The Importance of Self-Care

The past two years of Covid have made us all  aware of our physical and mental health. We all developed new skills to deal with the pandemic that were either healthy or not so healthy. It is important for people to recognize what healthy self care skills to adopt, so people can stop neglecting themselves and start taking care of themselves. 

Meaning Of Self-Care

There could be a lot of different meanings for self care; for this article, it means taking care of yourself, both physically and mentally, and being able to make adjustments in your life to make sure you are taking care of yourself. This could mean going out for a walk to make some time for yourself, reading a book to reduce stress, or making plans with your friends or family to increase your happiness. Even little, simple things can really improve your mood and help your health. “Self-care doesn’t have to be complicated at all, it can be as simple as completing a little task in your day so you have time to relax later on,” says  Larissa Marks, Contributor spiritual director.

The importance of self-care!

It is important for people after a long day to take some time out of their day for themselves. If you never take care of yourself, you will experience stress, depression or even overwork. “Engaging in a self-care routine has been clinically proven to reduce or eliminate anxiety and depression, reduce stress, improve concentration, minimize frustration and anger, increase happiness, improve energy, and more,” says Matthew Glowiak from Clinical Faculty in the Counseling Program. Benefits in practicing self care is that since you have been practicing your best to make your health better it will improve your physical, mental, and emotional health as well as a well being. 9th grader Naomi Anderson  states that, “self care is important for a person because it allows them to make sure that their physical and mental health are right where they are supposed to be.” which I could admit, because self care allows a person to make their physical, mental and emotional health in a right mind sight and where they are supposed to be in.  Self care develops positive health outcomes such as, “having better-esteem, help reduce stress, and help reduce anxiety or depression,” says Anderson. A great thing about self care is that it doesn’t have to cost money at all, you can accomplish it in the comfort of your own home.  This would have been beneficial for people back in the pandemic and social distancing regulations, but we can still practice it as of today to recover from it.

How to practice self-Care

Ways to practice self care can be fairly easy. You can start by taking a break from your phone and social media because sometimes it can get negative. Taking a break from social media can be healthy as sometimes  people are addicted to their phones and taking a break can help people improve their mental health. Another thing, social media takes a lot of people’s time and they don’t get to do the thing they want to do. Getting rid of, or perhaps taking a break from social media will allow people to do things they  like or have been wanting to try. It can consist of going on a walk or a run or cooking a meal. A really good way to practice self care is meditation to help you calm down or even skin care to feel better about yourself to bring you confidence.  Self care isn’t hard at all; it just requires you to commit to certain things that make you happy. Even if they are small or simple, they can make quite an impact on your mental health. small simple things to do.