Self-care is commonly referred to in relation to looking after mental health and wellbeing and is often mis-understood. I have heard it described as being indulgent or selfish, putting personal needs above those of others and as a practise for people who want to spend time alone.
Broadly speaking, self-care is about looking after yourself and it seems like common sense and pretty straight forward doesn’t it?
Human behaviour tells us time and time again that common sense is not so common. There are many examples of seemingly obvious choices that would benefit our health and wellbeing, for example eating less junk food, exercising more frequently and yet we don’t do it. We have looked at why this happens in What is Stopping you from Starting?
Self-care is another classic knowing-doing gap (see Turn Your Plan into Action for more on this). On a basic level it makes perfect sense and not many people would disagree – and yet we don’t always think this applies to us.
This article will help by:
- Improving awareness of what self-care is and what it isn’t
- Challenging thinking about your current self-care approach
- Sharing practical Top Tips on how you can broaden your range of self-care resources and practise it more of the time.
Let’s start with one of our favourite stories…