These are the areas of self-care you should focus on and why you need them.

“The most powerful relationship you will ever have is the relationship with yourself.” — Steve Maraboli

Sometimes, self-care seems like just another thing on your to-do list. You hear so many people (including myself) talk about how important self-care is. But, it can become extremely overwhelming to begin your self-care journey if you’re unsure of where to start.

The first and best way to know where to start is to understand the different parts of us (besides the physical) that need self-care.

The Types:

1. Emotional Self-Care

Being able to process your feelings and emotions healthily is essential to practicing emotional self-care.

Tapping into emotional self-care can help you better deal with situations and setbacks. It also will allow you to develop healthy emotional responses to triggering situations.

Examples of emotional self-care include:

• Watching a heart-jerking movie

• Setting boundaries for yourself and others

• Listen to your favorite playlist (make and add a Spotify playlist)

• Ask for help when you need it

• Practice gratitude every day

2. Mental Self-Care

This form of self-care is so essential!

The mind and mental are a tricky duo that sometimes may be more of a challenge than the other types of self-care.

Taking care of your mind makes it possible for you to make better life choices, think clearly and critically, and overall improve your mental health and mindset.

Mental self-care is all about cultivating healthy techniques and strategies in order to develop a positive mentality.

Examples of mental self-care include:

• Listening to a podcast

• Read a personal development book

• Play brain games

• Avoid people who mean you no good

• Practice being nice to yourself

3. Physical Self-Care

Physical self-care focuses on taking care of the physical body. This type of self-care can be the most fulfilling and overall improve your long-term physical health.

Your everyday activities can tend to your physical well-being. These things can encompass a lot of different things and will vary depending on what your body specifically needs, but ultimately, whatever you do will be beneficial.

Examples of physical self-care include:

• Sleep

• Walking

• Exercise

• Stretching

• Taking a long, hot shower (or bath)

4. Financial Self-Care

It is very important to understand and prioritize financial self-care. Doing so will teach you to spend money wisely and how to save for the future and its needs.

Financial self-care can give you a security blanket for the future and allow you to worry less about money.

Examples of financial self-care include:

• Creating a budget (weekly, monthly, etc.)

• Start a savings account/emergency fund

• Keep track of your expenses

• Plan expenses ahead of time (vacations, groceries, etc)

• Don’t carelessly spend