Active v.s. Passive Self Care

What’s the very first thing that comes to mind when you hear the term “self-care?” For most of us, it’s bubblebaths. Self-care is SUCH a hot topic buzzword nowadays, yet most of what’s portrayed is still only representing 50% of what self-care really is: the passive aspects, or in general, various types of restful activities. 

I am a huge proponent of rest, quiet time and bubblebaths. Those types of self-care are all important and necessary! But if we’re only practicing restful types of self-care, we are missing out on HUGE opportunities for mental, physical and spiritual growth. We all need to cultivate a balance of both active and passive types of self-care.

Active self-care is not always comfortable. Unlike passive self-care, it requires effort! For example: getting adequate exercise may not feel restful or spark traditional ideas of self-care, but what an amazing way to fuel your body and care for yourself inside and out. To better illustrate the differences, here are a few examples of passive vs. active self-care:

Passive Self-Care:

Epsom salt bath

Listening to calming music or guided meditation

Coloring

Enjoying time outside in nature

Walking slowly 

Mindfully enjoying a hot tea or coffee

Receiving a massage, acupuncture, or energy work

Chatting with a friend or family member

Active Self-Care:

Receiving mental health counseling and practicing self-exploration

Personal development (ie. taking classes or business mentoring)

Setting healthy boundaries for your personal time and schedule

Evaluating your relationships and making changes

Brainstorming, journaling, goal-setting

Family meetings to cultivate support, organization and mindfulness

Moving your body and exercising

Reorganizing or cleaning out your home or office space

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All of these suggestions are important! Most of us tend to gravitate toward one category or the other, but the idea is to work toward creating balance. In order to feel fully supported and cared for, we need to incorporate a few practices from both of these lists. If you need a little more guidance as to what self-care means, Erin Aquin offers some valuable tips on self-care here (from her book Elemental Yin Yang Yoga):

1. If it doesn’t fuel you or nourish you, it isn’t self-care.

2. Self-care means you do it for yourself. While asking for help or support is great, self-care should be empowering and something you can do for yourself with as little reliance anywhere else as possible.

3. Self-care is something you look forward to. If you don’t enjoy/get a deep benefit, it won’t fuel or nourish you.

4. Self-care results in health and vitality. Self-care doesn’t mean going out and eating a 3-layer cake or getting bombed. Never use “self-care” to justify bad habits or behaviour that hurts you or anyone else.

5. Self-care is necessary to your well-being, take it seriously.

6. Did you catch that last one? Self-care is necessary to your well-being, take it seriously.

If you need more help developing or creating a solid and well-rounded self-care routine, please contact me! Or set aside some time to map out a plan for yourself. That act in itself is self-care!