What is Self-Care?

Simply put, self-care is about taking time to deliberately attend to your physical, emotional and mental health, practising activities that make a positive difference to your wellbeing. For women especially, prioritising ourselves can feel indulgent or like too much work and for survivors, treating yourself with kindness can be a real challenge.

But self-care can be as small and simple as taking a bath to relax. It doesn’t have to involve a huge time commitment and it doesn’t have to be hard. It’s about making an effort to put yourself first, even just for a while. Self-care can also be about learning to prioritise your needs better and learn to set clearer boundaries with others if you feel you spend your time taking care of everyone else.

Self-care isn’t selfish. Taking time for yourself to recuperate, relax or tend to your needs is healthy and helps us to develop our emotional resilience, particularly in times of stress or uncertainty. Sometimes self-care can be about setting goals for yourself or gaining perspective on what you want to do. Additionally, self-care can also be about asking for help when you need it.

So, whilst a warm bath with candles is not the only way to embrace self-care, it’s a great start for some! Often in the media, companies will try to capitalise on self-care products and tools to buy to help you achieve ultimate relaxation. However, the fact of the matter is, all you need to do is think about what helps to make you feel happy, content and grounded. Is it spending time in nature? Engaging in an old hobby or learning a new skill? Is it about creating a comforting routine each day that ensures you have time to look after yourself? Perhaps it’s learning to say ‘no’ to others from time to time, when you are too busy.

The main thing is to spend some time reflecting on what works best for you. Try to implement self-care regularly and see how it makes you feel! Let us know how you get on 😊

Here at Hillingdon Women’s Centre, we have compiled a list of ten self-care activities that can be completed in ten minutes or less just as a little taster if you need a few ideas!