My sister and I had a thoughtful conversation about our self-care routines. She read my article focusing on how to take care of yourself during hectic schedules, realizing the importance of self-care. She made a list of self-care practices she would love to follow every day. After enduring months of encouragement telling her to practice self-care, she finally created her own routine. And she felt immensely grateful for it.
But why did she take a considerable amount of time to realize self-care?
Self-care routines are making headlines, but have we understood why “self-care” is becoming synonymous with oxygen nowadays? The daily struggle of balancing your personal and work lives isn’t exclusive to some people. It is appalling to know that almost every individual has been prey to its consequences. And while partying, buying exotic products, or mindless Instagram scrolling may be accustomed as a form of self-care, being healthy isn’t its visceral quality.
Setting the context, you might have figured out my dilemma about my sister’s postponed maneuver toward this healthy step. Everyone is focused on incorporating self-care practices into their lifestyles without figuring out if they will be productive. The overpowering thirst for achieving results rather than putting in enough effort is drilled into human minds, and that’s why we see many burned souls with a spark to start a self-care routine without knowing its true meaning. They splurge money on unproductive things and mess up their financial budgets.
So, I can proudly say that my purpose of explaining to my fellow readers the importance of self-care is derived from a larger purpose of the glow-up journey (which this website truly believes in).
What exactly is self-care?
My earlier notions about self-care relied on shopping, long hours of rest, and saying no to anything that disturbed my peace. I failed to understand its essence. Self-care can be sitting in silence for a few minutes, reading that book you kept postponing, drinking one cup of your favorite coffee at your favorite place, and many other things. After perusing articles about the importance of self-care, I realized that self-care isn’t all about material possessions.
I went from buying products for any minor inconvenience to being intentional about my situation and then deciding the best self-care practice. Again, spending money on self-care products isn’t the main dispute; it is believing that buying products is the solitary selection of a self-care routine. And we were all caught in it. It’s not the time to dwell in a bout of shame but to embrace the value of self-care in your life.
Self-care is the decisive routine of a person practicing intentional healthy habits. Its essence relies on mindful relaxation, consistent habit-building, and stress reduction. These intentional habits encouraged me to take care of myself.
The importance of self-care practices in our lives
In the past few years, I neglected caring for my health, treating it as an enemy, not realizing how brutally it impacted my psyche. I found myself caught in a cycle of restlessness over trivial matters. Even a fleeting thought would cascade into overthinking. Later, I realized that overthinking is the result of non-actions. If I hadn’t binge-read self-care blogs during lockdown, self-care would have been a distant thought. I credit one particular blog that pinpointed the importance of self-care.
I am revisiting those reasons in this blog post that changed my life. I aim to make self-care a deep-rooted self-love practice for my fellow readers. Let’s understand the importance of self-care practices for the following reasons.
Self-care practices improve your mental health
We live in our minds, and social pressures ensure we remain machines by controlling our thoughts. Practicing self-care removes this psychological mask and reveals our true selves, releasing all pent-up emotions. Society reckons empathy is a weak force. It creates a false image of strong personas that derails your sanity and creates a psychological gap between your true self and your taken identity. Stress, expectations, anxiety—they occupy your mind, and you question yourself. Practicing activities that you love brings warmth to your mind. It brings you closer to yourself and reminds you of your true identity. Mindful self-care practices are the best ways to care for your mental health.
Self-care practices create a decluttered and organized space
Your actions are an extension of your thoughts. A cluttered mind births messy spaces—be it your home, your relationships, or your career choices. When I was the victim of this brutal phase, I didn’t take care of myself. I postponed healthy actions due to my careless attitude. My mind would ruminate over imaginary scenarios, draining me completely. Inaction was the primary cause of all my tribulations.
Self-care practices pull you out of this rut. It brings action, replaces lethargy with renewed energy, and boosts happy hormones inside the body. When your mind feels the warmth of love and calmness, it intrinsically replaces negative thoughts with a positive perception. You start to look at the world with a positive mindset, which creates a healthy space for other aspects of life.
Self-care practices manage your emotions
Emotions are our identity cards. As we wear these cards daily, they remind us of our critical junctures demanding a decision. In such demanding situations, I have two contradictory thoughts: “Should I listen to my emotions?” or “Should I ignore them for the goodwill of others?” Guilty as charged for always choosing the latter. Now, you know the real cause of frustration. Self-care practices address our emotions lovingly and empathetically. One practice that pulls me away from these daily conundrums is journaling. The empty pages become my friend as I scribble my emotions out. Blame society for unreal expectations or faulty decisions influencing our emotional health; this self-introspection method positively impacts your psyche.
Setting guardrails for every reaction can leave your emotions unchecked, leaving a perilous consequence of becoming detached or lonely. My self-care practice doesn’t force me to cultivate positivity during terrible times (that’s toxic positivity), but to embrace these imperfect emotions (aren’t they part of the human experience?). Personal growth isn’t all about overcoming hurdles; sometimes, it demands sitting in a whirlpool of uncomfortable emotions and letting it pass on its own.
Self-care practices create a disciplined routine
Practicing self-care daily attempts at creating and maintaining discipline. Imagine you wake up at the crack of dawn every day and tick off all menial but productive tasks from your to-do list. An entire day awaits exciting escapades. Most people fail at repeating habits because they lack discipline. Waking up at dawn is seemingly impossible, but discipline ends this notion of impossibility. You will want to wake up early because you fall in love with this habit. That’s the power of discipline. All temporary temptations (like procrastination) are replaced with a will to achieve higher goals. I differentiate self-care from amenable indulgence. Self-care is discipline, which brings clarity about my personal goals and priorities.
Conclusion
Engaging in self-care isn’t just a luxurious habit; it is an overall health inspection. Every person’s self-care definition differs, but they are so confused with different examples of self-care practices that they find it difficult to compartmentalize their wants and needs. As you read about the importance of self-care practices, I positively know that you will cultivate a healthy self-care routine. I want to take care of myself without amassing useless products in my skincare drawer. This merited obsession stems from a heartfelt quest to provide and nurture myself as I indulge in genuine self-care practices.