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Many of us have been taught since childhood that “I” comes last and that we should think about others first. Is that why we so often push our desires and needs into the background? Regular self-care is critical to maintaining physical and mental health.
Everyone knows the expression «taking care of yourself». Friends, relatives, doctors have repeatedly repeated to us: it’s time to take care of yourself. What do these words really mean.
This broad concept covers everything that we do for ourselves — physically, emotionally and spiritually. A self-care routine might include a relaxing day at the spa, morning exercise, an evening movie, or just reading. In a word, everything we do for the sake of personal needs and well-being.
Self-care is vital to mental health, but it is often neglected. We devote most of our time to work in order to live with dignity and make others happy. Sometimes you want to impress your boss, sometimes you want to please your partner or parents. But what place in the list of people we want to please is assigned to us? Most often none.
What gives us self-care? It is important for good physical health and mental balance. It is difficult to make someone happy if we ourselves are unhappy.
You need to put yourself first, and only then everyone else. Such care brings enormous benefits to mental health, this should not be forgotten.
1. Raises self-esteem
Self-esteem is how much we value ourselves. In most cases, our value is determined by others. But if we start taking care of ourselves, then we invest time in personal well-being. We do what we like, and thereby confirm our significance.
With this attitude, self-esteem is growing stronger every day. We resist inner criticism that robs us of courage. The more you believe in yourself, the easier it is to stop negative mental dialogue, and this is one of the main steps to improving mental health.
2. Increases productivity
The best thing you can do for yourself is to say “no” to everything that pulls you back. The one who does not respect himself is not able to refuse anyone and nothing that requires time and effort on his part.
But as soon as we begin to take care of ourselves, there is the courage to refuse requests that make us jump over our heads at the cost of our own good. Then it turns out to focus on your tasks and increase personal productivity. Satisfaction with the work done, no matter how big or small, plays an important role in emotional and spiritual comfort.
3. Strengthens health
Taking care of ourselves means a lot for physical and mental health, because we devote more time to activities that bring pleasure and benefit. This strengthens the body and mind. We clear ourselves of useless thoughts, free ourselves from the past and live in the present, and this is an integral part of psychotherapy.
4. Expands self-awareness
Doing this is not always easy and pleasant. Sometimes this means revealing your darkest sides, but such is the path to self-knowledge and self-improvement. We rediscover the true «I», which seemed hopelessly lost.
Accepting our strengths and weaknesses, we understand what needs to be corrected. When self-awareness expands, dependence on external evaluations noticeably decreases. We feel much better about ourselves, and this is one of the most precious services that can be provided to mental health.
Taking care of yourself is not a one-time event. It is an ongoing process that should become a habit. Being the main person for yourself is not selfishness, but wisdom. Through loving ourselves, we learn to love others. Realizing our worth, we understand that we need to appreciate others.
Taking care of yourself is treating yourself as well as everyone else, because we are important too and should come first in our lives.
About the author: Jacqueline Pierce, psychotherapist, counseling psychologist.