Why is self-care so important?

Everyone needs a break from time to time. It's a fact of life, everyone needs some time away from their responsibilities at times, in order to relax, rejuvenate and refresh the body, mind and soul. Self-care is a great way to get that break. It can be anything from a bubble bath to a trip to the spa, but whatever your preference, it's important to take as much time as you need to wind down and de-stress.

When you're feeling overwhelmed or overworked, you might have a hard time finding the energy or motivation to do something for yourself. This is all too human—you've got plenty of other things on your plate, so why spend time on you? And it makes sense that the first instinct would be to push the idea of self-care aside until "later", when you've got more energy or more time. But if you ignore self-care in favor of other things, you'll find yourself burnt out and tired before long. If you feel like you're running yourself ragged, or if you're starting to feel resentment towards anyone in your life, it's time to take action. It can be hard to convince yourself that you deserve a break when things around you seem like they're falling apart—if anything, it just feels like the opposite—but what you need is a breather. When there are issues in your life, something that seems like it would help is to try harder and to fix things—but the reality is that there's only so much you can do at once.

You need to push yourself sometimes, but you also need to know how far you can go before you burn out completely. It's important that we practice self-care so we don't become overwhelmed and start making choices that aren't healthy for us or our loved ones. When that happens, you can't do anything for anyone else—and that includes yourself. It's not always easy to slow down, much less stop and smell the roses. But if you practice self-care on a regular basis, it will be easier to indulge in relaxing behaviors when you need them most. Self-care can be as simple as sitting quietly on your couch with your favorite book or taking a short nap after lunch. It could mean going on a run in the park or getting out of town for the weekend.

Practicing self-care doesn't mean that you have to spend money, although doing nice things for yourself (shopping, spas, etc.) is certainly part of it. And it doesn't mean that you have to go out of your way to make other people happy—in fact, practicing self-care is about giving YOURSELF the attention and satisfaction that YOU need most. Why is self-care so important? We're only human, and there's no shame in admitting that we occasionally need a vacation from our lives. Second, because it's hard to be your best self for anyone else if you aren't able to be your best self for yourself.

Whether you choose to spend an hour of your weekend taking a bath or going for a hike, or whether you decide one day to start meditating every morning, self-care is an essential part of your life.