There are so many important relationships in your life. Between family, friends, loved ones, work colleagues, and everyone in between, there are a lot of people to who you give your energy and attention. But there’s one person you should be making a priority, that you might not be: You. If you’re not sure why self care is important, you need to read this post, folks!
For some reason, women have a tough time making themselves a priority. Pile on all the responsibility we feel for all the other important people in our lives, and it’s far too common for us to let our self care slide.
Here’s the thing, though: You don’t have to give up on the love, attention, and support you share with everyone else in your life in order to prioritize your self care. You just have to add yourself to that list of important people.
Here’s why self care is important!
SELF CARE FOR YOUR MENTAL HEALTH
Look, everyone’s busy in their own ways, with their own personal pile of responsibilities, obligations, and tasks. If you don’t take the time to focus on how you’re doing in the midst of it all, it’s easy to lose sight of your mental health. And if you’re not paying attention to your mental health and checking in with yourself, you won’t be tuned in enough to make changes or take action to feel your best.
Managing your mental health is one big reason why self care is important. Prioritizing self care helps you stay on top of your stress levels, your attitude, and what your needs are. When you focus on self care, you’re more likely to notice when you need a break, a change of pace, or an activity to support your mental health.
Self care can be as simple as taking a walk, talking to a friend, or stretching your body. The point is that the more you focus on your self care and giving your mind what it needs to feel your best, the more you’ll do it. And the more you practice self care, the easier it will be for you to create your best life!
YOUR RELATIONSHIPS
When you have a jam-packed schedule, does quality time with friends and family move to the bottom of your to-do list? Human connection is so important to our well-being, whether you have a big social circle or a few people who are close to you. Nurturing those relationships, and focusing on the relationships and connections you need, is another reason why self care is important.
Think about how you feel after you’ve had a good talk with your best friend. Or maybe your cup feels fullest after a day with your parents. There’s nothing better, right?? We all have different social needs: whatever yours are, they’re worth investing in.
It might feel like socializing or spending “unproductive” time with friends or family is wasting hours you could be using to work or get things done. But time spent with people who care about, who lift you up, and make you happy, is 100% worth it.
SELF CARE AND YOUR PHYSICAL HEALTH
There’s a big connection between your mind and body! Your mental health impacts your physical health and your physical health impacts your mental health. So, of course, if you’re taking care of your body, it affects how you think and feel.
How you fuel and nourish your body with a healthy and balanced diet are some of the most important acts of self care you can do. But, it’s so easily overlooked! When you think of self care, you might think about things like hot baths or other little indulgences and luxuries. But at the end of the day, as great as those things are, it’s simple acts like feeding your body well that are truly self care.
Movement is another form of self care that your body will thank you for. There are so many ways that moving your body and exercising benefit you! From reducing stress and anxiety to managing your weight and strengthening your body, exercise has so many benefits for your body and your mind.
Even on days you might not feel like setting aside time for movement and exercise, or where it feels more like a chore than self care, trust us: moving your body is essential to feeling your best and staying healthy!
MANAGING EMOTIONS
Keeping tabs on your emotions and learning how to manage them is our last reason why self care is important.
It’s one thing to get angry about something and acknowledge, “I’m angry.” It’s another to accept that feeling, process it, and honor it.
There are some emotions we all feel that it’s tempting to suppress. Frustration, sadness, disappointment, and even loss are feelings that aren’t fun to hang out with. But if you don’t let yourself experience and work through them, you can’t learn and grow from them. One form of self care is giving yourself permission to experience your emotions without judgment.
When you sit with your emotions, you have a chance to explore triggers and see what emotional response patterns you might have. Do certain things frustrate you more than others, or upset you? Does a certain activity or person make you unusually happy?
Letting yourself experience your emotions, embrace them, and learn from them will help you manage them better in the future. And when it comes to self care, what’s better than learning how to create happiness, and avoid upsetting feelings?
MAKE IT A PRIORITY!
Create a self care plan that fits your life! Grab The Self Care Vault and get everything you need to build a sustainable and healthier lifestyle.