7 Pillars of Self Care | What are The Pillars of Self Care
In today’s time where we all are going through so many unsolved challenges, self care is crucial. The worst part about it is that challenges make people forget about taking care of themselves, especially the inner one.
You may get surprised to know that challenges are the outcome of ignoring your inner self for a long time. Yes, if you are taking care of your inner self, it’s so powerful that it can move mountains.
Your inner self is a power house which needs your attention on a daily basis so that it can practice its potential in the real world. When your attention shifts to outer circumstances, your inner self is avoided.
In this article I will share the 7 Pillars of Self Care which will help rejuvenate your inner self and gain the original strength. Before jumping to the pillars, let’s understand what’s the real meaning of self care in the first place.
What is Self Care?
Self care is intentional to care for your mind, body and spirit to maintain your well being. Self care involves eating healthy food to keep your body healthy, practice yoga, meditation to balance your inner and outer health.
Self care also means giving your body enough work, sleep and food that’s essential to stay happy, healthy. It also includes spending time with family, with yourself alone and with nature as well. You may read about 8 Types of Self Care.
Most importantly, from time to time take a break from regular time to connect your spiritual self by attending meditation, or any other leisure activities. The goal of self care is to maintain a healthy balance in all aspects of your life and be happy, peaceful from within.
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Now, let’s see what are the 7 Pillars of Self Care that helps a person to achieve all the above mentioned goals.
7 Pillars of Self Care
1- Required Sleep
A significant amount of sleep is essential to take care of your body and mind. The mind gets relaxed in the most natural way when you sleep on time and wake up on time. The time of sleep hours are different for different age groups which you must know according to your age.
For an adult, the essential sleep hours is between 7-9 hours on a daily basis. Make sure to take care of their factors which help in the quality of sleep. Factors such as noise, light, temperature and the comfort need to be taken care of.
In addition, getting the right amount of sleep helps you have a healthy sleep pattern which can enhance your problem solving capacity. Maintaining a sleep discipline is essential which includes weekends as well.
The right amount of cozy sleep is the first and foremost point of 7 Pillars of Self Care. Lack of sleep can disturb your entire day and health in the long term. Balance your sleep hours if you are willing to practice self care for your mental, emotional and physical health.
2- Balanced Nutrition
The second most important factor in self care is taking care of your daily required nutrition. In order to have an optional health, include fruits, more green, whole grains, proteins and healthy fats as well.
Balancing your nutrition helps having a healthy weight, less risk of diseases, and high energy. Eating a balanced diet keeps you in the right mood and inspires you to do more in your daily routine. In other words, proper nutrition enhances your productivity as well.
In addition, balanced nutritional intake helps you stay connected to your inner self or spiritual self. Therefore a balanced diet and required nutrition intake is another step of 7 Pillars of Self Care.
3- Adequate Exercise
No matter what your health condition is right now, starting with a small amount of work out or walking will do magic to your health. For a healthy adult, a 45- 60 minute workout is required to stay in healthy shape.
The workout may involve different activities such as yoga poses, cardio, aerobics, zumba and so on. You may fix different days for different types of workout that can make your exercises engaging and fun.
Regular workout is essential in self care as it keeps your mental and physical health in alignment. In addition it makes you look fit and attractive which enhances your confidence. Workouts also help you have a sound sleep as it helps eliminate negative emotions attached to your body.
Overall, regular exercise is an important component of 7 Pillars of Self Care. By doing daily exercise you can strengthen your inner self and achieve a better lifestyle.
4- Stress Management Activities
Stress is one of the most common factors that sucks all the creative energy and makes people feel worse inside. Now to mention, with time, it harms mental and physical health by inviting many health diseases.
Learning some of the effective stress management activities such as meditation, Music, and walking in nature can help you refresh yourself. Connecting to nature is one of the best ways to disconnect from worldly stress and inhale fresh air to re energize yourself.
These activities, if practiced on a regular basis, can give you control over your mind and body. In other words, it will boost your confidence, enhance your problem solving capacity and make you above all the challenges.
It’s one of the reasons people try hard to learn any meditation and gain control over their mind. Therefore, learning a way to manage your stress regularly is one of the 7 Pillars of Self Care. It’s a way to protect yourself from anxiety or any mental disability.
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5- Social Support
As being social creatures, we humans always seek friends and family to be happy and supported. Never make distance from those who care for you or make you feel better, even for a few minutes.
Having good friends, or supporting family can be your stress buster so make a habit to spend some time with them. If not possible everyday, make sure to meet them on weekend or whenever you feel like meeting them.
Social support can help someone get over the feeling of loneliness and develop a feeling of belonging. Being connected with different people is a way to learn, inspire and groom yourself. Therefore, being social is another pillar of 7 Pillars of Self Care.
Being a part of some social group can help you develop a bigger insight about your existence. At the same time, it can give your moral and emotional support in many ways.
6- Mind-Body- Soul Connection
In order to keep your mind, body and spirit connected you must practice meditation as there is no other effective way. In order to be aligned with yourself completely, it’s crucial to keep all three aspects in balance.
When you sit in silence, connect with the divine energy, the inner part of you knows what to do. Meditation is a way to go deeper and understand your true need which can be done while being in control.
Losing yourself while meditating is a way to heal the part you are not even aware of. Meditation is the most effective self care practice to keep balance between mind, body and spirit. Therefore it’s one the the most important pillar of 7 Pillars of Self Care.
7- Practice Self-Love
Loving caring for others may help you gain respect for others but it wont give you the love your inner self needs. Unfortunately, most of the world is lacking self love and looking for someone to make them feel loved.
Self love, compassion for yourself is essential because you are the only one who can make yourself happy. Accept yourself as you are, Love and care for yourself like you expect from others.
Giving a little attention to yourself on a daily basis will enhance your Image and develop massive confidence. Not to mention it will help you become more optimistic and create a zeal for life. Therefore self love is another important pillar of 7 Pillars of Self Care.
Lack of practice in any of the above areas of your life will create imbalance and affect your well being.
Final Words: Self care is crucial in order to have a balanced and healthy lifestyle. No matter how busy your days are, or how imbalanced your life seems right now, if you can practice these activities for at least one month your life will transform.
We all are on this planet to live the best we can so it’s our responsibility to make things happen. If you found this article helpful and informative, do like to comment and share with someone who might need it.
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Stay Healthy, Stay Blessed
