Seven Self Care Pillars may seem like a lot but after this read you'll have a better understanding of the roles they each play, how to use them and which pillars to focus on. The idea is to begin building a routine around the rituals that are right for you, at this time. What we each need in terms of self care will vary from person to person and will likely change from one day... week... month or even year to the next. So there's no need to overwhelm yourself with trying to tackle them all.
To help you figure out which pillar to start with, you'll find a brief self-care quiz further down this post.
What are the 7 pillars?
- Physical
- Mental
- Emotional
- Environmental
- Spiritual
- Recreational
- Social
1. Physical Self-Care
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Nourishing the body. Eat healthy and take vitamins
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Getting 7-8 hours of sleep
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Spending time outdoors and soaking up some vitamin D.
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Moving your body daily by walking, running, or working out
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Taking a soothing bath or shower.
- Getting a massage
- Try some herbal teas
- Mental Self-Care
Mental self-care is about cultivating a healthy mindset through mindfulness and curiosity.
Mental self-care activities:
- Meditating
- Learning a new skill or language
- Setting goals
- Reading
- Journaling
- Practicing gratitude
- Doing a social media detox.
- Emotional Self-Care
Learning to understand yourself and your emotions through emotional self-care allows you to truly love and accept yourself. Emotional self-care can help to foster self-awareness, allowing you to process your thoughts and better navigate difficult or complex feelings.
Emotional self-care: ideas
- Spend time alone with no distractions
- Set healthy boundaries to protect your time and energy.
- Use Verbal or Written affirmations.
- Journal Daily
- Ask for help when you need it.
- Speak with a therapist
- Environmental Self-Care
Environmental self-care involves giving attention to the spaces around you. Environmental self-care can help to promote a sense of connection with the world around you.
Environmental self-care ideas:
- Organize and declutter... Your wardrobe, Your workspace or your pantry.
- A change of scenery. Explore someplace new either locally or through travel.
- Set the mood and appeal to your five senses: light a candle, put on music, try aromatherapy, wear something soft...sip something warm.
- Learn about the psychology of color. Pay special attention to the colors you wear, the colors used in your décor and how these colors subconsciously affect you.
- Bring the outdoors in by adding plants or flowers to your space.
- Spiritual Self-Care
Whereas the other pillars of self-care focus on nurturing your mind and body, spiritual self-care aims to nourish the soul. Spiritual self-care practices help you to tap into your inner being and belief system.
Spiritual self-care activities include:
- Meditating or breathwork
- Spending time in nature
- Connecting to a higher power. Whatever that means to you.
- Yoga
- Mapping out your core values
- Practicing Manifestation
- Visiting a place of worship.
- Recreational Self-Care
Recreational self-care involves taking care of your inner child and promoting creativity with hobbies, fun activities, and new experiences. Recreation is important because it lets you get away from the pressure of your to-do list and simply enjoy the pleasures that life has to offer.
Source: Notes by Thalia
Recreational self-care ideas:
- Make time for hobbies and creative activities.
- Go on an adventure by yourself or with others
- Do absolutely nothing (and enjoy it!).
- Get creative by painting, coloring, or doing a puzzle
- Change up your regular daily routine
- Take a class to learn something new.
- Social Self-Care
Self-care doesn’t always have to be about spending time by yourself. It can sometimes look like connecting with friends and cultivating healthy relationships. Seeking out positive social connections helps us create a sense of belonging.
Social self-care examples:
- Hanging out with a friend with zero distractions
- Setting boundaries and learning to say no.
- Volunteering your time or Joining a community group.
- Expressing gratitude to the people who are important to you. Write a letter, make a call, send a gift.
Now that you know more about the 7 pillars of self-care. Feel free to explore this site for specially curated items to help you in your self care journey. You may have noticed that I've sprinkled some links throughout this post to items I thought might be helpful.
But first, take the Self-Care Quiz to get a better idea of where you might want to start. Source: The Blissful Mind
Please do share your thoughts and let me know where you are in your self-care journey.
