Is there more to self-care than just pampering yourself? LOL, of course there is. Once you see the different types of self-care that I mention below, it’s all going make sense.
If you really want the full benefits of self-care, then it’s a good idea to know all the types of self-care out there.
Table of Contents
So What Are The Different Types of Self-Care?
I’m glad you asked, so let’s find out …
1. Physical Self-Care
This is the one where we think about pampering yourself, doing your nails, showering, etc … Indeed, it’s some of that but it’s also looking after your body through exercise and healthy eating.
Some examples of physical self-care are: personal hygiene, grooming yourself, getting enough sleep, drinking enough water, healthy eating, exercise and overall looking after your physical health.
Tip: Looking after your physical needs also means ensuring that you go to your doctor or dentist as well.
2. Mental or Intellectual Self-Care
It’s important to keep your brain stimulated through learning, reading, doing puzzles or any type of activity to try and keep it sharp.
I know it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s important. If you like to go online a lot then spend some time at Lumosity to see if you like it. Or you could just read a book or learn a new language. You can take your time to make it fun!
3. Emotional Self-Care
Taking care of your emotional wellbeing is huge. Who likes to be angry all the time?
Dealing with your emotions in healthy ways can have an effect on your happiness and the overall quality of your life.
I know it’s easier said than done, but it will benefit your mood.
It’s better to have some control over your feelings instead of living your life only based on how you feel.
Trust me whenever I just do what I feel like for the day, it’s usually not going to be a productive day! I can admit it. LOL!!
Some examples of emotional self-care are: writing in a journal, seeing a therapist, become more aware of your emotions before you act or speak, listening to calming music, getting yourself some flowers to brighten your mood, thinking about yourself positively or anything healthy that helps your emotional wellbeing.
4. Spiritual Self-Care
This type of self-care deals with nurturing your spirit. Taking care of your spiritual being can be done through: engaging in a religion or just doing activities that make your spirit feel grateful and alive.
Spiritual self-care can often be overlooked, but it’s just as important as all the other types of self-care. How often have we heard how important it is to take care the body, the mind and the spirit? Looking after the body, mind and spirit tends to produce a happy, healthy life.
Some examples of spiritual self-care are: going to church, praying, going for a walk in nature, meditation or any kind of activity that makes you feel alive or personally reflect on your life. Personal reflections usually help you grow as a person and is never meant to make you feel down about mistakes.
It can be hard to realize this when you make a mistake, but when I reflect on my past mistakes, I can see they were all learning lessons. I like to listen to audiobooks whenever I’m doing my chores. It makes the time pass easier. I listened to the audiobook by John Maxwell, “Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Learn.” That’s where I learned this concept about seeing mistakes as “learning” instead of “losing.”
5. Social Self-Care
I know that life can get really busy and sometimes we can put relationships on hold, but it’s so important to your happiness to maintain these healthy relationships with people.
It has happened to me, so that is why it’s so important to not let your relationships slip and make time for your friends and family. It is so easy to rationalize how you don’t have time to go out or visit friends or family when you have so much on your mind.
However, sometimes we might think that it’s not important right now but as the old saying goes, “No man is an island.” We need good people in our life and they can make us very happy.
You don’t want to surround yourself with bad company either just to socialize. Ultimately you will end up feeling bad, so it’s always better to maintain healthy relationships.
Maintaining healthy relationships helps you feel a sense of love and belonging.
Some examples of social self-care is maintaining your social skills and relationships with your spouse, good friends, family and social groups (like a church group, sports team, etc…).
Some social self-care activities are: going on more dates with your spouse, make time for those old friends, visit your family more often, take a cooking class or a community course where you just might meet new people.
6. Practical Self-Care
This type of self-care deals with every day lifestyle actions that we do to help us improve our lives. It involves how we manage our environment, finances, career, our organizational skills and a few other things. I refer to it as lifestyle self-care as well.
Practical self-care is very important because it helps us lead a structured, balanced life which can help avoid so much stress in the long run.
You can say practical self-care branches into financial self-care, environmental self-care, occupational self-care and overall lifestyle self-care.
6a. Financial Self-Care
So why is financial self-care important? People like to feel financially safe knowing that they have a stable job and can pay their bills. When those things are missing it can cause a lot of stress in our lives, so taking care of your finances is a form of taking care of yourself.
I can admit that having a stable job doesn’t always come immediately, but there is hope in knowing that it will eventually come.
Paying off debt can sometimes take a very long time, but sometimes the hope that we have is knowing that eventually we will pay it off. It might seem like ages before it will happen, but through small or large consistent steps it does happen. You just have to keep walking and you will get there.
As the old saying goes, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” I know for me it felt that way.
Taking care of your finances happens every day in the decisions we make. It’s never over (unless you are rich) but even then, you have to watch it so that you don’ lose your money through your daily habits.
Now if you can start the habit of saving money what a bonus that is! You won’t regret it. Who is going to regret having extra money in their account?
There is a free financial self-care planner available in colour and black and white in the freebie section of my website.
6b. Environmental Self-Care / Having A Clean Home
This type of self-care involves taking care of your environment. It can involve recycling which is important and other aspects as well, but I’m more focusing on coming home to a clean place.
Growing up I was a very messy person. When I moved out, I soon realized that I needed to change. Even to this day I still struggle with this. So, I know that not having a clean home can really affect your mood.
Self-care involves doing chores even when we don’t feel like it, so that we can have a clean home to live in. Not cleaning up your home can make you feel really down, so I know the feeling.
What helped me so much was this website called “Flylady.net” She would often ask, “Are you living in CHAOS?” Which means Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome. I knew that was me.
Her advice on her website helped me get into cleaning routines better. Plus she sends out daily emails as well. I would encourage you to check out her website at Flylady.net if you are having the same problem.
After you clean up doesn’t it make you feel proud of yourself? When you stand back and look at the clean room don’t you feel like saying, “I did this. It’s because of me why it is clean.” Maybe it’s just me, but that’s how I feel.
6c. Occupational Self-Care
I’ll be quick with this. This type of self-care involves our job. It involves taking care of yourself at work, by making sure that you are looking after your needs as well within the rules of your job. So if your job gives you breaks (which most should) then go take that lunch break or coffee break.
It can be very rewarding when we go to a job we like. So if you can make this happen then aim for that.
There are other aspects of occupational self-care but these are just a few examples.
Summing Up the Different Types of Self-Care
There was:
- Physical Self-Care
- Mental or Intellectual Self-Care
- Emotional Self-Care
- Spiritual Self-Care
- Social Self-Care
- Practical – Lifestyle Self-Care
- Financial Self-Care
- Environmental Self-Care
- Occupational Self-Care
This article was just showing you that self-care involves so many different aspects of your life. It’s not meant as a study guide, just a fluffy way of showing you all the different types of self-care.
It’s not perfect, but I tried and I hope it helped you! It was long wasn’t it? LOL. Ok, maybe you didn’t read it all but you got some points and that’s all that matters.
Almost every day we unconsciously work on some of these types of self-care. If you commit to working on one or two types of self-care, it will eventually start to become a habit and then you can move on to a different one. Pretty soon you will start to see a new you!
So how are you going to start your self-care journey? Let me know in the comments below. All the best.
