{"id":31508,"date":"2020-05-04T13:00:37","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T19:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=31508"},"modified":"2025-07-08T10:16:29","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T16:16:29","slug":"how-to-practice-emotional-self-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/how-to-practice-emotional-self-care\/","title":{"rendered":"How to practice emotional self-care"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo: Getty Images.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Right now, many of us are living somewhere we never wanted to be. Our comfortable home at the corner of Familiar and Reliable has been moved \u2014 and we\u2019re pretty sure we don\u2019t like this new address at the intersection of Uncertainty and Worry.<\/p>\n

Many of us thought that the coronavirus pandemic would be over by now. Things may yet change, but it looks like our \u201cnormal\u201d lives aren\u2019t returning anytime soon. Some businesses and schools have tentatively reopening, but what we\u2019re moving toward is still unclear. A lot of uncertainty remains about jobs, school, and travel.<\/p>\n

As we shift our thinking to longer-term impacts of this pandemic, it\u2019s important to remember the things that haven\u2019t<\/em> changed. Many of the same habits and techniques that apply to shorter-term stress apply equally to longer term concerns. Self-care becomes even more critical. Thankfully, although stress can have a cumulative negative effect on the mind and body, we can manage much of it through intentional choices.<\/p>\n

Practice healthy habits for emotional self-care\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n

We understand that exercise, a good diet, and enough sleep is essential for health \u2014 but emotional self-care can be easier to overlook. Caring for our mental health, however, is just as critical as our physical well-being \u2014 and during this pandemic it becomes an even more important element over the long term.<\/p>\n

Read more: Self-care for moms<\/a><\/strong><\/div><\/h4>\n

For better or worse, short-term issues are often endured through a certain amount of just gritting our teeth. If the pandemic had resolved in a month or two, the impact would have been big enough (and devastating for some). In the beginning, the tunnel seemed short enough that we could see light at the other end: jobs would come back, summer plans would unfold, school would start up in the fall, the world would open back up a few months after this all started.<\/p>\n

As we move into the next stage of this crisis, we\u2019ve started to recognize \u2014 with perhaps a spike in our worry and sadness \u2014 that we have to adjust to a changed reality for longer than we may have expected. As the challenge in front of us extends, it helps to be intentional about our feelings.<\/p>\n

For our own mental health, we have to acknowledge that our lives have, in fact, not just been interrupted but disrupted.<\/p>\n

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Exercising and getting outdoors are both great ways to address your emotional self-care. Photo: iStock.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Don’t suppress or ignore your feelings<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Tips in practicing emotional self-care<\/strong><\/h3>\n