS OF HOLISTIC SELF CARE
Physical Self-care
This is the most basic form of self-care. It involves looking after one’s physical health and grooming. Goals like having basic needs and medical care are at the lowest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and unless one is suicidal, all effort is made to fulfil these needs. Without this self-care, your very existence is threatened. Activities involved in physical self-care include eating well, exercising, seeking medical attention, appropriate clothing, shelter and avoiding harm among others.
You cannot rate a person’s level of self-care by the clothes they put on or the house they live in because these things represent self-care in its very basic form. Interactions with individuals are what reveals a person’s level of self-care and time gives the opportunity for deeper revelations. Tendency rating people based on physical self-care is high which sometimes we are proven wrong by time. Achieving physical self-care, and required optimal health wellness surely you have done well.
Emotional Self-care
Emotional self-care seeks to achieve emotional well being. Basically, it’s calling for enhancement of emotional intelligence. Ability to manage self and interact constructively with others is what promotes general happiness. Regulating own emotions is been sabotaged by the behaviour of others including significant individuals in our lives. An individual after emotional self-care is at a higher level of functioning than the individual who only focuses on physical self care because the former makes a conscious effort to influence own thoughts and emotions. Emotional self-care activities include talking about your feelings in a safe environment, journaling, meditating, reflecting, and seeking professional help.
Spiritual Self-care
Not all questions in life have obvious answers. The choice an individual makes in the attempt to find the deeper meaning of life and relate to a higher power is what spirituality is about. Spirituality is a very personal journey that requires one to have the self-determination needed to adopt the lifestyle required of spiritual beliefs. Spirituality leads to positive emotions such as peace, contentment, gratitude and acceptance. Spiritual self-care is the conscious effort to make day to day choices guided by spiritual beliefs. A few moments of spiritual connection each day will help improve physical health, decrease stress, and improve overall well-being. Activities involved in spiritual self-care include praying, meditating, singing, fasting, reading spiritual literature and connecting with nature among others.
Benefits of Self-care
Self-care improves self-esteem and self-compassion: The decision to take care of yourself is based on the realization of self-importance.Moreover it makes you offer understanding and kindness to yourself during difficult times rather than ignore your pain.
Self-care equips you for service to others. You will have more to give others when you take good care of yourself. Self-care makes us better caretakers, people who neglect their own needs and forget to nurture themselves are in danger of deeper levels of unhappiness, low self-worth and feelings of resentment.
Self-care improves immunity and general health. People are consciously engaging in self-care thus have positive thoughts that are less likely to suffer from emotional health problems.
Selfcare prevents overload burnout: The goals you set for yourself may push you to the point that you just give up. Self care helps you avoid getting to that point. Setting aside time for self-care ensures that you have time for a re-evaluation of goals and much-needed rest.
Expedition discovery and self-care
Whether self-discovering or recovering, Expedition Discovery offers you personalized service to promote your well being. Through travel, a rare opportunity is provided to help you reflect on your choices and how they affect your life. Guided self-exploration by experienced therapists helps you become aware of what works/needs for you to change your life for improvement.
Self-care is a key element of successful aftercare programs after addiction treatment. Return to normal life without a strategy for self-care is recipe for disaster. Generating and implementing a personal self-care plan during aftercare prepares the individual for a smooth assimilation back to society.
