Self Care is the New Health Care

If a practice is recognized globally, it must be important! Every year on July 24, International Self Care day is celebrated around the world. Even though that is only one day in the year, the benefits of practicing self care can be experienced 24/7 year long and life long.

This year, the theme for International Self Care Day was to “Take a vow for you now” and plan to make a self care promise today!  

According to the International Self Care Foundation, there are seven pillars of self care:

To help people put self care into practice, FoundryBC (FoundryBC.ca) a province-wide network of integrated health and social service centres for young adults, created Seven Days of Self Care Practice. See if you can make a seven day pledge to yourself…here are some ideas!

Day 1: Unplug. Turn off your TV, phone, computer, tablet, or any social media and spend some time out of the virtual world, even for just 5 minutes.

Day 2: Declutter. Declutter your physical space and your mind. 

Day 3: Nourish yourself. Take care of your physical being by staying hydrated, getting rest and exercise.

Day 4: Create. Create something with your own hands (music, doodle, handwrite, try out a new recipe, a sandcastle at the beach) and then step back and take pride in what you’ve made.

Day 5: Listen. Listen to your own positive voice and to the supportive words of others to keep you going.

Day 6: Express. Express yourself and your emotions to friends, family, peer supports, teachers and therapists. 

Day 7: Explore. Step out of your comfort zone and try something new today. It can be trying a new food, or even reaching out to a new friend. Creating variety every so often can break boring routines!

For more ideas, see https://foundrybc.ca/stories/seven-days-self-care/

Self care is the new health care, and as American novelist Ann Lamott wrote, “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, even you.”