Self-Care means taking care of yourself in simple words. But, it is certainly much more beyond than that. It means being aware of yourself, addressing your needs and be able to cater to them. It involves taking care of your health. Let’s get to know more about health.
Health, holistically understood involves physical, mental, social, emotional and spiritual well being.
Often, a lot of emphasis is given to physical health and the other aspects are left unnoticed.
Physical Health means to have a fit body, strong immune system to ward off ailments and energy to carry out daily tasks.
“One should be able to identify patterns of wishful thinking and take care of it by logical contradiction”
Mental Health is to be able to keep thoughts, feelings and actions in line. If it doesn’t happen, we often face cognitive dissonance. Inability to take decisions, indulge in irrational thought patterns like: “wishful thinking, all or none thinking also known as black and white thinking, jumping to conclusions”, etc. One should be able to identify such thought patterns and take care of it by logical contradiction, talking to a mental health professional, a trusted elder or a friend. If not addressed it can also lead to meta-cognition, occupying a persons time. It’s a vicious circle in which people get trapped and find it difficult to move out.
“It is important to take responsibility of one’s own actions and avoid projection on others”
Emotional Health involves accepting one’s emotions which could be anger, joy, sadness, disgust etc. Only after we accept these emotions can we develop the ability to respond to situations and not react. It is okay to feel all these emotions, and not get trapped in the mirage of happiness.
One can never be happy all the time. It is a myth. Coming to terms with this, help people go through emotional turmoil and find ways to cope with it. It also involves the ability to be resilient, bounce back to normal from a difficult situation. It is important to take responsibility of one’s own actions and avoid projection on others. It may be difficult initially but, it is one of the best ways to be peaceful with oneself. Embracing pain, handling it with grace and the ability to let go is essential.
“To be socially healthy, one must be a part of the society”
Social Health is often misunderstood with having a large group of friends, going to parties etc. But, this isn’t a correct metric to measure social health with. To be socially healthy, one must be a part of the society, be aware of the immediate environment and surroundings. A person must keep giving it back to society, by doing small needs. A person should not come across as a gauche at social gatherings. It is important to socialize because by birth we are social animals. We always learn something from different people. It adds to our knowledge and experience.
“Small acts of kindness also contribute in developing spiritual health”
Spiritual Health: For a person to be spiritually healthy, one does not always need to visit holy places, chant or meditate. Small acts of kindness also contribute in developing spiritual health. For example: feeding a cat, watering a plant, helping someone cross the road, admiring nature. Spiritual health is important as it helps people to be humble, grateful and feel at peace.
Habeeba Manzar is a Counseling Psychologist, currently working as a Special Educator in Vasant Valley School, New Delhi. She graduated in Applied Psychology from Gargi College, Delhi University. Then she went on to complete her MA in Clinical Psychology from South Campus, Delhi University. While pursuing Advanced Diploma in Counseling Psychology from Jamia Millia Islamia, she interned at Max Super Specialty Hospital, Saket, New Delhi and then got hired as full time Counseling Psychologist in that hospital. She did her training at few other esteemed hospitals in New Delhi including Base Hospital, Delhi Cantonment and Fortis Escorts Hospital. Read More >>
For counseling appointments Habeeba can be reached at:
Email: Habeeba.Manzar@yahoo.com
