Top 5 Reasons Self Care Is Crucial For Women:
Women wear many hats: mothers, daughters, sisters, friends, wives, students, employees and more. With all the responsibilities that come with each title, women can spend so much time caring for the needs of others, that they forget to care for their own.
Self care - carving out time to nurture your own needs, is incredibly vital for women. You can’t pour from an empty cup.
Anything you do to improve your emotional, mental, spiritual, or physical well-being can be considered self-care. Forms of self-care can include journaling, mindfulness practices, socializing, changing dietary and sleeping habits, and more. These small changes can be incredibly empowering.
But why is self care so important for women? Read on to find out.
Self-Care Helps Women Avoid Burnout:
From getting the kids off to daycare, to work, to PTA meetings, to neighborhood potlucks, and more, women are constantly on the go. However, our emotional energy drains when we’re doing too much for too long without taking a break (similar to the physical depletion that occurs while running a race). When we step away and take care of ourselves, the emotional burden of everyday demands becomes just a little bit lighter.
Self Care Helps Women Connect With Their Inner Self:
Inner self care, or activities to nurture your emotional and mental health, can help women reconnect with parts of themselves they may have lost when they became a wife, or mother. Mindfulness meditation or reflective journaling are two ways to get in tune with your authentic self. When we create a healthy relationship within ourselves, we are able to then transmit those positive feelings onto others.
Self Care Helps Women Cope With Difficult Life Events:
When we take care of ourselves on a regular basis, we strengthen our emotional stamina, allowing for greater resilience when life throws us a curveball. Good mental health, which can be accomplished through self-care, allows us to think clearer and more positively. These skills come in handy for women going through difficult seasons of their lives.
Self Care Helps Women Battle Anxiety and Depression:
Scientists and psychologists alike have found women experience anxiety and depression at far greater rates than men. With women being more susceptible to mental illness, practicing self-care can be a way to combat these negative emotions. For example, depression can cause someone to quit caring about the foods they put in their body, or how much sleep they’re getting a night. Practicing self-care by making time to cook yourself healthy, nutrient-dense meals can significantly ease symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Self Care Helps Boost Women’s Self-Esteem:
When you consistently avoid things that drain your mental and physical health, you slowly but surely decrease your self-worth. This can happen unintentionally, yet the effects are still as damaging. When women practice self-care, they are cultivating a healthy relationship within themselves. Taking time to nurture your own needs re-writes your inner dialogue by producing positive feelings. These positive feelings then turn into self-love, which boosts a woman’s self-esteem.
Self Care Is Not Selfish:
Simply put, women need to take care of their own emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual needs before attempting to help others with theirs. A majority of women are natural-born caretakers, however, this role can quickly lead to a depletion of energy both on the inside, and the outside.
Carving out time each day to do even one small thing for yourself can slowly but surely begin to write your love story to yourself. When you authentically love yourself, your light shining from within is undeniable.
