Written by: Lynda Cameron Price, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Mental health has become one of the leading trending issues in society as the amount of grief, violence and global chaos arises. During times of such peril, individuals must make sure that they take the time needed to ensure that they are properly checking in with themselves. Processing consecutive losses such as the loss of jobs, loss of family members to the pandemic, and loss of the life that you thought you would have, could send anyone into a tailspin of emotions. Some of those emotions can include self-doubt, layers, and layers of grief accompanied by defeat and hopelessness. One must find the strength to continue to push forward and thrive even in the face of uncertainty. Are you practicing proper self-care? Do you feel guilty when you need to escape and have a break from the ups and downs of life? There has to be congruence to establish stability and exercising the proper self-care routine can assist in finding and maintaining balance while setting boundaries. There are 10 areas of self-care that you should work on to work towards the balance that is needed. The 10 areas are listed below:
Physical self-care is imperative as it entails taking the time to listen to your body's needs. One thing that can be noted for sure is good health is wealth. If you work tirelessly without taking the time to work on your physical needs an unexpected illness can be completely debilitating to you and your family and can lead to excessive loss of time off work and productivity, the need for the care of others, loss of income, poor self-esteem and or self-image that can lead to depression. Ways that you can improve physical self-care can be planning to work on the following:
Physical ‒ working out, eating healthy, attending doctors' appointments, taking proper medication, taking proper times to rest to avoid exhaustion.
Mental self-care involves taking the time to realize that there are mental needs that may be best addressed in therapy. We are a culmination of our experiences from childhood, and young adulthood to where we are currently. Just imagine recovering from a difficult childhood while trying to create and maintain a life for yourself and the family that you created. There could be unprocessed trauma that may cause some reactions in your everyday life that may need to be worked on. Because there has been a stigma attached to mental healthcare people are not accessing the care that they need. Until that stigma is lifted individuals will still suffer in silence while the people attached to them recover from their dysfunction. We must take our mental health care into our hands and access the care that is needed.
Emotional self-care while similar to mental healthcare is not completely the same. Every day thousands of thoughts cross our minds and attached to some of those thoughts may be various emotions. It is important to know what we are feeling and be able to express and articulate those emotions without holding them in until we reach a point of no control. Unprocessed anger or other emotions can lead to other mental health conditions such as anxiety and or depression. Addressing our emotions can be liberating in the freedom to express them without fear of retaliation or breaking down relationships.
Spiritual self-care involves taking the time and space with your spirituality, taking time to journal, meditate, pray, or however you connect to your higher power.
Environmental self-care involves creating an environment conducive to your comfortability and suitability. You may want to change the décor in your house. You may also be interested in planting a garden and creating a space that is calming and relaxing for you. This can involve painting, changing colors in a room, or rearranging things in your environment to make you feel comfortable.
Social self-care involves taking the time out to focus on social needs, "all work and no play" comes to mind when focusing on social self-care. We have to take the time to engage with others by possibly going out to a restaurant or going out for a night on the town. Work and everyday responsibilities can be draining, and social self-care allows individuals the time to unwind and still feel engaged with friends and have fun.
Relational self-care involves making sure that we carve time out of our busy schedules for our significant other. During the hustle and bustle of the day and with the demands of life, sacrifices of time may need to be made to make sure we maintain a strong bond with spouses or significant others. Sometimes they can be last on the list and this can lead to strife and the breakdown of the relationship if we are not careful to carve out the necessary time to connect with our partners.
Familial self-care involves making sure that we take time out for family self-care such as family meals together at dinner time. Planned vacations and trips also isolate time to connect with children and spend special time with them. As the demands of financial obligations rise, work may be the focus but we also must take time to connect and interact with our family not just in passing but with intentionality.
Financial self-care involves budgeting and making sure there is a plan for the income that comes into the home besides bills. Often the main focus is making ends meet without understanding that there should also be some room for saving for vacations, date nights, and parent and child activities. Financial self-care allows individuals to operate in the other areas of self-care with minimal stress.
Work self-care/ boundaries are very important because it involves setting appropriate boundaries when off work such as putting phones on do not disturb, not leaving the home to continue to work, or continuing work or work calls when engaging with family. Everything has its place and work-life does too. Work self-care can also include taking necessary lunch breaks and getting off on time. There has to be a work-life balance to approach stability.
All of these 10 areas of self-care are important, to have a better quality of life we must operate understanding the importance of balance, boundaries, and intentional self-care.
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Lynda Cameron Price, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Lynda Cameron Price Ed.S, LPC, AADC, is a Licensed Professional Counselor in the states of Alabama and Georgia, and is registered to provide telehealth services across the state of Florida. She serves as the Chief Executive Officer and owner of a private practice counseling agency in Birmingham, Alabama. Ms. Price is certified as an Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor through AADA/IC&RC. Additionally, she is a published author and has written articles for marriage.com. Ms. Price serves as a motivational speaker for the community and is a respected client advocate. She specializes in the clinical areas of depression, anxiety, difficult adjustment to life stress, substance use addiction, and trauma.
