Example Self-Care Routines for Beginners

It’s easy to forget about our own needs. We may get caught up on focusing on our professional lives or prioritising other people’s needs over our own. We can easily become distracted and lose track of what we need to thrive. It’s even possible to feel guilty for focusing on ourselves, but if we don’t, the chances of us being able to care for others needs is minimal. It can be difficult to assess the care we need for ourselves but finding a routine that works for us will build up our confidence to manage it.

What is self-care?

Often, ‘self-care’ is associated with skincare, beauty or night-time routines, things that are in the name of aesthetics and physical care. However, self-care encapsulates managing your physical, mental and social wellbeing.

Self-care is defined as the managing your physical, mental, and emotional needs. Some of those who have not fully grasped the concept of self-care, may see it as self-indulgent or purely self-serving. This is not true, as focusing on self-care means you can improve your wellbeing and have a positive outlook and attitude towards others. Self-care can involve things like maintaining your hygiene, regular exercise, balanced nutrition, altering your environment to give you peace of mind or socialising with friends and family.

Officially, the National Institute of Mental Health defines self-care as:

“Self-care means taking the time to do things that help you live well and improve both your physical health and mental health. This can help you manage stress, lower your risk of illness, and increase your energy. Even small acts of self-care in your daily life can have a big impact.”

If you are struggling with your mental health, the chances of experiencing stress are significantly increased, which can impact your ability to maintain exercise routines, socialise, keep to a healthy diet, and more.

Types of self-care

There are several types of self-care practices that all feed into one another. Neglecting one can have a domino effect on the others. Here are the types of self-care to be aware of.

Physical

At its core, physical self-care revolves around nutrition, good hygiene and maintaining a healthy diet alongside high-quality sleep. Regular exercise and a nutritious diet provide the energy to continuously do and achieve more, but it can also encapsulate breathing techniques to boost mindfulness.

Mental

Caring for your mental wellbeing enables you to effectively manage other aspects of your life. This can stave off feelings of stress, anxiety, depression and even improve aspects of any pre-existing conditions. Mental self-care might involve practicing mindfulness through mediation, digital detoxing or partaking in a hobby such as reading.

Emotional

Caring for your emotions requires introspection and analysis. You truly must be in tune with what you are feeling and be open with yourself so that you can analyse and process your emotions in a healthy manner. Denying your feelings, repressing them or neglecting them will take a huge toll on your mental health which in turn impacts all aspects of your wellbeing. You can practice emotional self-care through counselling sessions, journalling for self-reflection and adhering to the boundaries you set for yourself.

Social

Whilst self-care is a personal journey focused on maintaining your own wellbeing, social interactions and relationships are essential. Without these relationships, a person can become isolated, and their mental wellbeing can be affected. In times of hardship and struggle, humans often need the perspective and support of those closest to them. Social relationships and self-care can encompass passions and hobbies such as sports, discussing something such as media, or simply reminiscing.

Professional

As our work typically takes up a large portion of our lives, it can also have a huge impact on our overall wellbeing. If we are experiencing high stress levels in work, it may bleed over into our personal lives, which may lead to feelings of burn out. As it is also a source of income, it can dictate our financial situation, so the stress is further amplified.

Professional self-care is a little more difficult to practice as it may involve a case of trial and error. You may need to perfect a working method, find an environment that suits your needs, or be in an environment that facilitates career progression. There are other, simpler ways to practice professional self-care such as socialising with colleagues, completing work and being recognised by senior leadership for your efforts.

Why is self-care important?

Your life, behaviour and relationships can be dictated by your wellbeing. The healthier and better maintained it is, the chances are that each aspect of your life will be improved. However, this can only be achieved through effective and proper self-care.

Self-care not only keeps your wellbeing in check but also helps bring a sense of balance to your life. If you can manage one aspect of your life, for example, physical wellbeing, likely, this will have a knock-on effect of making it simpler to maintain your mental wellbeing.

Studies have shown that effectively practicing self-care is effective in countering the effects of depression and anxiety. When these conditions set in, it can sometimes be tough to fend off the effects and can ultimately decrease your quality of life. Proper self-care enables you to better overcome the effect of these conditions and establish a set routine to overcome the difficulties.

What are the barriers to self-care

Whilst the concept of self-care can seem simple enough there are certain things that can make it much harder to practice.

Time constraints

Between our professional and social lives, it can seem as though there aren’t enough hours in the day for self-care. But if we don’t carve out some time to address our own needs, we may crash and falter. Whilst the modern world can sometimes be overwhelming with how fast paced it is, making time for us and our wellbeing is not only a benefit to us individually, but also to those around us. If you are unsure of how to find the time to begin practicing self-care, you must remember that it can be done throughout the day in short bursts, interwoven into your routine. It could be a small run, some meditation in the morning, journalling by your desk during a break at work. Whatever it is, you can incorporate it and overcome the time constraints

Feelings of guilt

One of the key barriers people experience with self-care is inadvertently self-imposed. Far too often, people feel guilty for prioritising their own needs and wellbeing when it needs to be managed during turbulent periods. If we fail to do this, we will be unable to manage our professional lives or personal relationships, and we can quickly collapse under the weight of the pressure of not caring for ourselves.

Cost

Like with many things in life, especially during times of financial hardship, cost is factored into the feasibility of it. With self-care and its association with skincare, beauty and the like, many people assume it involves a financial cost to gather necessary equipment and resources to practice it. This is not the case. Self-care can be practiced for free. This may involve following a yoga or meditation video online, going for a run, maintaining a hygiene routine, or anything that can help keep you centred and restore a sense of calm.

How to build a self-care routine

It cannot be stressed enough how valuable an effective and reliable self-care routine is, but implementing a regular routine to practice it is where many struggle. As we have established, time is a commodity, and between our professional lives, socialising and the difficulties of life, sticking to a routine can be difficult. To maintain wellbeing, it’s important to remain committed to practicing self-care and the most effective method to achieve this is through an established and regular routine that aligns with your needs.

What works for you

One of the top tips to remember when creating a self-care routine is to look at the term: ‘self-care’. The routine is entirely dependent on what suits you best. If a short period of time to focus on self-care is what works for now, then allow yourself that time. If you would instead prefer to take a large period of time each week to reset and release the stresses that have built up, then that works as well. It is all dependent on you and what works best for your life circumstances.

Understand your limits

To maintain a sustainable self-care routine, you need to understand what you can manage. If you are for example trying to establish a daily routine, but trying to fit in an extensive exercise routine, a meditation session, preparing and cooking a nutritious meal, journalling your feelings and socialising all in one day, then you may become exhausted. You need to know what works for you and how much you can realistically manage. Focus on being present (H3):

Self-care is only truly effective when you are present and focused on yourself and your wellbeing in that very moment. An aspect of life may be affecting you in that very moment, but if you are caught focusing on the future or reminiscing on the past, you will not be able to address the issue you are experiencing. Whether it is focusing on your physical wellbeing and how to maintain it or assessing what is impacting your mental health, this can only be done when you are centred and present.

Example of self-care routines

Self-care is all-encompassing. It focuses on caring for, maintaining and improving various aspects of your life and wellbeing. Effectively managing a self-care routine provides you with the platform to lead a fulfilling life but knowing where to begin can prove to be a stumbling block. Here are just a few examples of self-care routines and practices you can incorporate into your life to manage your wellbeing more effectively.

Physical activity

Exercise is essential in any walk of life. It can stimulate the mind and naturally use up energy, setting the course in motion for a better night’s sleep. The issue some experience with this is finding the right balance for them. Going for a 10km run or the gym for an extensive workout everyday can be off-putting for some people, but not all physical activity has to be this intense. Simple things such as short-morning yoga routines or online fitness routines (which can be found using resources such as the Wisdom App) each day can be enough to keep you active, healthy and better prepared to manage your wellbeing.

Track your thoughts

Some days can be tougher and more impactful than others. One way to note your progress and effectively track how you are doing is to note down your thoughts by journalling or taking notes. Taking 5-10 minutes at the end of each day to gather your thoughts and feelings can be therapeutic, allow you to find a solution naturally or simply remind you that some days are tougher than others and you can overcome the challenges that come with them.

Remain mindful

It is valuable to remain present and focused. This is known as being mindful. In today’s digital world and the constant distractions that come with it via our phones, social media and the 24-hour news cycle, it can be difficult to remain focused on our own needs. Despite this, it is important to focus on being mindful. This can be achieved through meditation and breathing exercises. By eliminating the distractions, focusing on yourself and how your body is interacting with surroundings, you can clear your mind, eliminate stresses you are currently experiencing and focus on what you truly need. There are a host of resources that can provide you with breathing techniques and mediation practices to help you get started on the Wisdom app.

Test yourself

Whilst pushing your limits may not sound relaxing or as though you are taking care of yourself, little mental tests or trying to beat your personal best in a physical activity can keep your mind active and motivated. Whilst self-care is about managing your wellbeing and recognising what you need, it must also be used to test yourself and grow. This doesn’t mean stressing yourself and creating new problems as you cannot achieve your goals, but small, achievable goals that still test you and make you think can keep you motivated and strengthen your resolve in the face of life’s daily struggles.

Rest and relax

It cannot be underestimated how valuable rest and time to recharge is. If you are not getting enough high-quality sleep, the chances are you will become stressed, your mental health will decline, and you will be more susceptible to physical illness. But even beyond this, if you do not take time to disconnect and spread yourself out too much, you will quickly become burnt out, exhausted and this will only lead to more stress for yourself. Taking some time to relax and refresh your mind creates a clear border between the focuses of your life and enables you to focus on your own wellbeing and what you need to succeed in your personal and professional life.

How HA | Wisdom Wellbeing can help with your self-care routine

Self-care is a personal journey and routine, and it can be confusing to know where to begin and understand what works best for you. That is why the Wisdom App which is readily available with a host of wellbeing and self-care resources can be personalised to your needs and understand your self-care aims. If you are establishing a self-care routine that revolves around physical wellbeing, you can track your steps, physical activity, sleep and hydration throughout a day, enabling you to achieve goals you set for yourself. As well as this, you have access to a library of breathing exercises, short, easy to follow fitness videos and you can keep track of this using the 4-week planner and health checkers to assess your mental and physical sensations and activities.

To provide you further support with your self-care journey, you will also have access to regularly updated articles covering a host of wellbeing topics, wellbeing podcasts covering hard hitting issues and offering useful tips and tricks as well as meditation practices and breathing techniques. The Wisdom App can be your daily self-care assistant with its expert resources and keep you committed to developing your overall wellbeing, maximising your potential in and out of work whilst minimising stress and boosting the quality of your mental health.

Conclusion

Self-care can vary from person to person, but it is also essential for each person to practice, regardless of what suits their needs best. Committing yourself to continually improvement and growth can only boost your workplace performance and allow you to manage your personal life more efficiently. It is a process to find what works best for you, but focusing on yourself and your wellbeing needs will have untold benefits on your quality of life.