What Is Self-Care?
According to this definition, self-care includes everything related to staying physically healthy — including hygiene, nutrition, and medical care when needed. It’s all the steps you can take to manage the various stressors in your life and take care of your health and well-being.
Self-care does not mean the same thing for everyone. Different people will adopt different self-care practices, and even your own definition might change over time. “What is self-care for one person will likely differ from someone else, and what’s self-care for you one day might not feel like self-care another day,” says Marni Amsellem, PhD, a licensed psychologist based in the greater New York metropolitan area.
Regular self-care may help you put your best foot forward. “When we are regularly taking care of ourselves, we are better able to react to the things that go on in our lives,” Dr. Amsellem says. “It’s something we do to maintain positive well-being.”
As self-care has become more mainstream, the definitions have started to become more about general well-being and tend to focus on tuning in to one’s needs and meeting those needs. “Self-care is anything that you do for yourself that feels nourishing,” says Amsellem.
“That can be something that’s relaxing or calming, or it can be something that is intellectual or spiritual or physical or practical or something you need to get done,” she says.
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