Self-Care: taking care of the body you were blessed with

---

Today's topic is pretty self-explanatory. Self-care. Is it selfish? I think as Christians it can sometimes be a misconception that self-care is, well, selfish…it’s literally in the name. However, I believe it is all but that, and a very important step to form a healthy routine for yourself to thrive. Self-care is defined as anything that is done deliberately to focus our efforts on caring for our health mentally, physically, emotionally, or spiritually. Self-care is the basis for improving our mood and reducing anxiety. It’s not selfish, it’s about knowing how to take care of our needs so that ultimately, we can take care of others.

In this day and age, it feels as though we have to rush…constantly, never seeming to have enough moments in our day to complete our every task. Maybe it’s the school writing essay that was put off, or the constant days of tiring work, or the dishes that never seem to be washed, but I think I can say for many, that it's hard to finish out the day without becoming increasingly stressed or overwhelmed. Living life with a constant level of stress isn’t the life that God called us to. Studies show that when you live constantly worn out without taking a little time to yourself (even a few minutes), you can grow to resent those who you are caring for. It's important to take care of yourself in order to be refueled each day. The basis of any great self-care plan is getting to know the one who knows you best. Seeing how you were created and really accepting the love God has for you is key to understanding what you need for proper self-care.

When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus replied that we should love the Lord with all our heart and love our neighbors as ourselves. This is often blindly quoted. But when we really break this down, we are being commanded to love our neighbors based on the way we love ourselves. We need to remember in our busy, overwhelming lives it’s as important to take care of ourselves as it is loving others. In order to serve others with a pure heart we need to first take care to love ourselves.

There is a difference between being selfish and only spending time with yourself and not doing anything for yourself ever, it's a balance. You don’t have to spend hours to pamper yourself either. Just sitting for 5 minutes in silence to talk to God or painting your nails can mean all the difference. Taking care of your mental and emotional health is just as important as physical health and is the stepping point to your health journey.

With God at the center of our self-care, we can change it into our soul-care which is far more important to rest and refill our inside rather than our outside. By refueling our spiritual needs, self-care should provide more than momentary relief. Jesus calls us to rest in Him when we become overwhelmed and until we do that, we will never be able to rest fully. Self-care starts with placing your life in God's hands and involves making small choices and building healthy habits that replenish your mind, body, and soul so that ultimately you can pour out from the abundance in your own life and bless someone else.

"Come to me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" Matthew 11:28

I can break down self-care in five separate sections to better understand what you may need right now in your busy life.

The 5 Types of Self-Care:

1. Physical Self-Care

Taking care of our bodies is a large component of self-care. Sometimes self-care doesn't necessarily mean pampering ourselves by relaxing, taking a bath, or doing a face mask. Sometimes its about getting up and doing a quick workout to get your heart pumping or making a healthy meal for yourself. The key to self-care is that it should be something you enjoy doing, and not feel like an obligation. Some ideas:

- Workout or long morning walk

- Eating more fruits and vegetables

- Painting your nails

- Having a cup of tea

2. Spiritual Self-Care (or Soul-Care)

Recognize your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, as such, it is a holy and worthwhile pursuit to deeply nourish yourself through the avenues God has provided. He has blessed each and every person with a beautiful body that we are each responsible to take care of the outside. But it's even more important to nourish our soul with God given words. This is the main way we can feel refreshed again and again by putting our current struggles in the hands of God. Some ideas:

- Reading the Bible

- Journaling and praying

- Listening to worship music

- Quiet time with Jesus

3. Emotional Self-Care

Emotional self-care is about learning to not bottle your feelings up inside until you burst. It's about knowing when enough is enough and not pushing yourself over the edge. This goes hand in hand with spiritual self-care because it's important that we are getting our emotional refueling from God and not other outside worldly things. Sometimes it's fun to buy yourself a little something as well, like a bouquet of flowers, but don't get into the habit of always getting yourself something all the time with the excuse of "self-care" as a way to say you deserve it. Some ideas:

- Journaling

- Being creative and expressing your emotions through painting, writing, cooking etc.

- Buying yourself a bouquet of flowers

4. Mental Self-Care

This type of self-care is about doing something that gets your mind going. Learning a new skill can also be included in this section. It's about refreshing your day-to-day hum drum if you feel like you're stuck in a rut. Some ideas:

- Reading a book that you've had on the shelf for far too long

- Learning a new skill that you're interested in

- Trying a new recipe

- Listening to a new podcast

- Gardening/ plant care

5. Social Self-Care

Not all self-care is just refueling for yourself but should be about growing with those around you whether that be with family or friends. It's important to relax and make time for those important people in your life. Some ideas:

- Calling a friend to meet up for coffee

- Having family game night

- Reconnecting with an old friend

I hope this has shed some light on self-care and has helped you to understand that it is essential for believers to refuel and not get burnt out. I hope I have made it clear that proper self-care shouldn’t only begin on the physical level, but begin at the soul-level with God. Self-care is not a work we do in ourselves. God does the work in us, we make the space for it to happen. Our bodies are a gift from God and we are responsible for treating it with love and care on a daily basis. That also includes drawing deeper into the word of God.

"Don't you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. So glorify God with your body." 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

With love,