How Can Self-care & Self-help improve your mental well-being?

Our mental health and well-being are extremely important and it's vital we look after them. There are so many ways you can practice this yourself through self-care and self-help strategies. In this blog, we will discuss what each term means, ways you can implement them, and tools you can use along the way. It's important to note that sometimes we may need further professional advice and help if self-help isn't enough.

What is self-help?

The overall definition of self-help is to overcome one's problems or better yourself without the aid of others. This can be in several aspects of life including financially, emotionally, physically, or morally. Self-help involves making small changes to your day-to-day to improve these aspects. When using self-help to improve mental well-being you mainly concentrate on the emotional and mindful areas however, other aspects may play a role in self-help strategies for improving mental health.

What are examples of self-help?

There are many ways to practice self-help some of which can overlap into self-care activities too. Here are a few forms of self-help strategies:

• Grounding - this is all about bringing yourself into the present moment to focus on the here and now, this can involve breath work to allow you to connect your body to the moment you are in.
• Mindfulness – focusing your mind into the correct space, thinking positively and rationally about the past, present, and mostly the future. Mindfulness can involve, manifesting which we speak about more in this blog How To Manifest Your Leak Free Life. It can also involve affirmations, this is where you affirm things into your life for example “I am loved” or “Things are going to be okay”.
• Exercise- this can be a form of self-help or self-care. If you are trying to better your health, or physical fitness then exercise can be a helpful tool when practicing self-help.
• Crisis plan – developing a plan for when you begin to feel low or approaching a crisis point is a form of self-help. Make a plan of what you need to do when you reach this point that works for you whether that's music, self-care activities, or seeking appropriate professional help.

What is self-care?

Self-care is similar to self-help but it is more about taking care of yourself regularly, physically, and emotionally more than bettering yourself without the aid of someone else. It' all about making time for yourself and looking after YOU. It's something that should be practiced regularly to avoid feeling overwhelmed or burnt out. There can be 8 different types of self-care:

1. Physical self-care
2. Emotional self-care
3. Social self-care
4. Spiritual self-care
5. Personal self-care
6. Home environment self-care
7. Financial self-care
8. Work, school, caregiving, or other responsibilities

 What are examples of self-care?

There as so many forms of self-care and activities you can do to look after your mental well-being here are just some of them for inspiration:

• Exercise
• Pamper yourself (have a bath/shower, do a face mask, skincare routine, etc.)
• Go for a walk
• Meditation
• Watch a film
• Spend time with loved ones
• Read a book
• Listen to music
• Eat something you enjoy

These are just a few, anything that makes you feel good, happy, or healthy is a form of self-care so try to remember to incorporate a form of self-care each day if you can. Our minds are just as important as our bodies.

Self-care tools and tips

There are so many tools that can help you practice self-care. Whether it's a trip to the shops to get your pamper essentials or a good self-help book. Below we have listed some of our favourite tools for starting your self-care journey:

 

• Self-help books – here are just two of our favorites: Good Vibes, Good Life: How Self-Love Is the Key to Unlocking Your Greatness: THE #1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER: Amazon.co.uk: King, Vex: 9781788171823: Books
• The Miracle Morning: The 6 Habits That Will Transform Your Life Before  8AM: Amazon.co.uk: Elrod, Hal: 9781473668942: Books
•  Podcasts
• Journals
• Affirmation cards
• Self-care Playlist

We love this self-care toolkit that the glitter guide has put together! It's full of ideas of things that can transform your self-care routines. Check it out here: The Ultimate Self-Care Tool Kit For The New Year - Glitter Guide (theglitterguide.com)

 

If you want to understand more about mental health, self-help, or coping strategies, we will be hosting mental health, menopause and menopause in the workplace courses, throughout this year that can help you improve your knowledge and understanding of the different forms of mental health and how to support someone struggling. For more information email: bookings@yourhealthcareacademy.com. If strengthening your pelvic floor falls into your self-care routine (why shouldn't it?!) then get your Kegel Kit here: Pelvic Floor Toner For Women. As Heard on the Chris Evans Show – SecretWhispers™.