In the world of caregiving “self care” is a hot topic. If you’re in the same line of work I am, then you’ve probably heard it too. Here is how I define and think about self care:

Caregiving of any kind can be broken down into a few categories: 

• Meeting physical needs
• Meeting emotional needs
• Meeting spiritual needs

In the context of child care that looks like:

• Making sure the child has enough to eat
• Making sure the child is happy and is given activities that are stimulating and fun
• Making sure age-appropriate spiritual concepts are being taught and understood
  

In the context of self-care that could look like:

• Making sure you’re hydrated and not skipping meals
• Giving yourself time to process how you’re feeling at work
• Spending time with God either by yourself or(/and) in community

The first step to getting help is realizing you have a problem, and if you believe that self care is selfish, you have a problem.

We have to take care of ourselves before we can take care of others. You know those signs people put up in their homes that say things like, 

“In this house…

we do second chances,
we do grace, we do mistakes,
we do real, we do prayers,
we do I’m sorry,
we do loud really well,
we do hugs,
we do love…”

I’m not a huge fan of those signs myself, but, if we had one, It would say, “On this blog, we do self care.” 

So what exactly is it? Our old friend the dictionary says self care is “the practice of taking an active role in protecting one’s own well-being and happiness, in particular during periods of stress.”

So, you see, it doesn’t have to be a spa day. It doesn’t even have to be a whole day, or even a half day. You can count the breath you take before you respond to a difficult behavior as self care.

It looks different for everyone, and there’s no “right” way to take care of yourself. As long as what you’re doing feels restful and life-giving, you’re on the right track! 

Now that we’ve defined self care and established that it’s a necessary part of caring for others, we hope you’ll continue to check out our blog for more self-care tips.