Launched in 2011, International Self-Care Day is marked each year on 24 July to emphasise the message that self-care is not just a ‘once and done’ annual activity but something to pay attention to 24/7.
And, of course, self-care is not just about looking after our physical bodies but looking after our mental and spiritual health as well.
Prioritising our own health may sound obvious and, for some, relatively straight forward but, for most of us, it doesn’t happen easily – it’s something we need to make conscious time for, think about deliberately, and schedule in routinely, if we are to keep it going.
For those of you who find it helpful to harness the impetus of a designated annual day to reset your relationship with your holistic self, below are a few questions to help build momentum.
Question 1
On a scale of 0 – 10 how well are you doing overall right now?
Question 2
How would you rate your well-being in relation to each of the three categories; physical health, mental health, and spiritual health?
Question 3
Which self-care activities come naturally to you, what do you find a struggle, and what do you never even think about at all?
Question 4
In an ideal world, what would you like to do more, or less, of to improve/maintain holistic health – and what would you like to start, or stop?
Question 5
In that ideal world, what would need to be in place to enable you to maintain those new practices?
Question 6
If you were to pick one aspect of your overall sense of well-being to pay more attention to right now, what would it be?
Question 7
If you were successful in maintaining this focus for the next 12 months, what difference would you notice by 24 July 2026?
Question 8
If you were minded to, what one thing could you do today to move closer to this becoming your new reality?
Good luck and, however you choose to spend this International Self-Care day, do remember that the date 24/07 was chosen for a reason!
