Hand care, skin care, health care, what about self care?

Hello Everyone!

Tonight we are talking about all things self-care! 

In today's busy world, it can be so easy to forget to take care of ourselves and sometimes we feel bad for even taking time out for ourselves. So what is self care? Why does it matter? Join us now to find out! 

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Now onto our first question! 

What is your understanding of self care? 

What is your understanding of self care? 

Self care is an activity that you do to take care of yourself. To help yourself recharge from a busy week or day or just for some alone time. 

Do you have any experience with practicing self-care? What are some of the things you do?

While I do have some experience practicing self-care, I don't really think about it as self-care. Things that I would do include watching my fav cartoons (Rescue Bots is honestly my go-to good-feelings show), taking the dog/s for a walk, playing on my phone, sketching(although sometimes that doesn't work because I kind of suck), I want to get back into writing, so hopefully I'll add that and piano (something I also want to get back into) to the list. And reading, although because of some sleep issues, I haven't been reading that often. (I used to read before going to sleep but some other problems put a stop to that. I also use RO as self-care, I usually stick to Hanging Out and Everyday Life but sometimes I'll go into Tough Times because helping people helps me too 😛 (ugh that sounds so silly, but for some reason, it does) And food. The next question reminded me that another form of self-care that I do is chat to my friends, especially when I'm feeling a bit lonely, I try to strike up a conversation with them.

I'm not very good at it though, mainly because I don't treat it as self-care as a lot of these things I do anyway when I'm bored, or home by myself. I am interested in setting up a little kit specifically for upset-times but as with everything I haven't gotten onto it yet.

When is a good time to practice some self care? Is it something to use only as-needed or should we incorporate it into daily life?

It depends on you when a good time to practice is. I think that maybe some time when you're free or have some spare time to give yourself some alone and self-care time (or just self-care time if some of your self-care involves people). I also think that (with the second part of the question) it depends on your activity. Some things you do can be reserved for when you need it, while others can be used on a daily basis. For example (a really bad example but whatever :P) if you find showering a relaxing and calming activity, then doing that every day is a good idea. But maybe intense exercise, if that's not something you normally do, can be reserved for when you need it. 

What do you do, or what can you do, when you don't have the energy to self-care?

Well, I pick one of my menial (as in I do it sooo often and not often as self-care thing) such as Rescue Bots, because who am I kidding, I will ALWAYS have enough energy to sit in front of the TV and watch my favourite rescue team. I guess because I hardly ever do self-care as self-care, I don't really know the answer to this question.

AND I'm all caught up. 😄

wow @N1ghtW1ng that is one enormous response! I admire your persistence. I think I would have caved and made it into several posts, just because I'd confuse myself!

That cat gif is great @Randomness.

And as to my understanding of self-care, it's basically the act of doing whatever is physically or psychologically necessary to look after your own well-being in order to allow you to live as fully and optimally as possible. Circumstances permitting, of course.

Hey everyone! 

What is your understanding of self care? 

Consciously taking some time for yourself. Whether that be treating yourself, having a break or doing something you enjoy.

HEY

Self care = opposite to me

Takes a loooot of practice @loves netball you've come to the right conversation to figure out some first steps 🙂

I wish to be that cat @Randomness

Yay!! Me too, @Alison5! Almost time!!

Heya everyone! (Just FYI, I pillaged my dad's iPad, so if I disappear halfway through, it's because he wants to listen to the cricket or something 😛 ) Pumped for tonight's chat!

My understanding of self care, is that when things get hectic, you take some time to do something to help you chill out and calm down. It could be something as simple as going for a walk or drawing in a notebook - but it could be something bigger as well.

What is your understanding of self care? 

Self-care to me is a habit that i have to work hard at. It;s the art of doing all the things that help my body and my brain tick over sustainably. It's also knowing when to stop doing things before i run out of Spoons. 

Ah yes, the spoon theory! Definitely very relevant here. I think I'll now revise my earlier answer to include something about being mindful of my number of spoons! Thanks @Ben-RO

@Ben-RO my idea of self care is come here instead of going to the hospital - the latter might be more important but too bad.

@loves netball thanks for joining the conversation. self-care can be a tough thing to start doing, especially when it came seem like such a foreign concept. I hope this conversation can help you out with it a bit!

@Alison5 that's a great definition. Do you think self-care always needs to be a conscious effort, or can become an unconscious thing if we practice it enough over time?

that's a good point @Alison5. do you find that self-care activities in your own life are often conscious?

@loves netball sending you hugs and support!!

@letitgo that is what Big Ted is for, thanks though. I'm weird and absolutely love hugs

@loves netball hugs are a great form of self-care - nothing wrong with loving them 🙂 I also think you made a good point before about how self-care looks different when we're struggling compared to when we're well. Sometimes we need to take a step back and focus on the basics 🙂

Do you have any experience with practicing self-care? What are some of the things you do?

I have only recently come to terms with self-care and realised how important it is.

Unfortunately I still need a bit of convincing to take breaks and treat myself, but I always feel better after it.

For me, just stopping and staring at the sky or something is a great break. I also like to spend time with my dog who always improves my mood. When things are more difficult, I may decide to actually stop everything for the dsy and go for a walk or even take a power nap. Afterwards, I might do some light activities, but that are still productive.