From anxiety or depression all the way to addiction a number of mental health issues can arise if we do not take care of ourselves. In our go go go world we have more to do than ever before. From Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, candy crush we can spend hours on our phones numbing out. The problem I have seen in my life, and what I see with a number of my clients is that we tend to numb out too much. That is why we need to develop a self-care toolkit.

What is Self-Care

Self-care is a fancy terms most therapist use that focuses on how to take care of your mental health. From learning to deal with stress, or improving your relationship your mental health is important. So you must learn to take care of it. We all know that we should eat right, exercise, and brush our teeth to keep up good physical health. But do you take the same steps to take care of your mental health? If not now is the perfect time to start your self-care toolkit.

Self-Care should be split up into 3 different aspect daily actives that I like to call dailies, monthly actives, and yearly actives.

Ending Sheep-Walking with Dailies

Dailies are your daily self-care activity that can keep you focused on your mental health & your personal goals. If you do not take the daily step to take care of yourself you might end up “Sheep- Walking”. This term I have taken from Seth Godin’s blog. While Seth uses this term in the context of workers, I think it can apply to living life thoughtlessly. This is where you might go through the motions of your life, not fully engaging with friends or family. I believe that Sheep-Walking is one of the major influences over anxiety, depress, addiction and other mental heath issues we face today.

Dailies the key to Self-Care

To end Sheep-Walking you must take an active role in your life. This is where dailies come in, they are mindful actives that you can do daily. Balance is the key. You must create daily actives that are split into four different aspects of your life: Physical, Mental, Relational & Spiritual. Before I break down each below it is important to think of these actives as things that you enjoy. They are not meant to be a task that you MUST DO, they should be things that energize you.

In each category, you should list 5 different actives. These actives should vary and can be changed anytime you get board with them. The actives should be things that you enjoy and not something you just do because you numb out. An example from my life is watching TV. I would numb out by watching YouTube or Netflix for hours at a time. Numbing out does not recharge you or engage you. However, when I watch one or two TV shows I really enjoy like Doctor Who or House Of Cards I feel engaged during the process and feel recharged when I am done.

Physical

Starting with your own body it is important to take the time to take care of your physical needs. This means doing things differently, from eating a healthier meal, adding veggies, trying a new exercise routine or starting to exercise. Anything that you list under physical must be related to your physical heath.

Examples Include

Go running

Do yoga

Eat vegetables during ever meal (3 times)

Walk around the neightborhood or office 2 times a day

Go hiking

Zumba class

Cook meal at home

Lift wights

Play a sport or join a sports leage

Prep your food for the next day

Mental or Personal

Mental or personal self-care actives are things that you like to do but can be done by yourself. Learning to find actives you enjoy that are solitary is an important aspect of understanding yourself better. Remember the actives must re-charge you, so if doing household chores is not something you enjoy don’t put it down.

Examples Include

Playing a musical insterment

Leanring a new langue

Reading a book

Doing something creative (paint, building something)

Playing a video game (remember do not use it to numb out)

Watching one or two TV Shows or Movies

Gardening

Cooking

Learning something new (listening to a podcast, reading a book, wathcing a video, taking a class)

Journling or writting

Relational

So we started with physical health, then moved into your personal space. Now it is time to connect with others. We all crave some type of connection. It is important to make sure that we are connecting to people. This is more than texting and using social media. Any active that is a way to connect with something outside of yourself can count as relational.

Examples Include

Playing your a dog

Calling a family member

Attending a soical orgnaziation

Going to dinner with a friend

Going on a date

Having a game night with close friends and family

Meeting someone new

Making eye contact and hugging your partner.

Spending time with your kids playing

Volentteirry for a charity that you enjoy

Spiritual

This does not mean religious. Spiritual is connecting to the world around you or your higher power. Anyone can take the time to become more spiritual to feel more connected to your community and world around you.

Examples Include

Watching the Sunrise/Sunset

Doing medation

Reading your religious text

Attenidng a religious service

Praying

Watching a nature documenty

Listenting to moving music

Reading a motiviatial quote

Doing volentitry work

Spending time in nature

Work Your Dailies

The goal of dailies is to pick at least 5 things under each category. Yes, you can have more than 5 in each if you would like. Every day just complete at least 1 item in each category. If you do more than one that is great but its ok if you don’t.There is not a right or wrong way to keep track of your dailies. Find whatever works for you! From printing it on a spreadsheet to google docs, to keep tracking on an app on your phone.

Monthly

Dailies are the most important aspect of your self-care toolkit. Yet it is important to also think beyond daily actives and have something to look forward to once a month. Just plan something that you can do for yourself every month. This might include date night, a special night on the town, or family day at Disneyland. Just taking the time to pre-plan something to recharge you during the month.

Yearly

This is not just your yearly vacation if you even take it, or new years resolution. Your yearly self-care toolkit should be taking the time to set a goal for yourself. What do you want to accomplish this year? It might be a vacation or learn a new langue. Maybe it to start your own business. Set something that you can work towards during the year. You can have your dailies match up with your monthly or yearly self-care.

End Sheep Walking With Your Self-Care Tool Kit

You can end your sheep-walking today by making small changes within your life. Your self-care toolkit can be something that helps you live a richer more fulfilled life. I have many clients that use therapy as part of their self-care. Therapy can be so much more than just fixing a problem it can be a way to ensure you are staying mentally healthy. If you live in the Las Vegas area and want to keep work on your own self-care CLICK HERE to schedule a session or give us a call today.