Self-Care Resources

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) lists these central aspects of self-care:

• Exercise regularly: With only 30 minutes of physical activity each day, you improve your blood flow, digestion, muscle health, and energy levels. If you don’t have 30 consecutive minutes, remember that smaller amounts of exercise add up. A few 5-minute sessions of desk yoga combined with an evening walk with your partner, child, or pet still gets it done.
• Eat well: A balanced diet or regular healthy caloric intake is the basis for a strong body and sound mind. It’s recommended to limit alcohol and caffeine, and instead prioritize nutrient-rich whole foods.
• Prioritize sleep: Sticking to a sleep schedule, practicing consistent pre-bed rituals, and reducing screen time and blue light exposure from phones and other devices helps your body maintain this natural rhythm.
• Embrace relaxation: Meditation, journaling, and yoga are all examples of relaxation tasks that calm the mind and release tension from the body. Relaxation can be a proactive practice that helps prevent mental breakdowns and harmful inflammation throughout the body.
• Stimulate interests: Focusing on positive growth by socializing, reading, engaging with music, cooking, or entertainment events creates gratitude for the good things in life that feed your self-development and overall joy.

Practicing self-care is unique to every individual. It means staying in tune with your needs on a mental, physical, and aspirational level, and seeing that those needs are met in manageable and enjoyable ways.

Jessica Pride and the attorneys and staff at The Pride Law Firm have curated lists of books, recipes, mental health resources, and fitness guides to help start or encourage your wellness journey. We can be contacted online or at (619) 415-8822 for emotionally supportive legal help.

Emotional health is an aspect of your mental health, and emotional self-care means maintaining the tools necessary to cope with both negative and positive emotions.

Emotional self care can include:

• Identifying and utilizing healthy coping mechanisms for negative emotions like:

• Reaching out instead of isolating
• Maintaining sleep and nutrition during low or stressful times
• Finding functional alternatives to substance reliance or abuse
• Balancing positive emotions so they don’t become overwhelming by:

• Recognizing manic episodes and funneling the energy into positive outlets
• Halting destructive impulses like overspending, overeating, or taking on too many projects at home or at work
• Slowing racing thoughts with focusing tactics like mantras or deep breathing
• Embracing strategies for resilience and reward such as:

• Setting aside designated time to celebrate achievements like career progress, personal accomplishments, or anniversaries
• Reflecting on failures or frustrated plans and looking for ways they were learning experiences
• Avoiding negative self-talk or disparaging thoughts and prioritizing positive and uplifting thoughts — our attitudes can become a self-fulfilling prophecy

If your emotional wellbeing is off, your mental health suffers. Mental health problems can manifest as physical problems due to stress and possible unhealthy coping mechanisms around it like smoking, drinking alcohol, or emotional eating. By nurturing your emotional health, you strengthen a frontline defender against psychological and physical harm.

The time to focus on yourself is now, but there is no rush — gradual change is sustainable change, and every step you take is an equal part of your journey. Here are some basic tips to start prioritizing self-care:

• Try new recommendations: Look for lists like those created on the Jessica Pride Instagram page with the #WellnessWednesday hashtag. Ask your friends to share what currently interests them. Research those you admire and see what they select for self-care.
• Diversify your wellness: Wellness of mind, body, and spirit should be balanced in your life. Excessive exercise cannot counteract a stressful mind, just as constant mental input cannot replace moments of rest and reflection. Take from each basket when selecting self-care activities.
• Lean into your interests: Did you feel exhilaration when playing childhood sports? Did you read voraciously in high school or college? Do you find satisfaction from gardening? Spending time with animals, with family and friends? Recommitting to the activities that you know feed your soul provides a great jumping-off point towards a better way to be.

The tips and resources on this page are a great place to start, and we congratulate you on beginning this journey to sustain and nurture yourself.