Self-care is a common thread seen all over social media. The more the phenomenon trends, the more misconceptions come up about it.
If you want to engage in effective self-care you will need to understand it is much harder than bubble baths and incense and we have got you covered with all the gory details on how to truly better yourself.
Self-care means engaging in activities and practices that promote one’s health and well-being and taking appropriate care of oneself when they fall sick. Most of the self-care practices we see highlighted on social media entail soaking in bubble baths with scented candles and buying yourself flowers. In reality, self-care is actually very hard work.
Self-care can be divided into two, passive and active self-care. Passive self-care is the type that we are accustomed to reading about and seeing on social media. It consists of the usual things that you would think of when we mention self-care. All the lovely things that you do to relax yourself and restore your energy. These might include binge watching your favorite show or movies, going to the spa, taking a nap, going out with friends or taking yourself on a date. This type of self-care is referred to as ‘restorative’ because it is supposed to replenish your energy levels and allow you to relax and calm your mind, body and soul. Passive self-care does not require consistent effort from you and its effects are short-term and felt instantly.
Active self-care, on the other hand, is the hard work that we don’t usually affiliate with self-care. It involves learning yourself, recognizing your patterns and destructive behaviors as well as forming new habits that will benefit you. It is painful because it requires you to push your boundaries and break up toxic relationships. It allows you to deal with long term problems within yourself that affect your all round performance and health as well as shape your future. It is exhausting and bears slow results that are only visible after a long period of time. Nonetheless, it is still the most rewarding form of self-care.
Passive self-care is supposed to help you through engaging actively in bettering yourself. The two go hand in hand so you can’t be practicing self-care if you use one without the other. You use passive to self-care to cool off from actively caring for yourself.
How do you practice self-care? Stay tuned to The Sauce for more tips in how to engage in active self-care to help you be the best version of yourself.
