Self-care is a word I will never tire of. It's essential. It's vital. It's a need. I don't think I heard that message as clearly as I did in 2020. The importance of self-care was already buzzing around in the form of various sound bytes filling the social media realm like fluffy white clouds in the sky. Messages of pouring into self were everywhere I turned. And on the opposite side of that spectrum was the push for productivity, the hustle, and the grind. The messages seemed to conflict back then. But I wouldn't learn until a cabin weekend away, unplugged with nature in the fall of 2019, that rest was not the antithesis of productivity; it was the key.
From that moment, I prioritized wellness and self-care. To keep it all the way a buck, that lesson got a little lost in the wake of how 2020 played out. It would peek out in the most random spurts, holding me still until I was myself again, but for much of the year, self-care wouldn't come into play as much as I knew I needed it. Life got in the way. Forget thriving, surviving got in the way. And as a result, my mental health completely suffered. For the first time in my life, I had to navigate a series of depressive episodes back-to-back. And though I feel blessed that the pain of that year was also met with elements of sheer pleasure, and didn't have the depth a lot of people experienced through loss, I found myself in holes sometimes that felt difficult to get out of at the time.
In the process of finding my way back to a life that didn't lack color, I reencountered the power of self-care. I was reminded of the fact that when it comes to the tool, don't sleep. What I also learned in that process was the fact that there are different self-care strokes for different folks, and depending on which of the types of self-care resonate with you, the more of an impact self-care will have on your overall well-being. Knowing the self-care types and which one works best for you will transform your world for the better. Keep reading to learn more.
What Are The 6 Types Of Self-Care?
- Physical Self-Care
- Emotional Self-Care
- Spiritual Self-Care
- Intellectual Self-Care
- Social Self-Care
- Mental Self-Care
What Is Physical Self-Care?
Getty Images
When it comes to the bodies that we live in, they are temples and should be honored as such. If you're wondering what is physical self-care, you guessed it, physical self-care has everything to do with acts rooted in physical well-being. While physical self-care can consist of exercise, physical fitness is not the end all be all when it comes to this type of self-care. It can include yoga and going for a walk or bike ride, but physical self-care can also include rituals like adopting a mindful skincare routine, keeping up with doctors' appointments, prioritizing sexual health, and maintaining a healthy diet that makes you feel good inside and out.
What Is Emotional Self-Care?
Getty Images
As a person who connects to the world and life deeply through emotions, emotional self-care is a form of self-care that resonates most with me. Emotional self-care entails becoming one with your emotional self. You check-in with yourself, and you put in work to understand any feelings, emotions or triggers you might be navigating through. It is not about replacing negative emotions with positive emotions as much as it's about acknowledging how you feel and why you might feel that way. Center yourself through emotional self-care acts like journaling and/or morning pages, meditation, or implementing a mindfulness routine.
What Is Spiritual Self-Care?
Getty Images
When it comes to the types of self-care I most readily gravitate towards, spiritual self-care is a really close second. Due to my love for spiritual maintenance, this form of self-care feels almost effortless. When you think of the word "spiritual", "religion" might come to mind, but religion isn't the only way to connect to your spirituality (though your relationship with faith can play a role in how you practice spiritual self-care). The purpose is to feed your soul as you tap into means to achieve inner peace. This can look like church or prayer, yes, but it can also look like meditating, reciting positive affirmations, and taking a walk in nature.
What Is Intellectual Self-Care?
Getty Images
Developing the mind is the name of the game with intellectual self-care. There is personal growth on the other side of learning and investing in personal development. Life is about love, but it is also about pushing yourself to learn as much as possible. Along with that knowledge, it is about opening yourself up to new experiences and thereby unlocking a mindset of abundance. Expand your mind by gaining new skills. Do so by reading books, listening to podcasts that expand your worldview, or watching documentaries.
What Is Social Self-Care?
Getty Images
Human beings are inherently social creatures. We thrive off of feelings of connectedness and tend to prioritize the relationships we have in our lives, be it familial, platonic, or romantic. Regardless of if you are an extrovert, an introvert, or an ambivert, quality time with people we love and who make us feel understood and less alone makes us feel cared for. Social self-care looks like calling a friend or loved one or spending time with friends or family members. You can also get your social self-care fix through establishing new connections with strangers in order to build and deepen relationships.
What Is Mental Self-Care?
Getty Images
Mental self-care is a form of self-care that emphasizes mindfulness and the act of being present. A lot of time our worries, anxieties, and feelings of self-doubt stem from living too far in the past or too ahead in the future. However, by being present, you empower your mind and care for yourself in the process by nourishing your mental well-being. Some ways to access that nowness through mental self-care include practicing mindfulness, engaging in positive self-talk, and going to therapy.
For more inspiration, self-care, and wellness tips, check out xoNecole's Wellness section here.
Originally published on Sheriden Chanel
Featured image by Getty Images
- The Ultimate Self-Care Checklist, Take Care Of You - xoNecole ... ›
- When Self-Care Becomes Problematic - xoNecole: Women's Interest ... ›
- 6 Self-Care Practices For Black Men - xoNecole: Women's Interest ... ›
RELATED
While an evolution is a natural progression that happens as businesses grow, a rebrand is a total change. Lola tells xoNecole, "A total rebrand is necessary when a business’s current reputation/what it’s known for is at odds with the business’s vision or direction.
"For example, if you’ve fundamentally changed what your product is and does, it’s likely that your brand is out of alignment with the business. Or, if you find your company is developing a reputation that doesn’t serve it, it might be time to pump the brakes and figure out what needs to change.
She continues, "Sometimes you’ll see companies (especially startups) announce a name change that comes with updated messaging, visuals, etc. That usually means their vision has changed or expanded, and their previous branding was too narrow/couldn’t encompass everything they planned to do."
Feature image courtesy
The Brand Doula was born in 2019, and its focus is on putting "the experiences, goals, and needs of women of color founders first," as well as brands with "culture-shifting missions."
According to Lola, culture-shifting is "the act of influencing dominant behavior, beliefs, or experiences in a community or group (ideally, for the better)."
"At The Brand Doula, we work with companies and leaders that set out to challenge the status quo in their industries and communities. They’re here to make an impact that sends ripples across the market," she says.
"We help the problem solvers of the world — the ones who aren't satisfied with 'this is how it's always been' and instead ask 'how could this be better?' Our clients build for impact, reimagining tools, systems, and ways of living to move cultures forward."
The Brand Doula has worked with many brands, including Too Collective, to assist with their collaboration with Selena Gomez's Rare Beauty and Balanced Black Girl for a "refresh," aka rebrand. For businesses looking to rebrand, Lola shares four essential steps.
1. Do an audit of your current brand experience — what’s still relevant and what needs to change? Reflect on why you’re doing the rebrand in the first place and what success would look like after relaunching.
2. Tackle the overall strategy first — before you start redesigning logos and websites, align on a new vision for your brand. How do you want your company to be positioned moving forward? Has your audience changed at all? Will your company have a fresh personality and voice?
3. Bring your audience along the journey — there’s no need to move in secret. Inviting your current audience into the journey can actually help them feel more connected to and invested in your story, enough to stick around as changes are being made.
4. Keep business moving — one of my biggest pet peeves is when companies take down their websites as soon as they have the idea to rebrand, then have a Coming Soon page up for months! You lose a lot of momentum and interest by doing that. If you’re still in business and generating income, continue to operate while you work on your rebrand behind the scenes. You don’t want to cut existing customers off out of the blue, and you also don’t want so much downtime that folks forget your business exists or start looking for other solutions.
While determining whether the rebrand was successful may take a few months, Lola says a clear sign that it is unsuccessful is negative feedback from your target audience. "Customers are typically more vocal about what they don’t like more than what they do like," she says.
But some good signs to look out for are improvements in engagement with your marketing, positive reviews, press and increase in retention, and overall feeling aligned with the new branding.
For more information about Lola and The Brand Doula, visit her website, thebranddoula.com.
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Feature image courtesy
I remember calling my grandmother, who has since transitioned, and hearing the passion in her voice when she explained how she’d never thought she’d see something like this happen and how much it meant to her. As I reflect, I realize it’s a combination of memories like this that undoubtedly encouraged my will to vote.
However, as an adult, my reasoning behind the practice has developed. It’s no longer just about “the right thing to do.” I feel a responsibility to myself and my future to know the issues, how they impact me, and make a difference for others.
In the times we’re in, there's so much “news” everywhere. It’s hard to distinguish fact from opinion and bias from beliefs. This is why it was such a pleasure speaking with Jara Butler, Chief Impact Officer of Supermajority. Supermajority is an organization focused on making women the most powerful voting bloc in the country. During this authentic and informal conversation, we talked about so much.
I learned about her time working with the Obama campaign and how she masterfully worked in multiple industries, and we shared some of our favorite female rap moments. However, in the snapshot you’ll read, we focused on the issues. Jara walked xoNecole through what’s most affecting women of color in this election and what we can do to be more aware. Whether you’re a politics girlie or like me, just trying to gain more insight, hopefully this convo connects with you.
Uwe Krejci/ Getty Images
xoNecole: Let’s just jump right in. What are some of the most popular issues that you hear Black women discussing related to this election?
Jara Butler: Our sister organization, the Supermajority Education Fund, recently did some research specifically looking at young women in the age group 18 to 35, and young Black women identified their economic well-being as a priority. Right now, we're in a place where a lot of us, especially young Black women, are finding that meeting those basic needs are harder and harder.
Secondly, is Project 2025. I think Black women see it as not just something that could happen, but actively happening. For example, we’ve all been watching the case with the Fearless fund, and how it's been targeted. We know Black women are very entrepreneurial. We can go back to Madam C.J. Walker and others who have opened the door for all of us to achieve. But if those barriers are in place, we're just not going to be able to meet that.
Lastly, Repro is a very big issue. But I think looking at it holistically and not just about abortion is important. Black women are more likely to talk about this from a perspective of our reproductive health care and the lack of access due to medical racism. As a Black woman myself, who's over 40, a lot of the changes that I am making in my life are because I have to do everything I can to put myself in a position, because I know no matter what my economic status is, if I walk into a medical office, there's a good chance I'm gonna face medical discrimination. Breast cancer screenings, colon cancer screening, ovarian cancer screening, cervical cancer screenings - all of those are part of that network of reproductive health.
xoN: Another issue I’d love your insight into is our missing girls. I think it's so unbelievable how much this is swept under the rug. There are so many stories about Black women that are continuing to go missing; I don’t understand how that’s not a bigger conversation. Is this something that can be pursued on the government level and what can we do to bring more attention to this issue?
Jara: We have this list of majority rules on our website, and my favorite one is: that our government represents us. I think that we have to continue to apply pressure to our government to meet our needs. And again, women are the majority of voters. Black women, especially, are the most reliable voting bloc across all groups, and our interests right now are not being met. So yes, there is something that we can do, but I also am a big proponent of us having these conversations.
My great-grandmother was enslaved, my grandmother was born into Jim Crow, and I watched my mother face economic insecurity. I say that because, as a Black community, we have to have an internal conversation to talk about these issues, and we have to do it upfront. I think we have to get into a position of realizing that we do have power, and how we activate that power.
Our power comes from being Black folks because Black people organizing has been enough to shake up and scare people. There were laws that prevented us from congregating together, even at church, because they knew what would happen when we got together. We have to get back into that. It's not that we are not doing it, but the urgency needs to be greater. And finally, we have to get away from depending on one individual to take us there. It's gonna take all of us.
"Our power comes from being Black folks because Black people organizing has been enough to shake up and scare people. There were laws that prevented us from congregating together, even at church, because they knew what would happen when we got together. We have to get back into that. It's not that we are not doing it, but the urgency needs to be greater."
xoN: I agree completely. Now, when we started, you mentioned money. So let’s talk about it. So many of us are starting businesses and getting degrees, and I love to see it. But everyone seems to still be having a lot of the same issues around finances. What are some of the underlying reasons behind this debt that we're dealing with, and how can voting influence these challenges without getting into the individual candidates?
Jara: Hello! Let’s talk about the money! Black women have been told that if we want to move ahead, we have to have that master's degree. We have to be twice as good. So we met that measure, right? But in order to do that, we have to pay for it. Up until about the 1970s college was absolutely affordable. You could work one job and pay for college with some money left over. That has changed.
Realistically, student loans are a barrier. They are a barrier to access housing. They impact our credit, and really and truthfully, depending on how much your loans are, they could affect you paying rent. It basically creates a cycle of debt. And I have real problems with people who say, get a degree in something that's going to make money. It’s about your skills, and if you have the skills, you should be able to earn a living. That covers that.
But the fact is that student loan debt continues to increase, and there have been attempts, more than once, to try to relieve some of that pressure. The reality is that this is a squeeze. It is a conundrum, and we see efforts by the current White House administration to try to alleviate those things, even when they are stopped.
But truly, Congress needs to step in and support this, but I would take it a step further. We should be considering and looking at what it would look like if we had free community colleges. Because what we have now is two generations of borrowers, because older millennials’ children are beginning to age. Black women have the highest degree of second-degree secondary education, but we carry like 1.7 trillion in debt or something like that. I can't remember the exact number, but basically, the majority of the student loan debt is ours.
FatCamera/ Getty Images
xoN: Speaking of college, obviously there’s a lot of discussion around affirmative action in the schools and the undergoing changes. How important is it to consider this topic, and are there any new laws or policies being proposed around this that we should be aware of?
Jara: Oh my goodness, affirmative action is one of the things that we saw that our sister site, the Supermajority Education Fund, found last year as a number two issue for young women. I actually hypothesized that it was a real thing, and it was. And the reason for that is that affirmative action as a whole has been something that benefited white women more than any other group.
However, what is happening is that we’re using the word DEI in a way that is derogatory. I’ve heard people refer to it as: “didn't even earn it.” And as a Black woman who attended an amazing school, I remember being in class and having someone make that comment, knowing my grades were higher than theirs.
The fact of the matter is that we would not need these policies if we lived in an equal and equitable society. It doesn't do us any harm for us to face the facts that this country was built off the backs of enslaved people and the blood of indigenous people, and off the sweat and the tears of immigrants. But because we are unwilling to face that, we now are demonizing programs that are actually meant to create some symbol of balance.
xoN: Finally, I’ll close with this, what can we do to provide information to young people, and how do we combat all of the less than researched info?
Jara: One thing I encourage is to look at the source. At Supermajority, our social channels are information-based. We strive to provide up-to-date accurate information that is digestible to all. Media literacy is something I believe in, and unfortunately, it is something that we have a responsibility to continue to share with the community at large. So much of our world is centered on immediate info, a lie spreads faster than the truth.
We just saw that with the Olympic women's boxers, and we have to ask ourselves often: is this information accurate? Who is telling the story? Most importantly, how am I an original contributor? Not everything said needs to be shared, and not every thought needs to be public.
Let’s make things inbox official! Sign up for the xoNecole newsletter for love, wellness, career, and exclusive content delivered straight to your inbox.
Feature image by Delmaine Donson/ Getty Images