These self care essentials will help you reflect and give you tons of information to help you prioritize time for yourself, and not feel bad about it!
All too often we, as women, have a tendency to push aside our personal needs so others around us can have what they need or want.
Typically this isn’t from a place of intentionality or martyrdom but for whatever reason we just have a tendency to do this. Do we have our moments where we resent putting others first, even if we never voice it? Of course, we are human! Then somehow we find a way to feel guilty for that too.
What if I told you this approach is making life harder, not easier on everyone around you?
It’s true… Taking care of ourselves feels selfish but in reality that is very far from the truth. I have experienced both sides of this in my own life, in relationships, helping other women and moms and am a true believer in making self care a priority! Getting there has been a process though.
If any of this sounds familiar or strikes a chord…you are in the right place.
If you are trying to find balance in your life you keep reading! This post is all about the self care essentials every woman needs to know to live a happy and fulfilled life.
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Table of contents
What is Self Care?
Often times we associate self care with weight and getting amazing massages at a luxurious spa. Don’t get me wrong, they play a part but a VERY small part of the bigger picture. Stick with me here and let’s get in to what self care truly is about.
First, let’s take a second to understand what self care represents. Focusing on the technical side of the house there are eight main areas of self care. They are physical, psychological, emotional, social, professional, environmental, spiritual, and financial. I won’t spend too much time on this because it will make sense as we really get into the information below.
When you get right down to it, it is all about BALANCE!
There is probably one or more of those areas that you gave a little eye roll to. Am I right? If you are anything like me, That’s probably the one you will find you need to work on most. I know when I started focusing on self care I saw “psychological” and probably gave the biggest, most dramatic, eye roll possible. But, I now know that it is a key part of the process.
If this is all a little overwhelming or you love reading, check out these self care books for women on Amazon marketplace. There are tons to choose from.
Ok, that is the technical stuff. Let’s get into the actual principles that will make a huge difference when it comes to the real benefits of self care!
Time for a Heart to Heart
Alright ladies, we need to really take a second to have a heart-to-heart with ourselves. We love to take care of the people around us first. Some of us are so caught up in taking care of the people around us that we don’t realize that we haven’t taken care of ourselves.
My children are grown and living their adult lives now, but I remember a time when I was going above and beyond to try to be the best mom and wife that I could be. I woke up before everyone, made sure everyone had what they needed, prepped for the things they would need later (even the things I knew made them happy even though it wasn’t needed) and really focused on having a positive attitude through it all.
{Insert dramatic music…. I was trying to be Super-mom and Super-wife}
Fast forward a bit and the next thing you know I would go from happy go lucky mom with a smile on her face to finding a moment to sneak into the bathroom to have a moment to meltdown. Sometimes I would snap at the dumbest things and other times I would just cry…. over the silliest things. Sound familiar???
Now, I may have just been ridiculously proud but I did NOT want to share with anyone that this is what I was experiencing. I mean, most of the time I was fine! Smiling, there to meet everyone’s needs, and really, truly I loved being able to do it. I was just having a moment, right?
Unfortunately, I had to learn the hard way that this was not exactly true. Can you relate to any of this?
If so, keep reading. Hopefully I can save you some of the emotional roller coaster that I experienced along the way.
Alright, let’s dig in to the eight self care essentials a bit!
Physical Self Care
Technically when you talk about physical self care you are referring to movement of the body, health, nutrition, getting enough sleep or rest, etc.
So in the example I gave earlier I hadn’t built in any time at all to meet my own physical self care needs. Our tendency is to make excuses for why we can’t do this. The reality is we can and we need to.
Regardless of whether you’re single, married, have kids or don’t there are a ton of other people and responsibilities around us demanding our attention and time.
We have to make time for our own physical needs. One way to look at this to remember why it’s important is ~ if you don’t focus on being the healthiest version of you, you won’t be able to provide what you want and need to for those around you.
Of course, the obvious other reason is it just feels good and gives you a sense of self-accomplishment to have done some good things for yourself too.
Psychological
Now that we’ve dug into the physical aspect, let’s look at psychological self care. Yep, this is the one I thought was totally bogus.
My younger “know it all” self did not believe in this one little bit…. until I did.
If we look at what psychological (sometimes referred to as mental) self care is really all about~ we find that it makes a lot of sense. Some of these things include practicing mindfulness, creativity, applying consequential thinking and learning something new.
Another way to put this would be making intentional choices that help you better yourself all the time. We are never done learning and growing as people so this makes perfect sense, right?
When you get right down to it these are the things that make us tick! I, for one, would be lost if I wasn’t able to create things. Whether it’s crafting, DIY, writing, creating to-do lists and checklists, working in my garden and learning about how to better myself… I just wouldn’t be myself without it.
There are a TON of different ways to apply this but it definitely isn’t the psycho analysis I had been expecting.
There is a lot of value in truly focusing on this aspect of self care.
Emotional
This can be a tough one for a lot of people. One, it can be a very vulnerable feeling to reflect on our emotional wellness.
Generally, emotional self care is really focused on enhancing our emotional literacy, navigating our emotions, increasing empathy, managing our stress effectively, and having compassion for others.
It all starts with acknowledging how you feel. This seems so simple but, can be so hard. The same things that make you likely to set aside what you want to do for others is what drives you to ignore how you feel about something.
Each of us in our own way is better at some of these than the others and some aspects of our emotional self care can be harder to deal with than others. Managing stress is a universal struggle. Accepting the things you can change now typically helps with decreasing stress.
Having compassion for others and increasing empathy go hand in hand. Reading a book, even the news can often evoke these skills. I am one of those women who has my heart strings pulled easily. I worked hard as I progressed in my career to hide that because I recognized that others saw it as a weakness. The reality was, I was using my empathy and compassion for others in a meaningful way. I had to learn the hard way that you can be a strong woman and still show compassion for others.
We gain insight and understanding by having empathy and compassion. How you use that only you can decide, but making a positive impact relies on the actions you take when those feelings are evident.
What you can be sure of is, ignoring your emotions will lead to frustration, resentment and make you take actions that cause more stress. If you really break it down even further emotional self care is recognizing how you feel and taking decisive action with that in mind.
Social Self Care
Some of you may have this one down with no issues. This is not my forte. While I enjoy people and am generally a very empathetic person, I tend to live in my little bubble more often than I would like to admit.
Social self care is really about having a supportive network of relationships around you that you can trust and call on for help when you need it. This helps us have a sense of belonging and feel connected to others.
I have to be honest… of all the self care essentials this one takes a LOT of work for me. The crazy thing is I love people. I’m that girl that cries at every heartbreaking commercial and gives money to the homeless guy on the corner. I didn’t get it for the longest.
What I ultimately realized is that I was afraid of others seeing me for who I am truly am being disappointed. I am just an average woman. At this stage of my life I am 100% ok with that. I wish I had been able to reach that conclusion years ago!
We need people. We need to have connections with others. That doesn’t mean all people are good for you, it just means you need to find the ones that are and nurture those relationships.
Professional
Whether you are currently in a corporate career, starting out in an hourly position, still in school, taking care of your kids and taking a break from working or retired this applies to us all.
Professional self care encompasses sharing our strengths and gifts, setting very clear professional boundaries and generally living with a distinct purpose.
First, let’s address how to do this if you are not currently “where you want to be”. I would argue that this is pretty much everyone. One common misconception is that if you aren’t happy with where you are there that you are somehow disloyal to whatever it is you are doing now.
That couldn’t be further from the truth. Having goals is not only normal, it’s healthy! It is possible to appreciate, enjoy and even love where you are and want to prepare for more or whatever may come next. Having been a military spouse for 20 years this is how I continued to grow and learn through many moves and changes in environment that had to happen at specific times.
If you are one of the few that is totally 100% satisfied with where you are, congratulations! You undoubtedly have already figured out that professional self care is essential to staying in that happy place.
The bottom line is learning, sharing your knowledge and growing in the things that make you successful are the same things that bring you satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment. They also help you build your skillset and confidence!
Can’t afford much? That’s OK! There are tons of free and minimal cost courses and tutorials out there to help you out.
Environmental
This is my personal favorite! Environmental self care focuses on a well maintained, organized, and clutter-free life. This applies to all aspects of our life. Another important aspect can include a focus on minimizing waste and being very mindful about time with technology.
Organization is my happy place. Finally something I am just good and requires little work! Hallelujah!
There is something about everything being in it’s designated place that just makes me very happy. Having a plan for my day, checking off things that I planned to accomplish or walking into a room that is clean, clutter free and well decorated…. yep, that’s my sweet spot. You can read more on organization in my Tips for Living a Fulfilled Life post.
The main idea of environmental self care is that you create a space that is functional, does not distract from the purpose of its use and allows you to function in your full capacity.
Considering your impact from an environmental perspective is also very important. My favorite part of re-organizing and de-cluttering (an annual event in our home) is donating things we haven’t used in the last year. Others can get good use out of what we don’t use and it is a great reminder to buy or get less in the future.
Spiritual
Regardless of your religious beliefs you undoubtedly have a set of values that are important to you and guide your life. Of all the self care essentials this one really is so important to help keep us grounded and focused on things that really matter.
Spiritual self care is all about pursuing your life goals as they relate to your beliefs with intention and also continuing to develop spiritual awareness throughout your life.
Life is about learning and growing.
Otherwise we would have mastered life at 5 and would no longer need to experience anything to have figured out how to be successful. Let’s be honest… we would all be pretty self centered if that were the case and where would the world be then?
Financial
Depending on where you are in life this one can be really tough. No matter what stage of life you are in we all have financial goals, or should, so that we can have peace of mind and, again, be working to live an intentional life.
Typically when we talk about financial self care we are really focused on being responsible with your finances and having a very intentional and conscious relationship with money.
When my husband and I started out many years ago this seemed like a pipe dream. “How can I plan when there isn’t enough to make it month to month?” Well, having a plan and being very intentional got us in a very new place in life. Yes, we had several years of both of us working multiple jobs to meet our plan, but it was worth it.
We learned more meaningful lessons in those hard years than we have any other time in our life.
All too often financial wellness is forgotten as one of the key self care essentials. Financial stability is important to most of us and provides the ability to fulfill many other aspects of our lives. While not always fun, it’s important.
Financial self care can be incredibly empowering when you take control of the things that you can impact. This will help you start seeing your goals come to life.
Self Care Essentials for Women
It can seem like a lot if you try to approach it all at the same time. Just remember that in order to be the best version of yourself you have take time for self care.
You are the only person just like you out there so take the time to show yourself some love. Reflect on all eight self care essentials; physical, psychological, emotional, social, professional, environmental, spiritual and financial. And remember, it’s all about balance.
Also, cut yourself a break! You aren’t perfect. None of us are and that is how it’s supposed to be. Just start focusing on self care essentials to help guide yourself towards a healthier you (on the inside and out)!
This post was all about 8 self care essentials every woman needs to know to make an impact on your life in a positive way!
Ready to start making your self care a priority?
Head over to my post: 73 Life-Changing Self Care Ideas Every Woman Should Try ~ with a free checklist to help get you started!
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