The 7 Self-Care Pillars: A complete Guide and Checklist
The 7 self-care pillars are the foundation for an effective self-care practice. Real self-care should not be an aesthetic practice that revolves only around treating yourself to a relaxing bath, a spa day, or an occasional indulgence. A real and successful self-care practice should revolve around different pillars to ensure you create a balanced, and well-rounded approach to take care of your whole self.
Clinical studies have proven that practicing self-care has a great range of benefits like reducing stress, anxiety, and depression, as well as increase happiness and health.
The 7 self-care pillars in this guide are the main categories for a complete self-care practice. They can help provide a comprehensive framework to help you develop a balanced and well-rounded self-care plan to help you live a healthier and happier life.
In this guide, I will break down each of the seven self-care pillars, as well as give you the key habits (which are simple and actionable) for each pillar to help you develop a clear and balanced plan. So whether you’re actually new to this whole self-care thing, or are maybe just looking to refine or improve your current routine, then maybe this checklist can be helpful.
THE SEVEN SELF-CARE PILLARS: a complete guide + checklist
1. Mental Self-Care
Let’s be real here, mental health is crucial. It is, after all, one of the key aspects of the foundation of your overall well-being.
Mental self-care revolves around habits and activities that focus on taking care of both your mind and brain. It’s all about trying to reduce stress and tension, nurture your intellect, maintain focus, and most importantly, achieve mental clarity and peace.
Prioritizing mental self-care should not be optional. It is one of these things that should always be a priority in life.
Mental Self-Care Checklist: The Top 5 Key Habits
- Eat nutritious foods
- Practice mindfulness or meditation
- Exercice
- Limit screen time (and reduce stressors)
- Get adequate sleep
- +1: Challenge yourself with puzzles, reading, or creative projects.
For more: check Mental Self-Care: The 5 Key Habits
2. Emotional Self-Care
Emotional self-care is just as important as mental self-care. This pillar focuses on understanding, processing, and then expressing all your emotions in healthy ways. It’s about helping you embrace all your emotions without judgment, and build resilience to improve your relationship with them.
The key to an effective emotional self-care is to really embrace your emotions and then allow yourself to feel and process them the best you can. Emotional self-care can also help you become better equipped to handle everyday stress and maintain a more balanced outlook in your daily life.
What is important is to not suppress or ignore your emotions, never mind how easy or tempting it might seem. Also, prioritizing emotional self-care can help you build a stronger connection with yourself (as well as others). This self-care pillar is really about creating space for your feelings and finding some healthy outlets for them.
Emotional Self-Care Checklist: The Top 5 Key Habits
- Reflect and identify your feelings and emotions
- Allow yourself to feel and embrace them (without judgment)
- Recognise when you’re bottling up
- Practice slow and gentle activities to release stress and tension
- Identify stressors and reduce your exposition to them
- +1: Seek therapy or counseling when needed
For more: check Emotional Self-Care: The 5 Key Habits
3. Physical Self-Care
Physical self-care, to no one’s surprise, is absolutely primordial too. It is just as crucial as mental and emotional self-care. It’s truly one of the cornerstones of a balanced and effective self-care practice.
Physical self-care, as its name indicates, involves habits and activities revolving around taking care of your body to help it be as healthy as it can (including nutrition and regular activity). Your body, after all, is your most valuable asset in life so making sure you’re taking care of it is essential if you want to live a happy, healthy life.
Physical Self-Care Checklist: The Top 5 Key Habits
- Listen to your body
- Exercise regularly (even if it’s just a daily walk or some stretching)
- Prioritize adequate sleep (7-9 hours per night)
- Eat a healthy and balanced diet + water
- Slow down and relax
- +1: Schedule regular check-ups and don’t hesitate to address health concerns as soon as you can
For more: check Physical Self-Care: The 5 Key Habits
4. Spiritual Self-Care
Spiritual self-care (often overlooked), is all about connecting with your inner self. It’s about turning your attention within and discovering what gives you a sense of purpose and inner peace. This self-care pillar focuses mainly on how to actually nurture your soul, and find meaning in your life, whether it is through introspection, religion, nature, or even art.
Making sure you incorporate spiritual self-care in your general self-care practice can help you deepen your sense of connection to your inner self, inner guidance, and maybe even to something greater than yourself.
This pillar doesn’t necessarily mean being religious (although it can and does for many people)—it’s primarily about turning your awareness inwards to connect with your inner self, to explore, consider, and discover what gives you a sense of purpose, inner peace, and clarity.
Spiritual Self-Care Checklist: The Top 5 Key Habits
- Practice Mindfulness
- Self-exploration through art and creativity
- Practice meditation and yoga
- Spend time in nature
- Have a purpose that nourishes your soul
For more: check The 5 Key Steps Of Spiritual Self-Care
5. Environmental Self-Care
Environmental self-care is often ignored and not taken into account, which is a shame because your surroundings can definitely play a big role in your general well-being.
Environmental self-care focuses on creating a living space (and or work space) that feels relaxing to you, enjoyable, and doesn’t add to your daily stress. A well-maintained, stress-free environment can help not only to enhance your mood, but also reduce stress, promote productivity, and help you recharge when you’re depleted.
After all, both your home and workspace often have a direct influence on how you feel mentally and emotionally. So by making sure these spaces are actually organized and pleasant, they can make you feel calmer, more relaxed, and even help with stress management.
Environmental Self-Care Checklist: The Top 5 Key Habits
- Declutter your home and workspace regularly
- Keep your space clean, tidy, and organised
- Create a comfortable and stress-free environment
- Add elements that bring you joy, such as plants or cozy lighting
- Open your windows to improve air quality
For more: check Environmental Self-Care: The 5 Key Habits
6. Social Self-Care
Social self-care is often ignored and overlooked too, just like environmental self-care. But humans are social beings, and so making sure you have healthy connections and relationships in your life is actually vital for your emotional and mental well-being.
Social self-care focuses on healthy relationships. It’s about building and maintaining meaningful relationships that bring you joy, support, and a sense of belonging, while also navigating the unhealthy ones. Making sure you have healthy relationships also helps with having a support social circle when you need it, and can help combat loneliness.
Besides, spending time with other people can also help you recharge you in ways that solo activities sometimes can’t. So whether it’s catching up with friends or even joining a local community, social interactions are key to help you feel connected and supported.
Social Self-Care Checklist: The Top 5 Key Habits
- Set healthy boundaries
- Reach out and spend quality time with loved ones
- Nurture authentic and healthy relationships
- Have a supportive social circle
- Learn to say ‘No’
- +1= Join groups or communities that align with your interests
For more: check Social Self-Care: The 5 Key Habits
7. Financial Self-Care
And last but not least, here comes financial self-care.
Financial stress is a common, daily struggle for many people. And it can definitely have a significant impact on your overall well-being, and affect your sense of happiness and inner peace.
Financial self-care consists of habits and activities that help you manage your money in a way that reduces financial stress. Creating financial stability can help you breathe, relax, and focus on other aspects of your life with a greater peace of mind.
I know, managing your finances can seem tricky and overwhelming, but it does not have to be impossible. With a clear financial plan, and real practical and effective steps, you can always improve your situation (even if only a little bit), and reduce financial stress to enjoy your life with a little less worry.
Financial Self-Care Checklist: The Top 5 Key Habits
- Reflect on your spending habits
- Create a budget
- Stick to your budget
- Create an emergency fund
- Try mindful spending
- +1= Educate yourself on money management
For more: check Financial Self-Care: The 5 Key Habits
Final Words
A successful and effective self-care practice is a multi-faceted, well-rounded practice that, ideally, touches the main areas of your life.
By making sure your practice focuses on these 7 pillars of self-care, you can create a more balanced, and more effective routine that leaves no areas of your life neglected or unbalanced.
Do not hesitate to use this checklist as a guide to identify which areas in your life need attention and which small steps you can take to bring it back into balance. Remember, self-care is about small, practical steps, and focusing on one thing at a time. It’s about prioritizing what you currently need most, not accomplishing everything at once.
Important reminder: the point is not to create a self-care practice that feels overwhelming, or like it’s too much for you to handle. But to have a sort of guideline or plan you can turn to when you need it. So make sure to keep it simple and focus on your most pressing needs.
I hope you found this guide helpful.
And if you have any comments or suggestions, please share them in the comments below.
Have a nice day, and remember to drink water, and be kind and patient with yourself.