Kelly Singh From Pure Bliss Therapies in Henley

Nov 23, 202015 min read

Types of Self-Care You can do For Your Space, Finances, Work & Career - To fit easily into your life

I'm one for advocating the importance of self-care. When life gets busy and stressful, it's very easy to look outside of us for someone, something or anything that will make us feel better. Such as a partner, friend, therapist, a quick high such as a coffee or alcohol or to eat something that is unhealthy such as that cake. It's also very easy to pop a pill to make us feel good and feel better.

These are all temporary fixes and never truly fix the root cause of the problem or issue you are in.

What we really need to do is to fully accept ourselves as we are in all our unique strange and mysterious ways. Once you fully accept yourself, it's much easier to love and appreciate yourself and when you love and appreciate yourself, you naturally find ways to care for yourself in much healthier, nurturing ways that are longstanding. You begin to choose what's best for you. Especially when life is getting on top of you.

What is Self-care I hear you ask?

Well, self-care is where you are doing acts of taking care of yourself ideally on a daily basis.

The types of self-care can range from Physical, Emotional, Social, Mental, Spiritual, Personal, Your space, Financial and your Work/Career/Business.

Ideally we should be striving towards all of these areas in our lives, ideally daily to have optimum health, wellbeing and life fulfilment.

Self-care forms an essential part of a lifestyle that keeps us healthy, happy, and more in tune with our minds and bodies.

When we take good care of ourselves in all areas of our life, we're likely to see an improvement in many aspects of our lives, including our physical health and our relationships.

Self-care encourages you to maintain a healthy relationship with yourself. It's about being as kind to yourself as you would be to others.

It produces positive happy feelings and boosts your confidence and self-esteem.

Which we can all benefit more from right now. To feel good about ourselves and how we take care of ourselves. Allowing us to feel empowered and leading a healthy life and lifestyle.

Plus if you have children, it's a great way to teach this to your children; children watch what there parents do on a daily basis; so seeing mum or dad taking loving and kind care to themselves daily, can have many profound benefits for their future and seeing it as an essential part of life and looking after this human body that we live in. That allows us to have a healthy and fulfilling life all round.

Benefits of Self Care:

Enhances self-esteem - When you regularly carve out some time for yourself which is all about being good to yourself and meeting you own needs, you send a positive message to your subconscious. Treating yourself like you matter and that you have value and that you are important. Such as your energy, your time, your body and your health and how you feel about yourself. This can really help with self-esteem and feeling good about yourself. Helping to reduce negative self talk and your critical inner voice.

Helps sharpen our mental and physical health - helps us to become much clearer on our life path and where we want to be going with our life. And it improves our physical health and longevity of our body. Allowing us to live a more fulfilling and healthier life.

Increased self-knowledge - Practising self-care requires thinking about what you really love to do and what you really enjoy in life. It can help you to understand yourself better and improve your relationship with yourself and improve your life in many ways. It can also help you focus on a previously abandoned hobby or a change in career.

Better Stress-Management - Your able to deal with stress and stressful situations much better and more easily than you did before. You feel more in control of your emotions and reactions and are able to find ways to make thing better and easier for you long term. This helps with your residence to stress and stressful situations and your mental wellbeing.

Better productivity - When you start making time for things that matter more. Goals become more focused and helps you to concentrate on what you are doing in the moment. You become more organised and dedicated to your life and your wellbeing. Which is great for your health and mental health as well.

Better physical health and overall wellbeing - When you take care of yourself much more with self-care practises, you often have fewer colds, cases of flu. Less stress and a better immune system which can help to keep you healthy and well, through challenging times and make you feel more physically stronger and able to cope better.

You have more to give to others - Self-care gives you the resources you need to be compassionate and caring to others as well. When you give yourself self-care and the respect and value that you deserve and owe to yourself, you fill up your own cup, you can't fill someone else if you don't have enough of your own. This includes energy, love, care, compassion, motivation, empathy, understanding etc... if you don't have enough of these yourself. You only end up draining your own rescues even more and this can lead to burnout, exhaustion, irritability, frustration and anger issues later on.

If you have a regular self-care practice in place in your life you will have an abundant supply of energy, love, care, compassion, motivation, empathy, understanding to name but a few. It's about replenishing these when they inevitably run, especially if we are looking after family, small children, jaggedly home life, work, business, relationships and health related issues.

That is why self-care is so important to our human selves to manage our everyday lives more effectively, without the need of burn out and exhaustion...

If you take time everyday to do something for yourself, such as any of these below ideally daily, weekly or even hourly - whatever feels best for you.

Types of Self-Care:

There are many different types of self-care practises that you can easily implement into your daily life and lifestyle. None of them are especially difficult or require a lot of planning and spending a lot of money.

Find some that you generally enjoy and that would fit your life and your values that you have.

Like last months blog post, I focused more on the mental, spiritual and personal aspects of our self-care needs. This month I am focusing on our space, financial, work/career and business self-care needs that we can easily implement into our lives, to make them more fulfilling and enriched.

Space Self-Care:-

Taking care of your space is one of the best forms of self-care there is. Your home is space where you retreat from the world and reconnect with to your body, mind and soul. Where you spend your intimate, vulnerable, precious moments of your day. You do everything in your home from eating, sleeping, thinking, resting and communing there. It's your haven, your refuge. Your home is the place that's meant to lift you up and make you feel safe. Having a healthy safe environment is really important to your wellbeing and self-care. You deserve to live in a space that lights you up and makes you feel nourished, happy and safe.

By showing our space some love and attention that it deserves, by doing so, you are showing yourself how much you love yourself.

It's also the space within you and what you do. Looking after the space that you are in, what you do with your space and how you manage it. Holding a safe space for yourself and to own every part of who you are and where you have been, its about being kind to ourselves and being your own best friend, number one fan and cheerleader. Standing confidently and lovingly exactly where you are with no regrets or defensiveness. Knowing that you are whole and complete and beautiful. You are capable of creating a safe space for yourself and being happy where you are and in your space, either if thats within and around you or within your home.

Safety - Feeling safe and comfortable in your home or space is vital for you to feel well and to be well. Having emotional and physical safety is really important and can counteract any stresses or anxieties that may crop up for you.

Taking care of your safety is key to ongoing wellbeing and feeling safe and secure where you live and in your space. Put in the necessary steps that are needed to allow you to feel safe and secure in your own home and in your space. Your home is your haven and you should feel safe and secure in it to be able to rest and recharge. So it's important to assess your space - Ask yourself "What do I need right now?" And take the steps to make that happen.

Creating a sense of emotional safety starts with the elimination of the common stresses. Such as fear, worry and anxiety.

Healthy Environments - Making sure that you have a healthy environment is key to your wellbeing and mental and physical health. Being able to feel comfortable to opening up and being your true authentic self is vitally important and needed. Having a healthy environment can sometimes mean having plenty of natural light in your space, healthy plants and flowers that can absorb household chemicals, inside and outside pollutants. Space to be able to move around freely, space for you to breathe, relax and kickback.

Stability - Feeling stable in your body and your space that you are in, such as your body and your home is really important. Feeling stable makes you feel safe, confident and happy.

Stability is one of the main factors of a healthy root chakra which is your foundations for feeling secure and stable in life and in your body. Without this you can feel unstable, fearful and anxious about yourself, your body, who you are and where you stand in life. Feeling stable makes you feel good. So having a stable home, one that is safe, secure and protective is really key.

Clean and Tidy Space - Cleaning your space and home is really important not just for your physical health but mental health also. A clean and tidy home makes you feel good, makes you feel secure and safe and allows any negative energy to be swept away, allowing only positive energy to flow through. It prevents stagnation of negative energy and allows healthy energy to flow. Cleaning your space and what you have around you, such as piles of books, clothes, rubbish that needs sorting and removing will give you more energy and create more space for you to grow and evolve.

Once your space and home acts as a recharging, rejuvenating space, you will be able to handle anything life throws at you.

Financial Self-Care:-

Practicing financial self-care means developing habits that set you up to reach your financial goals. Setting aside money for your savings every month, creating a budget, dealing with debt head on are several ways your can take care of your financial self-care.

People who have clear financial goals have lower stress levels.

Finding ways to build financial self-care into your daily routine can have profound effect on your wellbeing and happiness in life.

Ignoring your financial issues and finances usually contributes to heightened anxiety, fear, shame, guilt and relationship stress and tension.

When you take time to focus on the sate of your money, things start to shift and change. By prioritising your finances helps to support a healthy money mindset.

Knowing that you are taking care of your money as well as your loved ones financial future can improve your mental outlook and your mood. Helps put you back in control, allowing you to feel more empowered to create a more fulfilling, happy and balanced life.

Start practicing some of these easy actions today to help boost your financial and emotional wellbeing:

Talk about your financial issues to a partner or friend - bring your money worries, hopes and dreams to light. Don't hide your money issues, there are no reasons to feel ashamed, guilty or alone. Talk to your family, partner, loved ones if you feel that you have money and financial issues that need to be dealt with. There is no reason and point to hide it, it will not solve the issue, it will only make it worse. Once it is out in the open, it will be easier for you to seek help and to come out of the financial issue that you found yourself in and move into practical healthy ways to solve and resolve it.
Set short and long term Financial goals for your future - create goals that inspire you, passion fuels desire, the more likely you are of being committed to achieving them. What steps will you take to achieve them? What would you like to achieve? Be specific, be clear and have a vision in your mind of what you would like to accomplish and achieve. This will really help you to feel energised and positive looking forward and give you the memento to take the daily steps of managing your money more effectively and efficiently, so that you can reach your goals and dreams.
Money Management - keeping a tab on your daily income, spending and expenses, can help you to feel more in control of your money. Managing and mastering your money means having a clear sense of how much is coming in and going out daily. Having a clear view of your spending habits can be really empowering and improve your self-confidence with money.
Budgeting and Saving - Budgeting is really important, to know what you have coming in and going out and using the money that you have coming in wisely is key to having healthy cash flow. Then knowing what you can put aside for savings each month is doable. But it's vital that you take the time to go through all of your spending habits and expenses that you have daily, weekly, monthly and yearly to know what you can put aside for future bills and to be able to put aside some savings for yourself and your loved ones in the future. This is the key to your financial security and financial goals that you have. You are more likely to achieve your money goals more effectively with clear vision on all of your finances coming in and out.
Spending habits and reducing your debt head on - Slashing your spending will help you to avoid accumulation of new debt. Paying back any debt that you already have is really important and one of the fastest ways to financial self-care. Ways you can do this is by boosting your income with extra work, a side hustle/job to help accelerate your debt pay down. And avoiding extra spending that isn't needed. Being really mindful of your spending habits is key. And knowing what can trigger your spending is also key. Emotions and feelings can play a massive part in spending sprees, so learn some new ways of avoiding these situations and knowing that you don't need those extra things.
Paying Bills - Pay your bills on time, check them and pay them. This will help you to be able to work out what you have left for the rest of the week, month or year. Paying your bills on time is really important so that you don't get in debt and end up owing much more money down the line. Get help if you struggle with paying your bills, but try to avoid taking out any loans if you can as this will create more bills and debts in the future.
Setting healthy money boundaries - Setting money boundaries can change your life for the better. Put your own financial needs before others, because you matter as well as your own money. You have the right to say no when family or friends ask for money. Taking care of your financial needs now, will actually reduce the burdens your family may have to take later on. Start by identifying your financial goals and your money boundaries. What boundaries need to go in place for you to be able to achieve your goals successfully. Such as paying off your mortgage, Pay off all your debts, Prepare for your longterm care in later life, Purchase life insurance for the future.

It's important to not take on new debt and to keep your budget of your spending firm but not too flexible.

If you find that you struggle with money and how to manage money more effectively please seek help by working with a financial planner to clarify your goals and set healthy money boundaries to support your goals. They can help you to create comfortable money boundaries for your own life and help you to communicate them clearly with others around you.

Work/Career/Business Self-Care:-

Self-care and your work/job/career or business doesn't have to be separate. Having good self-care during your work/career and business is key to taking good care of yourself during your working days and weeks. Rest and productivity go head in hand. You can manage your work day stress and productivity. It means taking a look at your life, your work, career or business and taking responsibility to make it better, not just for today, but for the future.

Here are some self-care ideas that can help you during your working days/career or business. To help you lead a more balanced healthy work life balance.

Time Management - Be proactive in your work/career or business - be organised, prepared and diligent with your time and time keeping. Don't over do it and spend far too long on something that you could possibly come back to or delegate to others. Being aware of our actions allows us to foster better self-organisation and makes us realise the importance and relevance of even small tasks. Having a plan of action helps to keep you focused, provides structure and a sense of achievement as you tick off completed tasks each day.

Spend your time being proactive on the issues that come up and get them done and dusted, so that you can move on and focus on other tasks at hand. This can help you to feel more in control, confident, productive and give you a general satisfaction in your working day.

Set Healthy Work Boundaries - Start by setting no work zones in your life such as not checking your phone or emails after a certain time in the evening or on weekends. If you are working from home, let your family know that you are working at these times during the day and stick to them. If you can create a home office where you can shut the door and focus on your work, without the need of being interrupted and disturbed during your day. I find a "do not disturb" sign on the front of my office door works wonders...
More Kindness - a cooperative and supportive attitude towards ourselves, our colleagues, co-workers, clients, customers and family members, helps to create a better working environment and increases overall wellbeing and happiness for all. A better working environment leads to more productivity and effectiveness, creating a more holistic and sustainable business and working environment.
Make sure that you take regular breaks - And commit to them! Where you can get up and move your body regularly, such as walking around your office or getting outside for some fresh air. Make sure that you are taking your lunch break, that time is for you to not only eat and refuel but to also recharge and rest after eating. Getting some fresh air, getting some exercise and nice walk in a park or window shopping around the shops or meditating in a park to help you to feel refreshed and ready to get back to work. Regular breaks are great for you to come away from whatever you are doing, coming away from a screen, resting your eyes and moving your body so it's not stuck in the same position for hours on end. Its vital for your physical, mental and emotional health, so take your breaks and keep your body moving...
Stay hydrated - Invest in a water bottle and keep topping it up while you are working throughout your day. This will keep you hydrated and prevent you turning to coffee, soda or other drinks that can dehydrate you and that should be kept at a moderation.
Nourish your body - healthy eating can be hard for many because its a matter of changing old, unhealthy patterns and habits and instead setting new healthy patterns and habits that will allow you to feel healthier inside and out. Eating healthy balanced meals and snacks during your day will help you to maintain your energy, focus, boost your mood and productivity. Eating and drinking well will really help improve the way you live your life and the way that you work.
Ask for help - Your health and wellbeing is an invaluable investment. You can't work if you are sick. If you are in great mental and physical health your productivity improves, you will feel more mentally and physically well and your business will be able to reach new heights. The earlier that you seek help if things are getting too much, too overwhelming for you, the quicker you can get yourself and your business or work back on track.
Find ways to unwind everyday - Give yourself time to unwind each day after working. By knowing when to unplug from work, step away from work and give yourself time to decompress, reconnect with loved ones and check in with your own thoughts and feelings. This will allow you to feel more rejuvenated and better able to handle the daily pressures. Make a point of disconnecting from technology especially in the evenings and weekends. It's vital for your mental and physical health short term and long term. Plus if you have kids, it's a great way of teaching them self-discipline and valuing themselves, kids learn from their parents and what they do in front of them. Show them healthy ways of being and showing that you value your own time and that you value time with them also.
Make sleep a priority - sleep is vital to our wellbeing and physical and mental health, without enough sleep it can compromise your performance and can cause impairments that are similar to being drunk! Sleep allows our body and mind to rest, heal, repair itself and its key to supporting a healthy brain functioning. A good nights sleep is in order to feel energised and excited, mentally sharp and to make thoughtful choices in your work, life and business. Ideally aim for 8 hours of good quality sleep each night and sleep whenever necessary. Being aware of feeling tired and your bodies needs are important to your longterm health and wellbeing.

As a Holistic Therapist and Wellbeing Coach, I can help you to find support and the tools that you need to help you with your future career and business goals. If this is something that you are interested in or would like help on your own self-care needs in any area of your life? Please contact me for a free 10 minute chat over the phone to discuss your needs and goals for your future self.

Get in contact here. I will be happy to help in whichever way that I can. I look forward

to hearing from you.

I hope that you enjoyed my series on Self-Care and the reason's for its importance in our lives as human beings and being able to thrive. If you have missed any of my other self-care issues that I covered here are the links below: