6 Key Categories of Self-Care for a Positive and Fulfilling Life

In the pursuit of a positive and fulfilling life, these six key categories of self-care encompass various aspects that are essential for well-being and personal growth.

Hi guys, today on self-care we would be looking at what self-care actually means and  the various types of self-care.

Normally when people hear self-care, the first thing that often comes to mind is physical self-care which involves having your bath, eating a balanced diet, having a skin care routine etc.

But is that really all there is to it?….

You guessed right – it isn’t!

What then is Self- Care?

Self-care is the act of engaging in activities to gain or maintain an optimal level of overall health which means:

You are not only paying attention to your physical well being but your mental & emotional well being etc.

Proper self-care prevents you from getting all too worn out. It is the key to living a much more fulfilled, productive and happy life.

We all have different needs, so also we all require different kinds of self care and have different ways of unwinding.

Self care looks different on us all and the kind of self care I might be needing could differ from the kind you might be needing.

Which goes further to tell us that this ‘self-care‘ could come in various form and types. Haven known what we mean by self care, let’s look at the types

6 Major Types of Self-Care

1. Physical Self-care

Considering I already gave out a little snippet on physical self-care above, we could aswell start with it.

This aspect of self-care happens to be the common and most  straightforward type of self care amongst them all.

Physical self-care refers to all of the activities you deliberately engage in to improve your overall physical well-being and health.

Examples include:

1. Taking a relaxed bubble bath & brushing your teeth regularly.
2. Taking a walk.
3. Getting a nap(resting & not over work yourself).
4. Getting a massage.
5. Having a skin care routine.

Also, imbibing certain good healthy habits that are neccesary for your optimal health, as regards :

1. Your nutrition (Eating well).
2. Staying hydrate.
3. Adequate sleep etc.

So give some thought to what types of physical activities make you feel calm, relaxed, balanced, and happy, and schedule regular time to do them.

2. Emotional Self-Care

Emotion is a strong feeling derived  from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with others.

A good number of us are driven by our emotions which makes some people seem more emotional than others.

Any little drift like this, you get thrown off balance and it could even be at the slightest thing.

And such could end up disrupting your productivity or could go as far as affecting your health.

We can’t always control our circumstances or situations around us but we definetly can control how we react to them.

Emotional self-care also plays a role in controlling most of our emotional outburst.

By deliberately taking part in activities that help you connect, process, and reflect on a full range of emotions.

Examples include:

1. Learning to Say no (especially to emotional blackmail).
2. Knowing your emotional boundaries and back out from anything that crosses the line.
3. You could see a therapist: Talking about how you feel and being able to express yourself to someone else would help.
4. Writing: keeping a journal is something you could learn to imbibe. I’m sure I have written of how writing did help me a lot with my emotions in my journey/about me.
5. managing stress effectively: some of our emotional out thrust is due to out increased stress levels.
6. Take out time to reflect in your feelings.
7. Be intentional about your feelings and emotions: this is definetly easier said than done but it is do-able. Choose to be happy because as whether you choose to smile or frown all day, it is your face you know.
8. Music helps a lot : put on your favourite music.
9. Practicing self-compassion.
10. practice forgiveness for your own emotional health.
11. Desist from negative self-talk.
12. Embrace more positivity: Learn more about how you can leverage the power of positive thinking to squash negative self-talk.

While everyone can benefit from investing time and attention in this critical area of self-care, people who will find this particularly beneficial are those who:

1. Have difficulty controlling their emotions.
2. Are easily affected by others’ negative moods.
3. Struggle to cope with feelings of shame, guilt, embarrassment, jealousy, anger, and/or feelings of unworthiness.

3. Mental or Psychological Self-Care

This is one area a lot of people failed to pay attention to but it pleases my heart to know that some have realized the importance of mental self-care.

The word mental partains to our mind. So your mental health begs to ask how well you are doing upstairs.

Mental health refers to cognitive, behavioral, and emotional well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act.

It is the state of someone who is “functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioral adjustment.

Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

Mental self-care involves activities that help to stimulate aswell declutter your mind and reduce your stress levels.

Taking good care of your mental health could seem difficult when life gets busy with work, family or school.

By scheduling time each day to care for your mental health, you can reduce your stress and improve your overall happiness.

People who do not pay attention to their mental health are the ones who often run into depression & get mentally ill.

Not everyone who are suffering from mental/psychological disorder are found in the psychiatric hopital.

Many are in the confinement of their homes and slowly loosing their minds daily without even realizing it.

Mental self-care involves doing things that help you stay mentally healthy. Some of these things are highlighted below

Examples of Mental Self-care

Firstly, I would always say start by learning how to block anything that threatens your mental state. It could be through:

1. Digital Detox: turn off your phone/staying off social medias for a day or sometime. If it is having a negative effect on you, you would know.
2. Stay off situations or cut off those who feel like a threat to your mental health.
3. cut out negative thoughts.
4. Practicing mindfulness: Be mindful of what you get in your head.
5. Have some you time and learn to relax

Engage with non-work hobby like :

1. watching movies, read a good book, play chess, go out and have fun(do something you personally enjoy that doesn’t keep you in your thoughts).
2. Therapy.
3. Journal out your thoughts

Your mental health is more important than a test, that lunch date, that meeting, that soccer game etc. Take good care of yourself.

4. Social Self-Care

Are you an introvert, extrovert or ambivert? Know where you fall in and know what fulfils you socially.

Social self-care enables you know your social need and improves your relationship with those around you.

Because the people you surround yourself with has a great effect on how you feel about yourself.

Social self-care involves those activities that nurtures and deepens the relationships with people in your life if thats what’s you need.

It also involves cutting off those relationships that have a negative effect on you if that’s your social need.

It’s really important that you know and  honor your social needs.

Introverts recharge by spending time alone. They begin to feel drained when they spend a lot of time with other people.

Extroverts, on the other hand, get recharged by being around other people. They prefer to be in social situations and have a lot of fun when in a social atmosphere.

A lot of people are a mix of both at different times and in different situations and with different people.

Social self-care is simply asking you to learn what amount of “people-ing” is right for you and when.

You don’t have to say yes to every outing. It’s okay to say no if you really do not want to be out there. You don’t owe anyone.

If you feel overwhelmed by life and you need some space, it’s okay to not be social. Embrace the quiet and solitude.

At the same time, it’s okay to shake things up and go party, go see a movie, just go out and have some fun if staying indoors is killing you.

 Examples of Social Self-care

1. Fun hang out with friends.
2. Going on a date.
3. Making time to call your mom, siblings and those close to you etc.
4. Staying at home to rejuvenate.
5. Embracing  solitude if thats what you need.
6. Letting go of friendships or making new friends.

5. Spiritual Self Care

Whether you consider yourself religious, spiritual, a free spirit, ambivalent, or indifferent – taking care of yourself on a spiritual level is part of the whole self-love experience.

What things honor your spirit?

Spiritual self-care are doing those things that nurtures your soul and allows you to think bigger than yourself.

Spiritual self care does not have to be religious, although for some it is.

What everyone needs spiritually for is different. You just need to dig deep and know what feels comfortable with your soul.

It simply means do what feels right for you. Do what resonates with your heart even if it makes you different.

Self-care for the soul sometimes includes  setting aside things forced onto you and finding out what you believe.

Do activities that allow you to connect on a spiritual level.

There are times when I feel really overwhelmed about a lot of things and can’t talk it out.

I move into my spiritual self-care like someone who is set back to default(lol). And it often helps.

Examples of spiritual self-care

1. Meditation.
2. Prayer.
3. yoga.
4. going to a place of worship.
5. Connection with  nature.
6. Dedicate time for self-reflection, etc.

7. Environmental self-care

Environmental self-care is as straight forward as physical self-care.

Your environment has an effect on your overall well being aswell.

A scattered environment probably doesn’t affect some.

But there are people like me who find it difficult to concentrate when my things are jumbled up everywhere.

This could in turn slow me down or make me feel all disorganised, not just physically but even my thoughts.

Crazy right?…..Well it happens

So environmetal self-care simply involves having an organized, well maintained and clutter-free work, business and home environment.

Examples of environmental self-care:

1. Decluttering your home or work environment
2. Cleaning up after a meal
3. Maintaining a clean and safe living environment
4. Organized planning etc

That’s it guys, thanks for reading through. If you enjoyed reading as much as i enjoyed writing, please share to others and don’t forget to drop your comments below.

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