Acts of Self Care: The Foundation of Life

Acts of self care have always been underestimated.

Self care is an essential part of self love.

To be precise, self care is the beginning of self love.

When you start taking care of yourself, you start loving yourself.

Performing self care activities shows that you care about yourself.

It boosts your outlook towards life and takes you closer to self love.

Self care activities ensure that you remain healthy, both mentally and physically, which is very important.

But self care is still a topic that many people aren’t able to adopt in life.

The reason for this is that they don’t know what they need to do to take care of themselves.

Thus, there is a need to spread knowledge about the various self care activities.

Acts of Self Care

Here is an exhaustive list of 10 self care activities that includes every act of self care.

Follow them religiously and you will be able to take care of yourself well.

Sleeping The Right Way

The first among the acts of self care is sleeping the right way.

Sleeping is the most basic self care activity.

It gives our mind & body the rest that is needed by them to function effectively.

Thus, it’s very important to follow the correct sleep schedule.

The biggest problem with our sleeping habits today is that there is no fixed time to go to bed at night.

Night lives have altered the sleep timings of people.

As a result, they are not able to fulfill the minimum hours of sleep a human being should take.

But sleeping hours isn’t the only area of concern related to sleep.

It’s also important to sleep in a relaxed, noise-free, and dark environment which can give you a deep and sound sleep.

Sleep-related disorders are on the rise.

Many mental diseases germinate in people’s lives due to a lack of proper sleep.

A sleep of good 7-8 hours daily at night takes good care of your mind & body.

Hence, it’s important to set an early hour and go to bed at that given time at night.

This is how the first among the acts of self care help us.

Self-Stabilising Activities

The second among the acts of self care is self-stabilising activities.

Life has become stressful today.

Thus, it’s important to stabilize yourself with regular self care activities.

Again, getting proper sleep is the first thing you can do in this regard.

Next, meditation helps you calm down even in the most stressful of situations and in life in general.

Saying close to nature is another thing that instills relaxation within us.

Nature gives us an ample supply of fresh oxygen to breathe in.

Also, the peaceful sounds of nature are naturally relaxing to the human mind & body.

Another thing that you can do to stabilize yourself is not to see life as a race.

If you develop the habit of comparing yourself with others and being in a constant bid to achieve things, stabilization may become difficult for you.

Do not attach yourself to your goals either, or else they will give you a free ride that won’t give you anything more than stress.

Thus, indulge in self-stabilizing activities and stay centered in your head.

All of this would add to your acts of self care.

This is how the second among the acts of self care helps us.

Correcting Your Breathing Habits

The third among the acts of self care is correcting your breathing habits.

Breathing is the most important thing in our life without which we can’t stay alive.

But, unfortunately, it is also the most neglected thing when it comes to the acts of self care.

It is often thought that focusing on our breathing has nothing to do with self care.

But it holds the deepest wires of self care within us.

Every problem that we have in our mind or body has links with our breathing.

When we experience fear or stress in the body or the mind, our breathing pattern becomes abnormal.

So, setting it right might well be the biggest self care activity we could ask for.

Meditation and Pranayama are the two most effective acts of self care when it comes to breathing.

Correct breathing can also be learned by practicing it in our daily lives.

Consistent and regular efforts may bring it on the right track and hence free you of all mental and many physical ailments that you have or may have shortly.

This is how the third among the acts of self care helps us.

Being Mindful of Your Positions & Postures

The fourth among the acts of self care is being mindful of your positions & postures.

Your body positions & postures are another thing that is often neglected.

People get into weird postures while doing various daily activities that harm them deeply. 

They may eat their food by lying down on the bed or they may sit for long hours in a discomforting chair while working in their office.

All this creates a lot of stress in the body.

Their long-term impacts include body pains, weakened immunity, obesity, and many lifestyle diseases.

Thus, being mindful of the positions & postures in which you sit or stand at various times during the day is an important self care activity.

This is how the fourth among the acts of self care helps us.

Keeping Your Body Weight Under Control

The fifth among the acts of self care is keeping your body weight under control.

When your body weight starts to rise, it’s not just your physical appearance that takes a blow.

It also slows down your mental activity.

Thus, the ability to think clearly and fast reduces which forces your mind to take its own time before it can think clearly.

It gives your body the habit of laziness and more sleep than you need.

And when you want to get up and move, you sense that you are taking more time to do so.

Thus, your physical movement is also slowed down by your increased body weight.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg though.

Due to this condition of your mind & body, you attract a lot of diseases if you do not decide on reducing your weight.

Thus, the wish and the efforts to prevent your body weight from going into an unwanted zone come under the list of acts of self care.

You should also adopt this self care activity to stay healthy and fit.

This is how the fifth among the acts of self care helps us.

Daily Self-Cleaning Chores

The sixth among the acts of self care is daily self-cleaning chores.

We know that we should take care of our mental and physical health.

But daily self-cleaning chores are not a part of it for us.

We take baths or clean our teeth only because we are in a habit of doing so and not because we realize the underlying importance of these activities.

But when the reason for an important activity isn’t known clearly, it may get forgotten at times.

So, we may skip brushing our teeth or taking a bath to do some other “important activity”.

This sets a very bad example for ourselves.

It gives the feeling that we do not care for ourselves enough.

Bathing or brushing our teeth is as important an activity for staying fit and healthy as another activity that you recognize and follow, like exercising or eating right.

Bathing and brushing teeth set the tone for us for the day.

They deep cleanse our body and mind which gives us fresh energy and enthusiasm.

Thus, self-cleaning activities like bathing and brushing our teeth qualify as acts of self care and we should carry them out daily without fail.

This is how the sixth among the acts of self care helps us.

Eating Healthy & Nutritious Food

The seventh among the acts of self care is eating healthy & nutritious food.

This self care activity cannot be talked too much about.

The more you talk about it the more you realise the importance of it.

Food is the basis of our existence.

Thus, it is of paramount importance that it’s taken in the right amount and of the right quality.

The food that we eat should not be unhealthy or junk and it should be balanced and loaded with all the essential nutrients.

Our food should give us strength and capability and not weakness and diseases.

The goal of achieving the heights of our mental and physical capabilities can only be reached by taking the first step right i.e. eating healthy and nutritious food.

Hence, this is a very important self care activity and should be followed diligently.

This is how the seventh among the acts of self care helps us.

Maintaining Work-Life Balance

The eighth among the acts of self care is maintaining a work-life balance.

Balance in any activity is difficult to maintain but it’s the most important thing while doing it.

In our lives too, we either aren’t serious about our work or we make the mistake of becoming a workaholic.

If we are not serious about our work, our livelihood may stay in the threatened area.

And if we are a workaholic, our personal lives, relationships, and responsibilities take a hit.

Thus, it’s very important to maintain a healthy balance between our work and life.

It’s important to realize that the two concepts aren’t synonymous with each other but are two completely different things on which the vehicle of life runs.

Thus, maintaining this balance between life and work is an act of self care and should be adhered to.

This is how the eighth among the acts of self care helps us.

Stress-Busting Activities

The ninth among the acts of self care is stress-busting activities.

Meditation and getting proper sleep are important stress-preventing self care activities.

But you cannot prevent stress completely and it does happen at the end of the day.

Thus, you should know how to bust this stress and care for yourself.

There are many things you can do to bust stress.

You can watch movies, play games & sports that you like, spend time with your family, kids, and pets, go traveling once a month to an exotic location of your choice, etc.

Broadly speaking, there are three ways to bust stress – Rest, Entertainment, and physical activity.

You should follow any of these paths or have a healthy mix of all of them to bust your mental and physical stress.

This way you will be able to fulfill this important self care activity.

This is how the ninth among the acts of self care helps us.

Taking Care of Others

The tenth and last among the acts of self care is taking care of others.

We now know that love and self love are related and fuel each other.

The same goes for care and self care.

Taking care of others is a way to take care of yourself.

By giving care to others you learn a lot about taking care of yourself.

It opens up the door of self care in your mind and makes you capable of pursuing it.

Also, in times of need, your good deeds are reciprocated by others who step up to take care of you.

Thus, self care activities include taking care of others too.

This is how the tenth and last among the acts of self care helps us.

Acts of Self Care: The Path To Self Love

Acts of self care are often neglected by people but it’s the foundation of everything else you do in your life.

If you are not well, everything else in your life comes to a standstill.

Thus, self care activities are a must for you.

They may seem a little difficult to follow initially due to all the other work you have in your life.

But as soon as you realize their importance, practicing them becomes easy and natural for you.

And once you incorporate them into your life, you start moving closer to and closer to unconditional self love.

Eventually, the acts of self care and self love together make your life complete.

One lays the foundation of your life and the other ensures that you get everything you desire to make your life successful in all possible ways.