4 Self-Care Tips for Introverts

Mindlifespirit-4-Self-Care-Tips-for-Introverts

Written by Melissa Howard

Every suicide is preventable. After losing her younger brother to suicide, Melissa Howard felt compelled to create Stop Suicide. By providing helpful resources and articles on her website, she hopes to build a lifeline of information. Went to school at University of Colorado, Colorado Springs and currently works as an Executive Assistant.

January 22, 2022

“Self-care is never a selfish act—it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer to others.” – Parker Palmer

“Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.” – Brené Brown

Experts, health professionals and gurus express the importance of self-care as part of a holistic approach to wellness. While self-care may be essential for physical, mental and emotional health, many recommended activities like taking dance classes, getting manicures or going to concerts are geared more toward those with extroverted personalities. If you’re an introvert who likes to be alone, finding unique self-care opportunities that will actually help you relax and improve your health can be more difficult. In this article we bring to you some tips that can help you explore different avenues of self-care.

1. Prioritize Your Diet

Your personality has a huge influence on your life, from the way you communicate with others to the way you care for yourself. Your nutrition and dietary needs are also unique, and giving them significant consideration can help you find the inner peace you crave. Due to unpredictable energy levels and susceptibility to mental stress, you may experience sensitivity to stimulants like sugar, caffeine and alcohol.

Additionally, because you’re a highly empathetic deep thinker, you may discover certain dietary norms don’t align with your values surrounding personal health, environmental care or animal welfare. For this reason, many introverts feel their best after adopting alternative eating habits such as a vegetarian, vegan or flexitarian diet.

2. Hit the Gym

Regardless of your personality preferences, the key to success with your exercise routine is consistency. However, if your psychological profile interferes with your workouts, you may experience frustrating setbacks. If your social anxiety keeps you from reaching fitness goals, the following tips may be helpful:

  • Have a plan for your gym time so you won’t have to linger
  • Hit the gym at non-peak hours to avoid crowds
  • Use headphones or earbuds to ward off chatty extroverts

While you may prefer to work out alone, some social interaction is healthy, and there’s no better-controlled environment than a group fitness session. Securing a spot in a weekly yoga class allows you to receive specialized instruction in an intentionally quiet space.

3. Pursue Your Dreams

Image Credit: Dagmara Dombrovska (Unsplash)

It can be easy to let social anxiety prevent you from making big changes and pursuing major goals. If you’re unsatisfied with your job but the idea of entering a classroom full of strangers is terrifying, you are not alone, and you have options. Many top universities offer online degree programs that you can complete from home.

According to 20th-century Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung, introverts think better in solitude. Therefore, one of your strengths is the ability to work alone. So, if you’ve always had a dream of pursuing your master’s degree, now’s the time to find online courses that can allow you to learn from the comfort of home. Also, a degree or certificate in data science can hone your unique analytical skills to help your organization solve difficult problems while allowing you to perform your duties behind the scenes.

4. Stop Comparing Yourself to Others

Do you sometimes look at other people and only see your shortcomings? As an introvert, it can be easy to compare yourself to the extroverts in your life and think that you are somehow lacking. It’s important to understand that you have your own talents and you do measure up. If you want to better yourself, focus on your personal growth and do the things that build your confidence without worrying about how you look next to someone else.

Being introverted doesn’t mean you don’t need self-care. You simply must recognize that what works for other people may not work for you. When you adjust your lifestyle and routines to fit your unique personality, you’ll have no problem recharging your batteries and living your best life.

Featured Image Credit: Toa Heftiba (Unsplash)

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