Ever asked yourself what the hell “self-care” is anyway?

You’re not alone. I decided to ask myself this after I noticed a few conversations about it online.

What is self-care? What does it mean to me? What should it mean to all of us?

Mr. Webster quite literally defines self-care as, “the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one’s own health.” This definition is so vague, though, that it can really apply to both mental and physical health – even though we largely refer to it when discussing mental health specifically.

My point: I think you have to define “self-care” for yourself.

Is “self-care” a bubble bath for you? Well, yes, if it calms you the hell down and puts you in a positive space mentally. Is it the gym? Is it relaxing with Netflix? I think they all could apply. What those things don’t do, however, is prevent the negative space to begin with. More specifically, what I mentioned previously are “after care” measures – not preemptive measures. That, to me, is where the vague self-care definition is lacking.

Think of it like this; “self-care” can literally be anything you need to do to make sure you won’t have anxiety attack. It can be setting boundaries, setting time-limits, being choosier about who we have around us – any of that!

Personally, I’m going to incorporate more of those aspects of self-care. What do you think? Would it work for you?