5 Self-Care Practices for Every Area of Your Life

Close connections are important to your well-being. The best way to cultivate and maintain close relationships is to put time and energy into building your relationships with others.

• Everyone has slightly different social needs. The key is to figure out your social needs and build enough time in your schedule to create an optimal social life.

To assess your social self-care, consider:

• Are you getting enough face-to-face time with your friends?
• What are you doing to nurture your relationships with friends and family?

Mental self-care including doing things that keep your mind sharp, like puzzles, or learning about a subject that fascinates you. You might find reading books or watching movies that inspire you fuels your mind.

• Mental self-care also involves doing things that help you stay mentally healthy. Practicing self-compassion and acceptance, for example.

Here are a few questions to consider when you think about your mental self-care:

• Are you making enough time for activities that mentally stimulate you?
• Are you doing proactive things to help you stay mentally healthy?

Research shows that a lifestyle including religion or spirituality is generally a healthier lifestyle.

• Nurturing your spirit, however, doesn't have to involve religion. It can involve anything that helps you develop a deeper sense of meaning, understanding, or connection with the universe.
• Whether you enjoy meditation, attending a religious service, or praying, spiritual self-care is important.

As you consider your spiritual life, ask yourself:

• What questions do you ask yourself about your life and experience?
• Are you engaging in spiritual practices that you find fulfilling?

It's important to have healthy coping skills to deal with uncomfortable emotions,like anger, anxiety, and sadness.

• Emotional self-care may include activities that help you acknowledge and express your feelings on a regular basis.
• Whether you talk to a partner or close friend about how you feel, or you set aside time for leisure activities that help you process your emotions, it's important to incorporate emotional self-care into your life.

Consider these questions:

• Do you have healthy ways to process your emotions?
• Do you incorporate activities into your life that help you feel recharged?