Self-care is an important part of the mental health toolkit. It gives us the ability to be able to recharge our batteries so that we are able to be fully present in our day-to-day lives. The best metaphor that I think captures the importance of self-care is that of an oxygen mask. You know when you fly on an airplane, the flight attendant tells you that in case of an emergency, make sure to put your oxygen mask on before helping others. Self-care is exactly that. It is putting on our oxygen mask before attempting to do anything else. If we can’t breathe, it will be very difficult to do focus on anything else. In moments when life is exhausting and we are feeling burnt out, I find it very helpful to reflect on whether I am wearing my oxygen mask.
What is Self-care?
Self-care is an intentional act to take care of yourself and your own needs. Intentional is the most important part of the self-care definition. I am sure that I am not the only one who has experienced binge-watching random Netflix shows and still feeling completely burnt out and exhausted. I have found that often I am binge-watching shows to avoid something rather than with the intention to take care of myself. Therefore, my attempts at numbing my own emotions/experiences never leave me feeling recharged and refreshed.
The biggest difficulty that I often find with recommending people to engage in self-care is that the definition of it is very vague. Similarly, what counts as self-care for me might not be self-care for other people. Therefore, I wanted to share two resources that will help you in creating your own personalized self-care plan.
If you are having difficulties choosing which of these wheels to use, I would recommend that you choose the one with categories that resonate with you. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter which one you choose. The most important thing is to reflect on your own self-care practices and find out additional activities that you can engage in to recharge your batteries.
Olga Phoenix’s self-care wheel
What do you think about when I bring up the word self-care? If you are like the majority of people, you are probably thinking about activities such as eating a healthy meal, taking a shower, exercising, or getting enough sleep. While these activities do count as self-care, they constitute only a small portion. Self-care is much bigger than taking care of our physical health. The oxygen mask that we need might look different depending on our circumstances. Therefore, things such as setting boundaries, journaling, or taking care of our mental/emotional health also count as self-care. If we are focusing solely on physical self-care, we might be neglecting these other areas. I have found Olga Phoenix’s self-care wheel to be a great resource for creating a personalized self-care plan that provides a balanced view of various different types of self-care. Olga’s self-care wheel is divided up into 6 areas of emotional, professional, spiritual, personal, psychological, and physical self-care. I encourage you to review this wheel and reflect on which portions of the wheel you have been neglecting. The wheel could also give you some ideas of activities that you might be able to engage in to improve your mental well-being.
Robertson & Microys’s Wellness Wheel
Similar to Olga’s wheel, Robertson & Microys’s wheel also recognizes that there are different self-care categories. The biggest difference is the name of the categories. The wellness wheel is divided up into these 6 sections: financial, intellectual, emotional, social, spiritual, and physical. Furthermore, this tool allows you to visually assess your current self-care routine and find areas that require improvement. The worksheet also includes various questions designed to encourage you to reflect on your ideal self-care wheel. Similarly, it has a section focused on creating goals for improving your life balance.
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