By Maeve Gale, Clinical Counsellor – Bridge the Gap
Self-care is a sincere and personal commitment to what you value – though it’s often presented as an escape from daily life and its challenges. With radical roots in community care and justice movements, genuine self-care is an evolving practice for personal well-being that is essential for individual resilience and health of our communities.
We can frame self-care in terms of nourishment: what are you filling your body, your heart, your mind, and your time with? And how is that, in turn, nourishing your community?
What are the Types of Self Care?
Self-care is intentional actions for well-being. We can generally divide self-care into the five categories below. (Of course, these categories aren’t completely separate, and there can be lots of overlap.)
Social – Reaching out, building supportive and reciprocal relationships, mutual aid, setting boundaries.
Spiritual – Nurturing your spirit and sense of purpose, engaging in connection practices, and exploring your values and beliefs. This does not have to be based on religion – some people describe it as a sense of awe, or connection to something bigger than yourself.
Mental – Stimulating and resting your mind – learning new skills and ideas, taking breaks, and engaging in mindfulness practices.
Emotional – Connecting to and understanding your emotions.
Physical – Caring for your physical body through elements such as nutrition, movement, and sleep.
What is the History and Origins of Self-Care?
The self-care movement has radical roots in community care, and as such is inextricable from dynamics of race, gender and class. In the words of Aimaloghi Eromosele:
“The emergence of self-care began in the healthcare setting back in the 1950s, originally used to characterize actions, like personal grooming and exercise, that institutionalized patients could take to practice their autonomy and foster a sense of self-worth.
However, I think all the credit of our contemporary interpretation of self-care is due to the Black Panther Party. In the 1970s, the BPP began to promote a message to Black folks that prioritized looking after their health and well-being, noting that our own wellness was essential in order to remain resilient in the face of relentless systemic and medical racism.”
The history of self-care is part of a vital movement towards freedom and deserves much more space than this blog post. I encourage you to read more in the resources provided at the end.
What Are Common Myths About Self Care?
Now that we know what self-care is and its roots, let’s clarify what self-care isn’t.
Myth 1: A One-Time Fix
Real self-care is an evolving practice that involves continuous self-reflection. Just as you and your life changes, your self-care practice will too.
Myth 2: One Size Fits All
Self-care involves making decisions in line with your own values and needs. What is meaningful for one person may not be for another. For example: if you’re in recovery from an injury, self-care might involve a solid commitment to daily physiotherapy exercises. But if you’re in recovery from an eating disorder that has involved a difficult relationship with exercise, self-care might involve finding more gentle forms of movement and listening to your body’s needs for rest.
Myth 3: It’s Purely Pampering
It’s not as simple as buying a new day planner or a croissant. Don’t get me wrong, I am pro-baked goods! But seeking only these types of external self-care keeps us looking outward. It can keep us trapped in a system that tells us we can individually buy our way into value alignment, rather than practicing internal and collective care.
Myth 4: Selfishness
The idea of caring for ourselves sometimes gets mislabeled as selfish. But many aspects of genuine self-care (including how we handle conflicts, invest our money, and spend our time) have a big impact on the health of our community.
Most of us have heard the metaphor about putting on your own oxygen mask before helping others put on theirs. But it goes even further than that. Self-care doesn’t come before community care; it’s an essential part of it. When we practice sustainable self-care, we have the energy to care for others – and we can shift our relationships, our workplaces, and our broken systems.
How Can I Create a Sustainable Self-Care Plan?
So, with all of this information – how to put it into action? Everyone’s self-care plan will look different, but there are three elements to keep in mind:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: What is the difference between self-care and community care?
A: Many people view self-care as taking care of yourself, and community care as taking care of others. However, this frames care as a binary: giving vs. receiving. Sometimes, both can exist at the same time. For example: going over to a friend’s house to make dinner, knowing they’ve been isolated recently. Sure, that’s giving support—but it’s also caring for yourself in getting to connect with them and eat a great meal.
No matter how much self-care we practice, the reality is that we all have needs that we can’t meet on our own. This is where community care comes in. At its heart, community care involves recognizing where we have privilege, and the ways we can leverage this privilege for others.
There are various views (and many excellent pieces of writing) on how separate self-care and community care are from each other, which we should be devoting more energy to, and how they can work together. I encourage you to read some of the articles listed in the resources to learn more!
Q: Can self-care be selfish?
A: Self-care is not inherently selfish. While of course, the term can be misused (like any term), it’s truly about seeking balance and the capacity to care for both ourselves and others, not neglecting or harming others.
If you are struggling with feeling selfish for engaging in genuine self-care, it might be valuable to reflect on your beliefs around selfishness. What do you define as selfish and why? Who or what has contributed to these beliefs? Do they extend to others, or only you?
Q: What are categories of self-care?
A: There are various ways of framing different types of self-care – a quick Google search will show you results describing four levels, seven pillars, eight areas, ten types, and more!
Categories that I find helpful are: Social, Spiritual, Mental, Emotional, and Physical. That said, it’s important to remember that things often don’t fit neatly into separate categories. The general purpose of considering different categories is to inform a holistic approach to your self-care practice.
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About The Blogger
Hello! My name is Maeve (she/her). I’m a Registered Clinical Counsellor specializing in individual therapy. As a counsellor, my priority is for you to be seen and heard, so that you can show up authentically while gaining insights and making changes. Together we work through parts of your life that feel difficult, confusing, or painful. I work with a diverse range of people, including those experiencing depression, anxiety, eating disorders and disordered eating, life transitions, and burnout. I use an integrative approach, meaning I combine different therapeutic approaches to fit the needs of each individual. You can connect with me here.
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