Successfully navigating life’s big decisions requires careful planning, resources and knowledge. In addition, life changes such as those involving career, education, and other major choices require mindfulness and personal fortitude. Self-knowledge and strength are each supported through a program of self-care. Courtesy of Skin Elegance, here’s how self-care can help with each step of a major life decision, in a post by our guest writer, Emma Grace Brown, a blogger who promote female empowerment.
The basics of self-care
The concept of self-care has been used for years as a way to bolster such things as fitness, mental wellness, addiction recovery and stress management. In essence, self-care is any supportive action that people take to help and comfort themselves. There is no specific prescription for self-care—your particular self-care regimen will be based on your needs. If you are seeking self-care to support a major life event such as the ending of a relationship, you may want to focus on taking steps for independence. Someone who is trying to battle obesity may be looking for self-care techniques that provide comfort, rest, and variety.
Some may initially scoff at self-care as little more than pampering, but self-care involves much more than that. Of course, your self-care may include getting a massage, taking steps to ensure that your skin remains healthy and refreshed (Skin Elegance has a number of skincare products to help!), or going to the spa, but only when such actions make your life substantially better. Self-care transcends mere comfort, too. For example, if it would be disastrous to your weekly budget to go to the spa, then little self-care is imparted by spending money that you do not have.
Up your dental health game
Although dental health is definitely a basic of self-care, it’s important enough to stand on its own. Not only is good oral health connected to your physical well-being (gum disease can lead to serious health concerns such as heart disease), but it can also cause you to suffer from serious mental health conditions such as depression. As such, it’s clear why dental care is a form of self-care. To ensure you’re staying on top of your dental health, up your game by taking care of any tooth misalignment. Why? Misaligned teeth can cause more than aesthetic problems; they are also difficult to keep thoroughly clean and can lead to issues such as sleep apnea. Fortunately, minor misalignment can be taken care of at home through an aligner like Byte, which is available for less than $2,000 and can give you noticeable results in just three months’ time. Additionally, these at-home options provide customer service to answer any questions you may have about the process, which keeps you out of the dentist’s chair. More severe misalignment may need to be addressed in-person by an orthodontist.
Making good choices
Self-care helps you make good choices. When you are comfortable, organized, and possessed of self-knowledge, you understand the consequences of your decisions. When we think of self-care in the context of personal growth, we see how nuanced and varied the concept can be. For example, while many think of the pampering aspects, self-care can also mean organizing your financial life. Budgeting, meeting with a financial planner and taking steps to improve credit are all potential self-care techniques that help in making those difficult career and life choices.
Self-knowledge is a key component of good decision-making. One way to attain such mindfulness is through meditation and other methods of introducing calming elements in your life. This is again where pampering and massage come into play, because they are not frivolous, selfish acts, but ways to ensure that you are addressing your problems and rewarding your triumphs. As Bulldog Online explains, yoga is a self-care technique that combines aspects of physical and mental fitness. Yoga triggers mindfulness, supports physical fitness and casts your life on a healthy track.
Mental well-being
According to Active Minds, self-care can also help people attain mental well-being. Life is full of stress, especially if we ignore our needs. Our mental health suffers during such neglect. The physical and mental exercises and practices that are often used for self-care also benefit us psychologically. Through fitness, balanced diet, a healthy social life and embracing activities that give us joy, such as hobbies, we improve our mental health. Self-care also offers several options for coping and reducing stress and anxiety.
In addition to yoga and meditation, there are other self-focused activities that encourage introspection and calmness. Deep-breathing exercises are beneficial for several reasons. First, these exercises are simple. They can be a component of life that works as an introduction of sorts to meditation. Many people do not know where to start with mindfulness, so taking deliberate calm belly breaths in a quiet space is a good first step.
With these exercises and other self-care techniques, you can identify your needs and goals and chart a course. These can be your guideposts for personal growth and change in the future.
Author Bio
Emma Grace Brown lives her life by her rules; and it works! When she’s not snuggling puppies, Emma promotes female empowerment through her website. Her mission is to help those who live with self-doubt to realize they don’t have to mold themselves to conventionality.
Photo Credit: Pexels
