The Importance of Self Care

Earlier this week, I blogged about recognizing stress. As mentioned, recognizing when we’re stressed is the first step in stress management, but what comes next?

The answer I give my clients is self-care. Self-care is deliberately taking action to care for your physical and mental health. Whatever you call it – “me time”, “taking a step back” or “taking a time-out”, it’s all self-care and it’s important. It will not only help you manage stress during stressful times, but it can also help prevent the harmful effects of stress. Often, we forget or ignore this need to take care of ourselves, especially with busy personal and professional lives.

So, ask yourself- How am I taking care of myself? How do I manage stress? What activities do I enjoy doing, and am I making time for them?

For inspiration, please explore the following links.

It may be useful to evaluate your self-care needs around Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.

Get some ideas for self care.

Watch some Ted talks which focus on the importance of self-care.

And, just for fun.

Photo: Pexels