Self-care means "self-care." But it doesn't just include your physical body: Your emotional, mental, and social balance also need to be nurtured.
Table of contents
1. What is self-care?
Self-care, also called "self- care," encompasses much more than physical health. It encompasses not only fitness, nutrition , or personal hygiene , but also meditation, a hot bath, social engagement , or simply some time for yourself.
If you take the concept seriously, you can apply it to all areas of life and practice self-care physically , but also mentally, emotionally, and socially. Self-love and self-care promote relaxation and well-being, but also make us stronger and more resilient . To support you in your new routine, our bestseller MOOD, with ingredients like L-tryptophan, vitamin D, Rhodiola rosea, and cordyceps, ensures a good gut feeling all day long.
2. 3 tips for mental self-care
While striving for a healthy body is a given for many of us, we often neglect our minds . This is precisely why it's important to regularly take time for mental self-care.
1. Do less
One of the main reasons for phenomena such as “brain fog” , overexertion or recurring concentration problems is too many plans.
Mental self-care can therefore also mean setting better priorities . Never take on more than five tasks . This creates confusion and steals valuable focus. This also applies to your leisure activities : How do you expect to stay present when you're rushing from one appointment to the next?
2. Meditation
Meditation appears in virtually every self-help book. And for good reason: The popular mindfulness practice is highly effective. Meditation helps you let go of your thoughts, relax, and simply clear your mind.
If practiced daily, it can not only improve your mood but also your ability to concentrate . This form of mental self-care is not only a great way to unwind frayed nerves but also helps boost your mental performance .
3. Challenge the mind
Regular reading, continuing education, evening classes , and similar activities also fall under the concept of mental self-care. Taking care of your mind ultimately means working on it and training it.
Leaving your intellectual comfort zone may feel uncomfortable at first, but in the long run, it strengthens your ability to remain agile, creative, and open-minded . Whether it's a new hobby, a complex book, or a language course: the main thing is that your mind is challenged and expands as a result.
3. 3 tips for physical self-care
Physical self-care includes exercise, nutrition, and relaxation. But personal hygiene and wellness are also part of it. Anything that improves your physical well-being deserves a place in your self-care routine.
1. Actively relax
The very active among us often find it difficult to slow down and simply relax. Those who struggle with complete inactivity can try the principle of active relaxation : View relaxation as an activity that, in the long run, contributes to making you stronger and more productive .
In addition to this simple mindset trick, you can also actively relax physically – with Yin Yoga, for example. In this very calm and stretch-intensive style of yoga, some poses are held for up to five minutes. This calms your entire nervous system , and you can wonderfully counteract shortened and cramped muscles through strength training or prolonged sitting in the office.
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2. Breathe
Breathing exercises, like meditation, have become an evergreen relaxation technique . Deep, slow abdominal breathing is particularly important. Breathe deeply into your abdomen, not shallowly into your chest.
If you're interested, you can also experiment with different methods . The Wim Hof Method or Kundalini Fire Breathing are exciting and, above all, relaxing, and even just 5-10 minutes of it daily can help improve your well-being.
3. Wellness
A little wellness never hurt anyone. Whether it's an extensive spa visit, a post-workout sauna session, or a massage —your body and mind will thank you.
After all, self-care also means pampering yourself . It doesn't have to be a big deal. If things are stressful, it's enough to replace a social event or workout with a nice warm bath.
4. 3 tips for emotional self-care
Emotional self-care and mental self-care are very closely related. Yet they are not the same. Dealing with our feelings is often ignored even more than our mental well-being. Yet there is so much we can do to improve our emotional balance !
1. Improve inner dialogue
Are you sometimes very hard on yourself? Then you're not alone. Your inner dialogue is often quite harsh. Achievement-oriented people, in particular, often have extremely high standards and are therefore overly critical of themselves. It would be much more productive to treat yourself with respect and appreciation .
So if you find yourself caught up in a negative inner dialogue again, you should ask yourself the following question: "Would I talk like that to a friend?" If the answer is "no," it's time to be a little nicer to yourself.
2. Express feelings
Part of good emotional self-care is taking time for self-reflection: How did your week go? How did you feel? In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, we tend to suppress our feelings . Instead of banishing them, however, they sooner or later make their way back—usually intensified—in the form of melancholy, anger, or listlessness.
Therefore, it's important to deal with your emotions. A wonderful way to do this is to keep a journal. This allows you to let everything out and give your feelings the space they deserve . Don't have a journal? Then get our BRAINEFFECT Journal:
3. Practice gratitude
Do you ever think about what you're grateful for? Dissatisfaction, pessimism, and sadness often result directly from our mindset , or our emotional and mental focus. As the saying goes: "Where focus goes, energy flows."
So, if you fret every day about what's going wrong or what you don't have, you're directing your energy toward a perceived lack . Instead, you should take time every day to reflect on the positive things in your journal or during meditation and ask yourself what you love about yourself . A good side effect: This will also improve your inner dialogue in the long run.
5. 3 tips for social self-care
Self-care can't be practiced 100% alone. After all, we humans are herd animals: Even the introverts among us need social contact . Social self-care is therefore primarily about finding a good balance between "me" and "we."
1. Identify individual needs
Just as you need to actively monitor your work-life-sleep balance, you should also consciously and, above all, individually shape the ratio between "me time" and "community time ." Depending on whether you're more extroverted or introverted , you may need more time for yourself or more time with others.
Extroverts do well to actively plan plenty of social events —even if their schedules get busy. Introverts, on the other hand, should ensure that they have enough time for solitude between all their social and family commitments.
2. Giving and helping
Helping another person without asking for anything in return can bring great happiness. Involvement in a social organization, in particular, can create a new sense of purpose and, on the other hand, also bring you new contacts .
Of course, you don't have to join a club to do this. It's perfectly sufficient to consciously be a good friend or to give someone a small gift for no reason at all.
3. Prefer positive people
The people we spend time with have a huge impact on our well-being . So, if you spend a lot of time with very pessimistic or critical people , it will rub off on you in the long run—regardless of how good your mindset is.
That's why it's important for your emotional and social well-being to surround yourself, at least for the most part, with friendly and supportive people . If that means canceling a date, that's totally okay. Don't forget: You have a right to good vibes!
6. Conclusion
Self- care is an important concept where everything finally revolves around you . The focus is on you and what you need at the moment . The concept encompasses many different areas of life: There is mental, emotional, physical, and social self-care . These areas overlap, so with a few tips like meditation or gratitude, you can even practice self-care on multiple levels.
The important thing at each level is to focus on what really works for you. This is by no means about performance-based thinking or rules! That's why it's a good idea, especially at the beginning, to experiment with a few tips to find your own personal favorites.
