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Self-Care

  • Team A
  • Mar 31, 2022
  • 5 min read

Updated: Apr 11, 2022

What is Self-Care?

Self care is the practice of “taking an active role in protecting one's own well-being and happiness, in particular during periods of stress”. Being kind to ourselves should always be a top priority. Healing ourselves from trauma is a challenging journey that requires lots of commitment but assists greatly in allowing individuals to rebuild their sense of control and self-worth. Thus, we must find ways to care for ourselves physically, emotionally, spiritually, and socially. Most importantly we must do things that make us happy, because happiness is a crucial step in healing.


Types of self-Care

Although there is endless forms of self-care that individuals can engage in we have broken the types of strategies you can engage in into 3 categories to help you think about the areas you want to focus on the most.



1. Physical Strategies

Physical strategies are anything you can engage in that are perceived through the senses. These activities can include but are not limited to:

  • Exercise (dancing, swimming, running/walking, ext.)

  • Deep Breathing

  • Shopping

  • Creating Art

  • Eating your favourite food

  • Getting and adequate amount of sleep

  • Reading ext.


2. Relational Strategies

Relational strategies can be defined as the self-care you engage in involving other people. This can include but is not limited to:

  • Speaking to a therapist

  • Sharing feelings with friends and/or family

  • Spending time with pets

  • Going out to dinner with friends


3. Cognitive Strategies

Cognitive strategies involve activities you can engage in using the mind. These can include but are not limited to:

  • Mindful meditation

  • Acknowledging FIVE things you can see, FOUR things you can touch, THREE things you can hear, TWO things you can smell, and ONE thing you can taste when feeling anxious

  • Positive Imagery (imagining things that make you happy or calm)

  • Praying or engaging in spiritual practices

  • Journaling

Ways to Engage in Self-Care

Self-care will look different for everyone. In order to engage in purposeful self-care, the actions you take should be personal and meaningful to YOU – regardless of anyone else’s opinion on the activities you choose. Here are some tips to help get you started on your self-care journey:


1. Positive Self-Affirmations

Positive affirmations help to reprogram the brain to replace all the negative words we have been conditioned to believe with positive ones. This can be done by saying these affirmations out loud daily or listening to them daily. Some examples of positive affirmations are:



2. Physical Exercise

Studies show that trauma in the mind can be healed through the body, this is called mind-body intervention. As such, it is important to find at least one physical outlet to help channel and heal our grief. This can include:

  • Yoga

  • Going for a walk

  • Going to the gym ext.



3. Pick up a Hobby that Makes you Happy

Perhaps you used to have a hobby that you were very passionate about that you stopped doing. Or you have always been interested in trying something but just never got around to it. As part of your self-care journey, you can pick up an old hobby or start a new one that brings you joy.



21 Easy Hobbys to Pickup:


4. Ask for Help

There is no shame in asking for help. If you have the capacity to safely do so, find someone you trust and speak to them about what’s going on. This can be a counsellor, friends, family, ext.







5. Take deep breaths

We often take for granted how important taking deep breaths is. Breath work helps us to slow down our breathing and focus on what is going on in that moment as opposed to overthinking. Quick uncontrolled breaths can lead to an increase in panicking, anxiety, and stress. Try following along to the breathing exercise linked below:

Breathing Exercises To Stop A Panic Attack: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vkYJf8DOsc

Breathing Exercises to Relax or Fall Asleep Fast:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-1n3KJR1I8


6. Set Goals and Track Your Performance

Set attainable goals for yourself and track your progress when you achieve these goals reward yourself. These goals can pertain to any aspect of your life whether it be in your relationships, work, school ext.

  • Rewards can include: taking yourself shopping, going out to dinner ext.


7. Keep in Contact with Friends and Family

Whether it is through text, video chatting, phone calls, or seeing them in person keeping in contact with friends and family and forming strong bonds can help you deal with the stresses of everyday life. Knowing you have a support system will make you feel grounded, loved, and cared about



8. Develop a realistic to-do list

Developing a to-do list can help you stay organized and feel in control of your life. It will also allow you to feel accomplished when you get to check something off your list. Creating a realistic to-do list means not putting huge, unattainable things on the list, but rather things that can realistically be accomplished by the end of the day/week/month. It does not matter how big or small you may think a task is, put it on the list! And do not get discouraged if you don’t complete everything on your list, there’s always tomorrow!


Make sure your list supports your lifestyle. You can wake up in the morning and write daily to-do lists of everything you need to do in a day. Or you can do it at the beginning of every week/month.





9. Write down 3 things you’re grateful for every morning

Writing down 3 things you are grateful for daily will help you to see the good in yourself, and your life. These things can be anything, dig deep and think about what makes you happy and what keeps you going.


This can be done in the morning to help you start the day off positively or at night before bed as a reflection exercise.


ACTIVITY:

End of the Week Check In:

At the end of every week check in with yourself by answering the following questions in a journal. Keep track of your answers from week to week to see the positive changes occurring in your life from practicing self-care.

  • I feel…

  • I need…

  • I forgive myself for…

  • I celebrate…

  • I release…

  • I trust

  • What will help me relax

  • What to I like to do when im in a good mood

  • What can I do that will help me throughout the day


POSITIVE AFFIRMATION ACTIVITY

Write down 3 positive things you are:

EX”

  • I am smart

  • I am brave

  • I am capable


Write down 3 things you love about yourself:

EX:

  • I love my smile

  • I love my confidence

  • I love my determination

Write down 3 things you want to achieve:

EX:

  • I will be successful

  • I will be safe

  • I will be happy

GRATITUDE ACTIVITY:

Write down 3 things you are grateful for every morning for a week

Additional Resources:


 
 
 

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