According to Catherine Beard (2021), there are seven pillars of self-care: mental, emotional, physical, environmental, spiritual, recreational, and social. Not every pillar will be important to every person, and you should identify the pillars that are most important to you. For example, one person may find that physical self-care holds more weight than spiritual self-care and will take steps to focus on physical rather than spiritual. 

Once you have identified which areas of self-care you would like to focus on, the hardest part is finding ways to make it happen. The answer, while simple, is not always easy. You just make it happen. Intentional self-care is the practice of purposely setting aside time for yourself to do the things that will foster your mental and physical well-being. 

The other question that gets asked is, “What is self-care?” Self-care is whatever you want it to be. For some, cleaning might be self-care, but for others, that’s a chore that just needs to get done. Self-care can be lying down and reading a book for fun, planning a short weekend trip, grabbing coffee with a friend, or finding time to pray, exercise, or meditate. There is no right or wrong way to engage in self-care; whatever feels good to you is what is right.

I want to challenge each person reading this post to find at least two new ways to engage in intentional self-care this week. Using the seven pillars of self-care, try to find an area you would like to boost and make time to make it happen. It does not have to be a long, time-consuming activity, and it doesn’t have to be extravagant. Sometimes, it’s the simple things that make the day-to-day just a little more bearable. By making time this week, I hope you can start to feel a little more peaceful and a little less overwhelmed with daily life.

7 Pillars of Self-Care:

| 1. mental

| 2. emotional

| 3. physical

| 4. environmental

| 5. spiritual

| 6. recreational

| 7. social