Self-care vs. Self-awareness

We have heard quite a bit about “self-care” practices and the importance of maintaining the health and wellbeing of our individual minds, bodies, and spirits. There is no doubt that this work is essential for becoming more physically, emotionally, and spiritually aligned; however, there is a lesser-known movement that asks us to do work that is just as important to our welfare: self-awareness. Read on about the similarities and differences between self-care and self-awareness and how to cultivate both. Understanding how these two practices relate will ensure long-term success in many areas of your life!

Internal vs. External Care

It is helpful to think of the work we do for self-care as being focused internally. This doesn’t mean that taking a long bath, exercising regularly, treating yourself to a massage, or generally taking care of your external self isn’t considered self-care or internal work. The work that we do to preserve and protect a sense of our individual wellbeing, whether physical or emotional, is self-care. With self-awareness, it is vital to believe that intentional self-care is essential to cultivating our external selves.

Self-awareness is a fundamental understanding of how we fit into and interact with the external world and those around us. If we spend ample time cultivating and caring for our individual wellbeing with self-care practices, we are better able to practice self-awareness. It might help to consider the phrase, “If you can’t love yourself, you can’t love anyone else.” Through self-care, we learn how to love ourselves. Through self-awareness, we are better able to apply ourselves to the world around us and love others.

What Can Self-care and Self-awareness Do for You?

While balancing both your internal and external sense of being, you’ll be amazed at the type of results you will see in many areas of your life.

1. Controls Stress and Anxiety: Using self-care and self-awareness helps build a solid foundation from the inside out. We cannot erase all the stress and anxiety in our lives, which would be nice. We can control how we approach stressful situations and the tools we carry with us to fix them.

2. Promotes Productivity: If you are more in control of yourself, you can manage your time and activities better. Taking on your day with more intention will do nothing but enhance your quality of work.

3. Improves Health: Less stress, better health—science says so too. A better and more in-tuned sense of ourselves and our place in the world positively affects our central nervous system.

Small First Steps for your Self-care and Self-awareness Journey

At a loss of practical ways to start this journey? Below are ways to begin implementing successful self-care and self-awareness goals.

1. Implement a regular sleep schedule.
2. Use your breaks to move around outdoors.
3. Prioritize your physical wellbeing and create a workout routine that works for you.
4. Journal your thoughts when you are both happy and sad.
5. Take the sick day if you need it for your mental health.

Are you ready to experience the results when you make you balance your internal and external wellbeing? See what new aspects of your life await with these self-care and self-awareness tips!