Guest Post by Taneisha Dale.

What is self-care?

All around social media you might see people talking about self-care this and self-care that, but what exactly is self-care? People have made their own definitions to what they think self-care is and people practice it in different ways. Self-Care’s most basic definition is the care of one’s self. So, what exactly does this mean? This means that whatever you need to do to take care of yourself do it! If you need an hour of quiet time everyday just to regroup, then you better get that quiet time in and not make excuses for not doing it. To practice self-care, you must put yourself before any other person in your life because if you can’t take care of yourself, then how are you supposed to care for those around you?

My definition of self-care

Self-care is taking deep care of yourself on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level. If I make sure all three of these pillars are met, then I know I will be at peace and stable enough to take on the world. To take care of myself physically I make sure that I’m eating right and that I’m drinking lots of water. This is a crucial step for me because I have battled with major depression before. I’m on depression pills to stable myself out, but I’ve found myself not having to use them as much because when I eat better, I feel better. If you’re eating nothing but fast food and junk food all the time that’s going to 1) Cause you to gain weight, and 2) Make you feel bad about yourself.

To make sure that I’m taking care of myself emotionally, I make sure that I check in with myself quite often. To do this,

• I make time to journal. I use journaling prompts to self-reflect and map out goals that I want to reach.
• I use affirmations often to offset the negative thoughts that try to sneak in and make me feel bad about myself.
• I make sure to surround myself with people who have great energy, and push me to be better.
• I cut off people around me who don’t bring any good to my life. (Read the story here)
• I find things that make me happy and then I do them often.
• I read and take time for myself when I need it.

To take care of myself spiritually I had to develop a relationship with God. I’m not trying to force my religion off on you here. I found out that if I just talk to him, a lot of my problems either go away or I’m given a new outlook to deal with the situation better. Sometimes I pray out loud and other times I write my prayers down in my prayer journal. I meditate and read my bible. Doing all these things makes me feel better and it reminds me that I have a purpose for being here. I can’t walk in my purpose and do the things that I’m supposed to do if I’m not willing to take some time out for myself to regroup.

Ways to practice Self-Care

When it comes to practicing self-care, you must do what works for you. Find out what you like and then make time to do it every day. For me, I read. Everyone’s self-care routine is different, but I’m here to tell you that it’s very important that you have one in place. You don’t have to go out and spend money on a Mani/Pedis, spas, or hair salons just to prove that you take care of yourself.

You can simply:

• Try a new hobby
• Declutter your closet
• Light your favorite candle and have quiet time
• Have alone time
• Check in with yourself
• Take a nap
• Unplug from social media (recommended)
• Practice even breathing
• Take a hot bath
• Sleep 8 hours

These are simple and free ways to make sure you’re focusing on yourself a little bit every day. If you would like to start practicing self-care my free 7-day self-care challenge can be the jumpstart you need to get yourself in the game! Sign up for it here.

You can also purchase my new self-care e-workbook to help you along with your self-care journey.

The Self-Care Workbook is for women who are ready to take charge of their lives. this workbook helps you self-reflect and reminds you of your worth. The Self-Care E-Workbook has 25+ pages filled with positivity, affirmations, journal prompts and fillable self-reflection sheets. For a limited time you can receive the workbook for 20% off when you use promo code: selfcare20

Hi! My name is Taneisha Dale. I’m a 22-year-old college undergrad majoring in Public Relations & Marketing, and I’m also the owner of simplyjanae.com. I started blogging in February of 2017 after coming out of a rough patch in life. I felt as if I had a story to tell so that I could help other women and inspire them to be the person that they are called to be. I’m a huge advocate for self-care because once I started taking care of myself properly things started changing and I become unstoppable.