The life saving power of self-care (and how to start today)

Eric Smerdon
Sep 8, 2025
4 min read

Updated: Nov 4, 2025

The term “self-care” gets thrown around haphazardly nearly as much as the term “wellness” does, so it makes sense that only 33% of Americans actively practice self-care.¹ When done consistently however, self-care has been shown to reduce disease, help alleviate symptoms of depression, diabetes, heart disease, stress and anxiety, improves self-image, as well as a litany of other health benefits.² All of which can help you live a longer, happier, and more fulfilling life. So let’s figure out what this term means, and how to get started easily.

What is self-care?

Between trendy videos, blog posts, and social media posts, combined with society's predilection for redefining words, it is challenging to nail down a single definition for “self-care”. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a definition that I view as a valid starting point to build upon.

Self-Care: the ability to care for oneself through awareness, self-control, and self-reliance in order to achieve, maintain, or promote optimal health and well-being.³

This definition does a solid job of providing a foundation for some important characteristics of self-care, namely developing awareness and self-reliance, as well as promoting the ultimate goal of optimal health and well-being. However I feel it is lacking in the spiritual department.

Spiritually I view self-care as the ultimate expression of self-love, which is also why I have found that many people who struggle with self-love (myself included) also struggle with self-care.

Luckily, like many things in life self-care can be viewed as being like a muscle, the more you practice it, the stronger it gets, and the stronger it gets, the easier it is to engage. As you practice self-care, you demonstrate self-love and strength, which promotes self-efficacy, which then breeds more success, which feeds back into self-love and strength. Thus becoming a self-feeding cycle of developing and maintaining a healthy growth mindset. So what things can we consider self-care?

What activities can be included?

Ask this question to 10 different people, and you will likely get 10 different answers. For me it’s easier to ask “does this activity nourish my body, mind, or spirit?” If the answer is yes, then I believe it constitutes self-care. But here are a few examples for each category–notice how some fit into multiple categories.

Body:

Healthy movement
Cooking a nutritious meal
Sleep
Shower
Grooming
Meditation

Mind:

Healthy movement
Puzzles
Journaling
Gratitude practices
Meditation
Self-affirmations

Spirit:

Creativity
Journaling
Spending time in nature
Prayer/meditation
Coloring
Creativity in any form

This is a non-exhaustive list, and finding the activities that speak to you and your personality is half the battle. Sit down for a moment and find a few activities that could fit into each category that speak to you and your needs.

Why is self-care so hard for me?

Whether it’s a neurospicy brain, a lack of time, exhaustion, physical limitations, or our own perception of what constitutes a successful self-care practice, self-care can feel impossible. So we need to be strategic about how we approach it.

How do I get started today?

Make a routine: We as humans have recognized the power of repetition; routines rely on that repetition to build skills and confidence over long periods of time.

The biggest pitfall in a routine is trying to do too much too soon, the purpose of the routine is to build slowly over time, establishing habit over perfection (the concept that “1 > 0” is key here, focus on this truth). To start, pick 1 or 2 self care activities, then attempt to do those things a few times a week (aim for 4 or 5 if possible). Try to pick activities that improve a deficit in your life, if you need help identifying where your deficits are, consider booking an appointment with me here.

Remember, the goal here is to build habits not perfection. It’s far more valuable to do 10 minutes of cardio 4 times a week for a year (2,080 minutes), than it is to do 30 minutes of cardio 3 days a week for 6 weeks (540 minutes), before ultimately burning out and giving up. Start small, build up.

Conclusion

Self-care is a nebulous concept that can be hard to define, however a good starting point is asking if an activity nourishes your mind, body, or spirit.

Self-care is hard for many people, and a majority of Americans do not practice it.

Self-care has shown a litany of health benefits including but not limited to: a reduction in stress, anxiety, depression, heart disease, diabetes, and improved self-image.

Arguably one of the best ways to approach starting a new self-care practice is to create a routine with 1-2 practices that focus on a deficit in your life such as healthy movement or meditation.

“Start small, build up” we're focusing on building up habits, not perfection. 1 is always greater than 0.

What two activities would you choose to start a new self-care routine? Post your answer in the comments!