Why Is A Self-Care Habit Important?

Written by: Melaney Wolf

Self-care can (and is!) described as many different things. Any act that is caring for your own well being is self-care. This can be anything from using a dry brush on your skin before a shower, learning how to give yourself a proper massage, journaling to release your feelings and emotions from yourself, meditating to help deal with anxiety, or even just decluttering your home. Taking care of yourself and your needs is so important should be a priority for all of us, especially those that tend to spend a lot of time taking care of others. We, as individuals, are all we truly have. Keeping our bodies, minds, and spirits healthy is the best way we can feel good and also be there for the people around us. 

This leads to the idea of making these practices a habit. In order to keep up these healthy behaviors, we need to repeat them regularly until they become second nature. When we keep them up, we feel good and also don’t have to start from scratch later on. This is especially important when we talk about journaling and a yoga or meditation practice for stress-relief and coping with trauma. Remembering the tools we learn through these methods when we really, truly need them can be almost impossible when things are hard in our lives…unless we’re so used to performing them that we just don’t forget. A good example of this would be knowing that meditation or mindfulness helps you to relax and release tension but forgetting about using them after an extra stressful work experience or a loss in the family. That’s when we need them the most.

Here are a few ideas of how you can start to implement a routine that will keep you going!

1. Pick one day, the same every week, to go through the house throwing out or donating anything you no longer need. Same for a cleaning schedule!
2. If writing helps you clear your head, give yourself a little extra time every single morning or evening before bed to just write out anything you need to get off your chest. Including 3-5 things you’re grateful for is also a great habit to get into. It’s an instant mood lifter. 
3. If yoga is your thing, you’re getting so much out of it you may not even be aware of! This is a practice that truly benefits by being done multiple times a week, every week, to reap the benefits. Setting and sticking to a specific schedule can help keep you there. 
4. Meditation is another modality that does its best for you when it’s done frequently and habitually. A 5-minute guided meditation used at the same time every day is a quick and easy way to forlorn a lasting practice. 

You can do it! We all can! We deserve to take care of our bodies, minds, souls, and environment around us. A great way to do it by loving ourselves with the gift of a self-care habit!