Scrolling through your Instagram, you may have seen the hordes of influencers preaching about self-care. Self-care, which has become synonymous with lotion and bubble baths, is a highly popularized but a misunderstood word. According to the Oxford Dictionary, 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.” There’s no argument over the definition of self-care — making your happiness and physical and mental wellbeing a priority is agreed upon by many self-care advocates, but exactly how to practice self-care may be a more debatable topic.
Social media has made self-care seem as simple as, “Treat yourself!” Simplifying self-care to a level of materialism and indulgence can be dangerous. Will eating half a tub of ice cream leave you feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world? Will buying an expensive pair of sunglasses help you better understand yourself? Probably not, and the ice cream might leave you in a sugar coma! It’s up to you to decide how you practice self-care, but specifically drawing the connection between the activities and how they improve your mental and physical health is what really defines self-care.
Moving away from social media’s advertisement of self-care, health practitioners and professionals have substantial suggestions that are backed by more than the initial euphoria of consumerism. While it’s wonderful to pamper yourself, sustained self-care practices require dedication and planning. Here are some recommendations from experts.
1. Paying attention to the five categories of self-care.
Self-care can be broken down into smaller categories: physical, social, mental, spiritual, and emotional. To ensure that all of these categories are being met, it’s important to practice a variety of self-care activities. Practicing meditation, going on a walk with friends, and journaling combined would help fulfill many of these categories. In order to figure out if you’re missing any areas, track your current self-care habits and categorize them. What categories can you add more self-care activities to?
2. Creating a plan.
Now that you know where your current plan is lacking, choose specific activities that you can keep up with regularly. Most importantly, try to pick things that you enjoy doing! It’s not self-care unless it’s soothing to you. Do you hate high intensity physical activity? Maybe try yoga. Are you not into meditation? Try something else to relax your mind, like drawing. Here are some ideas of how to practice self-care:
Spending time with friends and family
Starting a creative outlet with painting or journaling
Learning something new, like reading a book or how to cook a new recipe
Watching one of your favorite movies from your childhood
Even a simple planner can help you organize your thoughts.
3. Keeping it simple.
If you make your self-care routine short and simple enough, you can try to practice it everyday. Choosing a longer routine requires more time and dedication, so starting small and integrating self-care into your existing routine may be the best way to go. Self-care goals for yourself may be as simple as going to bed half an hour earlier every night or taking the time to create a playlist that makes you feel happy. Even small changes like these can alter your whole day.
At the end of the day, owning more than 100 bath bombs and soaps is not going to improve your overall mental health. Instagram accounts make it seem buying products will solve your problems. Materialism and repeated behaviors may offer some degree of happiness, but self-care, as seen by health professionals, is about offering your brain time to reflect and doing healthy things for your body. And having the occasional tub of your favorite ice cream won’t hurt either! If you can create a plan that revolves around healthy habits, adding small acts of self-care to your everyday routine can be manageable and practical. Using your own intuition will lead you down the right path.
Vocabulary list:
horde (n.) - a large group of loosely connected people
advocate (n.) - a person who promotes a certain cause, often a social cause
materialism (n.) - the love of physical objects and comfort, often juxtaposed with the love of morality or simplicity
indulgence (n.) - the act of fulfilling your desires without regard for others
sugar coma (phrase) - the tired feeling you get after eating a large quantity of sweets
euphoria (n.) - a feeling of happiness or pleasure
consumerism (n.) - the idea that an increasing consumption of goods is economically desirable, associated with capitalism
pamper (v.) - to spoil yourself or another person
intensity (n.) - something that requires great strength or effort
outlet (n.) - an action or spot where emotions can be released
integrate (n.) - to blend something into another
alter (v.) - to change something in a small way that affects its overall composition
manageable (adj.) - to be able to be directed or redirected with relative ease
intuition (n.) - the ability to understand another person’s thoughts or emotions almost instinctively
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bridgette Lang is an undergraduate student studying International Relations at Boston University. On campus, she helps run a collegiate Model United Nations Conference and manages finances for BU College Democrats. In her free time, Bridgette enjoys traveling, trying to learn Spanish, and visiting with her friends and family back home in Pennsylvania.