10 Emotional Self-Care Ideas

When it comes to self-care, most people think of a relaxing bubble bath, manicures, face masks, exercise, and yoga sessions. Although self-care indeed includes all these activities, many other things can serve your well-being as well. For example, practicing emotional self-care!

Without a doubt, emotional self-care plays a significant role in our lives. Yet, many people forget about this aspect of self-care. Today we will discuss why you should never neglect taking care of your emotional self. Plus, I will give you a few amazing emotional self-care ideas so you will get an idea of this – probably a little unusual – way of taking care of yourself.

What is emotional self-care and why is it important?

Emotional self-care refers to the process in which we identify and take steps to care for our feelings and emotions. Since this requires a higher level of awareness, it’s something that many of us have to learn and practice.

Unfortunately, very often, we rather completely ignore or suppress our emotions like they would disappear if we do so. But in reality, this way, they just get stronger, and in the end, they make us feel even worse. Eventually, this can lead to the common feeling of burnout. And obviously, we don’t want to arrive at this point!

A better solution is to acknowledge these emotions and focus on emotional self-care. This can help us to cope with difficult situations during our lives, especially when life gets hard (or gives us lemons). However, taking care of ourselves emotionally will look different for each of us. We are all different and have different lives after all, so it’s completely normal. The important thing is to find what can help you feel better emotionally. Going through a few great emotional self-care ideas can be a great starting point!

10 emotional self-care ideas to try

As you can see, emotional self-care is important for our well-being. Start taking care of yourself and your emotions better with our tips below. It will be worth it!

1. Let yourself feel your emotions

If you want to do something for your emotional health, one of the best things you can do is to let yourself feel your emotions regardless of whether they are positive or negative. Don’t try to push back your negative emotions, allow yourself to experience them. It can help you to start your journey towards healing and later when the time has come you can let these feelings go.

2. Learn how to express your emotions

Collecting and suppressing your negative emotions doesn’t lead to anything good. While sometimes this method may seem effective, in the long term these emotions would definitely eat you up from the inside. A better way to deal with your emotions is to simply express them. How? There are so many amazing activities that can help. For example, you can keep a journal where you release your emotions and also gain clarity, or you can engage in drawing, painting, singing, or poetry. All these activities can be beneficial for you. Therefore, the best is to make these a habit.

3. Try to put your needs first

Very often, we care a lot about the people around us and we do everything to fulfill their needs while forgetting to take care of ourselves. Instead, switch your focus and put your needs first.

I know you may find it hard first to prioritize yourself and say no to others but for your mental health, it’s better if you try. Don’t worry, putting yourself first won’t make you selfish if it serves a good purpose. – And it does!

4. Set and maintain healthy boundaries

When you let other’s emotions affect you, after a while, you may not be able to distinguish them from your own feelings. Especially empaths know how overwhelming it can be to absorb emotions from others.

Don’t let the emotions of the people around you have an impact on you. Set and maintain healthy boundaries, and most importantly, learn to say no!

5. Learn to enjoy your own company

For many people, the idea of being alone is a scary thought, while others (mostly those with a busy lifestyle) are eager to spend some time alone. Regardless of which group you belong to, you must learn how to enjoy your own company. When you have some time just to be with yourself, use it as an opportunity to take care of yourself. Below you find some awesome emotional self-care ideas for the time you spend alone:

• Meditate
• Practice self-reflection
• Go to nature
• Drink a coffee on your balcony or terrace, and enjoy the fresh air and the sunshine
• If you like to read, go to a bookshop and choose a new book to read
• Play with your pets if you have any. If not, you can still go to the zoo and admire the animals there.
• Write in your journal

Related read: Self-Care Night Ideas

6. Practice gratitude

Practicing gratitude has amazing effects on our lives, from enhancing our mental health to improving our relationships. By incorporating more gratitude into your daily routine, you can enjoy all the benefits and take control of your emotions. For example, keeping a gratitude journal is a great way to create a habit of focusing on the positive things happening around us.

7. Practice positive self-talk and often give yourself compliments

To maintain a good relationship with yourself, try to be less hard on yourself. When you complete a task on your to-do list, compliment yourself. You will see that you will be more motivated and feel better if you regularly give yourself compliments.

Positive self-talk can also help you boost your self-confidence.

Related read: 8 Mental and Spiritual Self-Care Ideas

8. Forgive yourself

Many of us tend to blame ourselves for almost everything and we are able to beat ourselves up because of the smallest mistakes. This is not healthy at all, especially if we hold on to this feeling for a long time. It may be a better idea to forgive yourself and learn from your mistakes.

After all, we all do mistakes, don’t we? Nobody is perfect! Thus, there is no reason to be hard on yourself. Be kind to yourself and don’t let negative thoughts take control of you.

9. Set some time aside to rest each day

A hectic lifestyle can be hard to maintain in the long term. This is why it’s crucial to set some time aside to rest each day. This way, even if only for 10-30 minutes but you can relax and recharge. You can use this time, for example, to take a nap or meditate.

Related read: 5 Physical Self-Care Ideas

10. Don’t hesitate to ask for help

Additionally, if you feel that you might need some help with dealing with your emotions, don’t hesitate to seek support.

Remember that you are not alone. You can ask for help from your best friends, your family members, or anyone close to you. Also, there are many great therapists you can reach out to!

I hope that after reading about these amazing emotional self-care ideas you will never neglect your emotions again. Try to incorporate as many of these self-care ideas into your life as you can. Thus, you can get one step closer to achieving your ultimate health goals.

Did you like our emotional self-care ideas? Let me know in the comments!