Self Care: What is it, and why is it so important.
What is Self Care
Self care gets spoken about a lot these days and is heralded as a one stop shop fix for all ailments. Whilst it isn’t the holy grail of self help, it can be hugely important for managing and reducing stress, and enhancing well-being. Here is why:
You may have heard of the neurotransmitter ‘Serotonin’, well this is the body’s naturally occurring pleasure drug. Our brains secrete Serotonin whenever we are feeling happy, or calm, relaxed, or having fun. When we have more serotonin naturally moving through our brain, we not only feel better but are also better able to manage stressors, and this makes us less susceptible to stress in general. This is partly the reason why after having had a bad day we might be a bit grumpy, or have a short fuse - because on a biological level we literally don’t have as much of a buffer to help us deal with stress, compared to if we had a good day with positive experiences.
So, what activities help produce and create serotonin to make us feel better and buffer against stress? That’s right, Self Care! Self Care is simply the term we give to activities or the kind of things you may do to reduce stress and help you feel better. What these are, are unique to each person and everyone will have a different approach to taking care of themselves.
The motivation behind why we chose to do an activity can often be more important that the activity itself. It is actually possible to take time out and actually not feel relaxed if our mindset isn’t in the right place, or we are thinking about what we should be doing instead, or not enjoying the activity. Exercise for example is a common self care strategy, however this doesn’t mean we all need to run for 10kms to feel better! The motivation for self care is just as, if not more important as the activity, so if we are exercising because we want to and because we know it will help us feel physically and mentally better, then you will likely gain the positive effects of the activity, and this will reinforce you to do it more often! However if you are exercising because you feel like you have to, or out of guilt, then it is possible to experience the negative effects of the activity (stress, fatigue, exhaustion, worrying about other things it has distracted from) without the positive effects. We can often get caught up with “shoulds” about what we ought to be doing - that my self care looks different to my friend or colleague, but that is exactly how it should be! What works for me isn’t going to necessarily be what you need because our stressors, and susceptibility to stress is different from person to person. So find something that works for you, and give yourself permission to take the time to enjoy it.
Self care is important, but the motivations to engage in the activities are just as important. So when you run yourself a nice hot bath, remind yourself why you are doing this. When you take the time to go for a walk, think about the experience and what you are gaining from it. The practice of gratitude can be hugely helpful in these moments!
