This year has been testing for almost everyone. There has probably not been more of a need to have self-care in your weekly or even daily routine than right now. Self-care is something that can help us take care of our mental health and overall health too.

And, just like not drinking enough water, it is something that we forget or don’t bother to do.

Everyone has mental health, so by default, everyone should have a self-care plan to help them recoup and recharge.

Pillars of Mental Health

There are four pillars to mental health. Taking care of these four points to the best of your ability will help you to take care of your mental health to the best of your ability. Of course, it isn’t always easy to keep a balance. Sometimes one area might be more difficult to manage than others. This is where some self-care can come in and help.

Social

Friends and family are important to most people. It gives you someone to talk to, hang-out with, and generally enrich our lives.

Physical

We all know that exercise keeps our body fit. But mental health and fitness are linked. Regularly moving your body in whatever way feels good is a great way to reduce your risk of developing some diseases. But in general, it just feels good. If you don’t want to start a demanding routine, then yoga or a gentle walk for 30 minutes a day is perfect. Later on you can try quick 10 minute workouts as well. You can listen to your body; most of the time, it will be asked to stretch out and move. If you have aches, and deeper pains, then professional massage therapy from Intrinsi can make a huge impact.

Financial

Money stress can have a significant impact on mental health. One of the hardest things to do is to tackle it head-on. Financial wellness isn’t about having a huge bank account. It is about feeling in control of your money. It might be the right time to talk about your finances to a professional. Or to absorb the information on forums about how to pay down debts and save up.

Emotional

This is complex, but you can start with self-acceptance, resilience, management of strong emotions, and self-esteem. Emotions aren’t linear, and there are lots of layers to being happy, sad, or anything in between.

So those are the four pillars of mental health. You might be wondering then what impact self-care can have.

Self-care and Mental Health

When we take care of ourselves, we are increasing our self-esteem and self-worth. These things lead to your emotional wellbeing. Taking time to tell yourself at least once a week that you deserve it and are worth it is really powerful.

Self-care encourages self-improvement. Promoting relaxation, rest, and benefits our overall wellness and health. It is the ideal time to fine aches, pains, how you are feeling, and take it all into consideration. You can seek out alternative medicines to help you manage your self-care needs too. Grimsby Health and Wellness have a range of treatment options that can improve your self-care routine.

Many people state that the reason that they can’t do self-care is that they are too tired. Even on low energy days, there are things that you can do—writing down what you enjoyed in the week, planning a few healthy meals that you want to cook in the next few days.

Self-care shouldn’t feel like a chore; if it feels like a chore, then it most likely isn’t something that will breathe life into you.

On the surface, for those who aren’t taking care of themselves, self-care can look selfish. This is because part of your self-care might be saying no. Saying no to things that are out of your comfort zone, saying no to people that drain you. Or when you are low energy rather than taking more on, saying no.

Quick self-care ideas:

• Cooking or baking something from scratch
• Coloring and drawing
• Skincare routine
• A long bath with Epsom salts
• Journaling or blogging
• A face mask or hair mask

Taking care of yourself shouldn’t be something that you compromise on. It should be something that you do to support the pillars of mental health throughout your life.