As someone who sometimes struggles to maintain a self care practice, I am all for finding tools and strategies to help make the process easier. One thing I’ve recently enjoyed doing is working on creating a self care “toolkit.”
What is a self care toolkit?
A self care toolkit is a collection of items that bring you comfort, joy, and help with relaxation. These are the items that you will use in your self care practice.
Your self care toolkit can incorporate items that are based on the 6 different areas of self care, or items that are based on each of the 5 senses. In this post, we will explore both.
Self Care Toolkit – 6 Areas of Self Care
1. Emotional
Emotional self care is the practice of exploring and addressing your emotional feelings and needs. When practicing emotional self care, it is important to first identify what emotions you are feeling in the moment, then allow yourself to feel those emotions in a safe and healthy manner.
Try to find an item… that can help you monitor, balance, or process your emotions.
Example Emotional Self Care Toolkit Items
- Thought journal – a place to capture your daily thoughts, rants, and musings
- Gratitude journal – jot down things that you are grateful to gain perspective on your good and bad days
- List of self affirmations – keep a list of positive self affirmations to uplift yourself when you are feeling low
- List of uplifting playlists/podcasts – create a list of playlists, YouTube videos, or podcasts that put you in a good mood
2. Practical
Practical self care is the method of being proactive and taking action to prevent stressful situations for yourself in the future. Common examples of practical self care include setting and keeping a budget or creating and following a cleaning schedule to organize areas of your home that typically get cluttered.
Try to find an item…that can help you “get your life together,” so to speak, such as a planner or to-do list.
Practical Self Care Toolkit Items
- List of chores/cleaning list – prepare a cleaning list to help you map out your
- Weekly grocery list – save yourself some stress on your next shopping trip by keeping a pre-made shopping list
- Home calendar – keep track of yours and your families schedules by keeping a single home calendar
- List of routines – include a collection of your different routines, such as morning/evening skin care routine, monthly budgeting routine, and other self care routines
3. Physical
Physical self care is the practice of identifying and taking care of your physical health needs. This can include getting a good night’s sleep, exercising regularly, and drinking enough water daily.
Try to find an item…that can help you track or maintain your physical health.
Physical Self Care Toolkit Items
- Health habit tracker – keep track of your sleep, exercise, and water intake
- Exercise lists or planner – plan your workout routines to help guide you on days when you’re trying to squeeze in a workout
- Inspirational quotes/motivational material – to help push you to work out on days when you just aren’t feeling it
- Exercise gear (headphones, towels, water bottle) – keep your favorite headphones, towel, or water bottle to use during your workout
- List of places to get fresh air – prepare a list of local parks or trails to visit to get some fresh air
4. Mental
Mental self care is the process of engaging in some sort of activity to stimulate your mind, such as a problem-solving activity, reading a book, or completing a crossword puzzle. This also includes the preservation of your mental health by practicing self acceptance and allowing yourself to set boundaries.
Try to find an item…that can challenge your mind, or something that can help you preserve your mental health.
Mental Self Care Toolkit Items
- Books on topics you want to learn about – set aside some time to learn something new
- Books on self love and self acceptance – set aside some time to show yourself some love
- Puzzles (word puzzles, jigsaw puzzles) – challenge yourself and choose something difficult!
- Coloring book with colored pencils – relax and create some beautiful art
5. Social
Social self care is the practice of creating new relationships and nurturing current relationships with others. This can include setting dinner dates with your friends or volunteering to serve others in your community.
Try to find an item…that can encourage you to make or build social connections.
Social Self Care Toolkit Items
- List of social events to attend – check out social events and volunteer opportunities in your area and keep a list of events you would like to attend
- Board games/items to do with friends – Keep track of places you and your friends would like to visit to help you plan your next night out
- List of reminders to help you set boundaries – boundaries are essential when practicing social self care; keep a list of items you are willing to compromise, and things you are not willing to compromise, and use this list to help you set boundaries
6. Spiritual
Spiritual self care consists of engaging in activities that nurture your soul. This allows you to express your spiritual self and develop your connection with some type of higher power.
Try to find an item…that can help you find and build a spiritual connection.
Spiritual Self Care Toolkit Items
- Spiritual journal – keep a journal to document your prayers and spiritual musings
- Tarot cards – if you’re into tarot, keep your favorite tarot deck in your self care toolkit
- Incense/essential oils – stock up on your favorite incense and essential oils
- Crystals – clear quartz, jasper, rose quartz, and obsidian are great crystals to keep in your self care toolkit
Self Care Toolkit – 5 Senses
In addition to creating a self care toolkit based on the 6 areas of self care, consider creating a self care toolkit based on the 5 senses. Here are some ideas to get you started
Sight
- Beautiful art
- Uplifting quotes and messages
- Your favorite movies for movie night (assuming you aren’t of the Netflix generation)
- Photographs of your favorite memories
Hearing
- List of favorite music playlists
- List of favorite podcasts
- White noise or soothing sounds machine
Smell
- Candle
- Incense
- Essential oils
Taste
- Healthy foods
- Favorite foods
- Comfort foods
Touch
- Comfort items/soft blanket
- Fuzzy socks
- Rose quartz facial roller
- Soft and cozy bathrobe
Regardless of what you put in your self care toolkit, make sure that you include items that work for you!
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this post, check out this other post on the 6 areas of self care. If you find yourself struggling to incorporate self care into your day, check out this post with tips on how you can fit self care into your schedule. Also, if you want to be notified of when I post similar stories, consider subscribing!
[…] If you are interested in ideas to incorporate self-care into your busy schedule, check out this post that discusses 10 Ways to Practice Self Care In Under 10 Minutes. Also, if you would like to learn how to build a self care toolkit, check out my blog post on this topic here. […]