Self-love is taking time to appreciate your own body, mind, and soul. Self-care is taking the time to take a break from everything that is stressful at the moment. Sounds pretty simple, right? However, people often find it difficult to carve out time from their daily lives to take care of themselves. But it is important to ensure your mental and physical health are on track, and check in with yourself.
Self-care does not have to be doing a face mask, journaling, or taking a bubble bath. It does not have to look “clean” like we may see it portrayed in the media. These are all forms of self-care, but it’s okay if your method looks a little different.
Self-care can be having a good cry, leaving a toxic relationship or friendship, and even watching Netflix and eating comfort food (my personal favorite). It can be messy at times, but beneficial in the long run. We all need days off, especially when there is so much happening around the world. Taking a break from checking the news and social media can be self-care.
We all have off days, especially in this past year with the pandemic. Self-care is in no manner a “magic fix” to your problems, but it will help to pull you out of those off days. For example, if I am stuck in a daze and can’t seem to get anything done, I will take a shower and drink a cup of green tea. It seems like a very small step, but it instantly improves my mental well-being.
The biggest aspect of self-care is listening to your body. It can never be wrong. If it is telling you to take rest, listen to it. Ignoring what your body may be telling you to do may let you finish that assignment or meet that important deadline, but it will not keep you from feeling constantly drained and tired. So, don’t ignore your work, but also take a break when it is getting to be too much. Like I said before, self-care can be messy at times.
Rather than taking a single day to take care of yourself, try maybe taking small steps everyday to better yourself mentally and physically. Make sure to get enough sleep, have good hygiene, eat food with nutritional value, and maintain physical activity. Self-care is a learning process. It can not be mastered in one day. Establishing a self-care routine is the best way to keep track of how you are feeling.
I can’t tell you exactly how to take care of yourself because it truly is different for everyone. As finals approach and the school year ends, don’t forget to practice self-care because it is not selfish to want to feel mentally and physically well.
And always remember…
Everything is going to be okay.