The 8 Pillars of Self-Care and How To Practice Them
It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post solely dedicated to self-care.
So in honour of my 1 year of blog posts, I’m taking things back to basics.
Today I’m talking about the 8 pillars of self-care so you can find the right rituals for your needs and build a routine around them.
Whether you’ve been reading my blog from the beginning or just recently joined me, I want to say thank you for being here.
It’s so comforting knowing I have a lovely community that I can write to each week and share a bit about me, a bit of kindness and a bit of guidance.
I first started this blog by posting mindful productivity tips and refreshing self-care ideas.
But Notes by Thalia has now grown into something more.
I now have the confidence to share more life updates with you, a regular insight into my wellness journey and anti-hustle tips that don’t fit into the social-norm meaning of productivity.
So if you want to hear more of:
“Listen to your body and don’t force yourself to do anything you don’t want to do.”
And:
“Make sure you are doing something every day that makes you smile.”
Then slow the scroll and stay here for a while.
So after a year of weekly blog posts, it only felt right that I go back to the beginning *cue Hilary Duff* and write about a topic that started this whole thing off.
Self-care.
Self-care, a love story
Before I do a deep dive into the 8 pillars of self-care, let’s first recap what self-care is, and why you need to dedicate time to it.
Self-care is any activity you do to help take better care of your well-being.
It can be anything from journaling, practising gratitude or meditating, to pampering, socialising or watching Netflix.
It’s a simple concept but one that often gets ignored.
And in all honesty, one that I ignored for ages too.
my self-care journey
Before the pandemic hit, self-care wasn’t really on my radar. In fact, I don’t think I even used the word pre-2020.
When I worked a 9 to 5, I always ended my day with a workout and a movie but I never considered this as an act of self-care.
It was just something that I did.
I then went travelling to escape the crazy London version of me and learn about who I truly was.
Looking back, travelling was probably the start of my self-care journey.
But I hadn’t done my research yet so I wasn’t going around telling people I was on a journey of self-care.
Instead, I was going around telling people I was travelling in order “to find myself.”
When I started working from home, around the same time lockdown 1.0 came into place, I still wasn’t inviting self-care into my life.
I was working long days and at the weekends.
A lot of the content I was consuming at this time was also very ‘hustle’ oriented and so I just thought it was the norm to be constantly busy.
I didn’t want to make time for myself because;
a) I didn’t realise how important it was
b) I considered meaningless activities to be quite lazy
After a few months of burnout and days where all I did was cry, my perception of self-care changed.
I did the research, tested out a few things and changed up the content I was choosing to follow.
I then soon realised how essential self-care and rest was to my own personal development and mental health and it’s become a non-negotiable for me ever since.
Make self-care a non-negotiable
Self-care is essential.
Not only for your well-being but for your productivity as well.
The more you rest and take care of yourself, the more nourished you feel, so you can keep showing up as the healthiest version of yourself.
Self-care also allows you to maintain a healthy relationship with yourself, and take care of your mental health and well-being.
It’s also important to remember, self-care looks different to everyone. It’s about what works for you and what makes you feel good.
For me, self-care is indulging in physical activities that make me happy. Like having a slow morning, travelling, scrapbooking, reading or doing a puzzle.
These activities allow me to switch off and feel completely at ease.
Self-care doesn’t have to feel like a chore or be overly expensive either. Choose activities you are comfortable with and switch them up every so often.
Have fun with your routine by trying out fresh and exciting self-care ideas throughout the year.
The 8 pillars of self-care and how to practice them with these simple self-care rituals
1. Physical self-care
Let’s start off with one of my favourite pillars of self-care, physical.
Physical self-care refers to the things you do to help you take care of your body and boost energy levels.
Eating a well-balanced diet, exercising regularly and getting a good amount of sleep every night all contribute to the overall quality of your life.
Physical self-care activities include:
- Eating a healthy and nourishing meal
- Moving your body daily, either by walking, running or working out, etc
- Taking probiotics or multivitamins daily
- Drinking a glass of water as soon as you wake up
- Getting between 7–9 hours of good sleep
Save these physical self-care ideas to Pinterest!
2. Mental self-care
Not only do mental self-care practices help to stimulate the mind and improve brain functionality but they also help you to develop a growth mindset.
Having a growth mindset is essential to help boost overall happiness as you are not scared to learn or try new things.
Instead, your curiosity makes you feel excited and more fulfilled, as you know there is a world of opportunity and new skills to learn.
Mental self-care activities include:
- Learning a new skill or language
- Reading self-help or personal growth books
- Journaling
- Doing a social media detox
- Engaging in a game of chess
Save these mental self-care ideas to Pinterest!
3. Emotional self-care
Learning to understand yourself and your emotions better through emotional self-care allows you to truly love and accept yourself.
Emotional self-care can help you to cope and manage your feelings better when faced with challenges, as well as improve self-awareness and self-acceptance.
Emotional self-care activities include:
- Setting healthy and clear boundaries to protect your energy
- Spending time by yourself with no distractions
- Practising self-love
- Writing down positive affirmations
- Asking for help
Save these emotional self-care ideas to Pinterest!
4. Environmental self-care
I find that in order to truly thrive I need to be in the right environment. Whether that is in a bustling coffee shop or in a tidy home office.
Make sure you look after and maintain your environment just as much as you take care of yourself.
A clear space equals a clear mind.
Environmental self-care activities include:
- Making your bed every morning
- Tidying and organising your workspace
- Decluttering your wardrobe regularly
- Heading to a coffee shop to work
- Exploring somewhere new
Save these environmental self-care ideas to Pinterest!
5. Financial self-care
If you’re like me the words “personal finance” will just send shivers up your spine (sorry to my bestie Michelle who loves finance).
But cultivating a healthy relationship with money is essential for our mental health as it helps eliminate stress and anxiety from our lives.
Financial self-care can also improve our mindset around money so we feel more open to talking about it and feel less negative towards people who have lots of it!
Financial self-care activities include:
- Listening to financial or money-related podcasts
- Reading You Are A Badass At Making Money by Jen Sincero
- Setting financial goals for the year
- Using a money app to help you keep track of finances
- Saving money each month
Save these financial self-care ideas to Pinterest!
6. Social self-care
Self-care doesn’t always have to be about spending time by yourself. It can sometimes look like reconnecting with friends or simply building and maintaining healthy relationships with loved ones.
Social connections help us to feel loved and less alone but are also essential in developing and improving our communication skills.
Social self-care activities include:
- Hanging out with a friend with zero distractions (yes, put the phone away)
- Messaging a loved one to tell them why you are grateful for them
- Limiting time with negative people
- Ending relationships with toxic people
- Setting boundaries and learning to say no
Save these social self-care ideas to Pinterest!
7. Recreational self-care
Alas, I have finally made it to my favourite type of self-care. Recreational.
Also known as making time for fun!
Recreational self-care encourages you to tap into your inner child by taking part in hobbies that don’t require too much brainpower.
It is all about stepping away from your to-do list and filling up your day, month or year with moments that bring you joy.
Recreational self-care activities include:
- Going travelling by yourself or with others
- Watching Netflix or classic 90s chick flicks
- Getting creative by painting, colouring-in or doing a puzzle
- Spending time in nature
- Reading fiction, magazines or comic books
Save these recreational self-care ideas to Pinterest!
8. Spiritual self-care
Whereas the other pillars of self-care are focused on nurturing your mind and body, spiritual self-care aims to nourish the soul.
Spiritual self-care practices help you tap into your inner being so you can find a deeper purpose and more meaning in your life.
This area of self-care can also allow you to silence the outside noise so you can find internal calm and peace.
Spiritual self-care activities include:
- Meditating or breathwork
- Going to a place of worship
- Yoga
- Mapping out your core values
- Dedicating time to self-reflection
Save these spiritual self-care ideas to Pinterest!
Final thoughts
I can’t stress enough how important dedicating time to self-care is for your mental health and well-being.
Self-care may seem like a difficult and inconvenient thing to get into the habit of doing, especially when you’re busy but once you start you’ll never look back.
Keep it simple and focus on your needs first. Don’t try to find the perfect balance between each area of self-care but focus on the pillar(s) needed most.
Start small by finding a gap in your schedule and dedicating 5–15 mins a day until you are ready to increase it.
And remember to choose self-care activities you enjoy.
I think the key is to always do more of what makes you happy.
So spend the time building a self-care routine that works for you.
Put together a self-care builder or tracker to help you find the right rituals. Rate each ritual out of 5 stars and ask yourself, “how did this activity make me feel”, “would I do this again?”
Or get started with this process today with The Daily Wellness & Self-Care Planner.
This 18-page planner provides you with the accountability and structure you need to plan rest & self-care so you can wave goodbye to burnout.
Use it to:
- Build a morning & evening routine that works for you
- Successfully build better habits
- Track sleep
- Map out your meals & exercise for a healthy week
- Reflect on the day and practice gratitude
- Plan out a week of self-care activities
- Journal your thoughts & feelings
- Plus much much more.
Until next week,
♡ Thalia xx
