By Arya Jodh
International Self Care Day, or ISD, occurs every year on July 24th to represent taking care of oneself all the time; 24 hours, 7 days a week. Created by the International Self-Care Foundation in 2011, the day serves as a message that self care should be practiced all the time, as well as an opportunity to promote self care within the media. Countries around the world have dedicated activities and celebrations promoting self care on this day. In 2019 the World Health Organization created Self-Care Month beginning on June 24 and ending on July 24 to coincide with ISD, further promoting both national and regional initiatives.
Self care itself is defined as taking an active role to maintain your well being and happiness, especially important during periods of stress. Self care can take many forms based on individual needs and wants, and it is crucial to a healthy lifestyle to include time to practice self care. There are 6 types – emotional, physical, social, practical, mental and spiritual.
Emotional self care addresses any activity that helps you reflect and process ones’ complete range of emotions. Physical self care entails anything that improves your physical health, from taking care of an injury to sleeping longer. Social self care includes any activities that maintain and improve relationships in an individual’s life. Practical self care can take many forms, but anything that prevents future stress or pressured situations falls into this category. This can be completing assignments ahead of time, or planning a budget, even organizing a workspace. Mental self care is slightly different from emotional self care, as activities that stimulate the mind fall into this category. Finally, we have spiritual self care. Anything that makes one think beyond themselves and their lives is considered spiritual self care, whether the activity is religious or not.
In daily life it can be easy to push personal needs to the backburner, however practicing self care in daily life can improve well being and ensure a balanced lifestyle, whether it’s something small or a major change. The first step is figuring out what you can do to decrease your stress, and how you can implement it in your life.
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