15 Effective Emotional Self Care Practices for Your Wellbeing

What’s your relationship with emotional self-care? Do you have one?

I grew up in a family in which the adults had no control over their emotions. Up until my thirties, I lived most of my life in the frequencies of resentment, not good enough, and fear.

Once I started healing myself, the importance of emotional self-care became more and more clear to me. If you were a fish, it’s like moving from a dirty, stagnant pond to a clean pool with flowing currents. You can see and breathe better. Life is easier in a cleaner pool.

Discover what emotional self-care is and how you can take concrete steps to support your emotional health.

Why Emotional Self-Care?

Emotional self-care is intentionally taking actions to understand, process, and express your emotional needs in healthy ways. It is being able to recognize your feelings and knowing how to regulate them, so that you can meet life’s challenges with a clear head and a fuller heart.

Emotion is also “energy in motion,” according to Dr. Joe Dispenza. Taking care of your emotions is taking care of your energy. The more you do it, the easier it becomes. You change your baseline emotions for the better.

Your emotional well-being influences how you think, behave, and interact with the world in your daily life. When you know how to take care of your emotions, you build resilience, improve relationships, and protect your mental and physical health.

Pick one thing from the following emotional self-care ideas and see where it takes you. Remember that it’s a lifelong process of constantly choosing, and the choice is always yours.

15 Effective Emotional Self-Care Practices

1. Meditate or Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness is the practice of bringing awareness to what’s happening in and around you. You can practice mindfulness simply by bringing focused attention to whatever you’re doing. You can walk, eat, and breathe mindfully for a few minutes, with immediate results.

Meditation is a more formal practice of mindfulness, in which you dedicate some quiet time to go inward and focus.

Mindfulness and meditation help you become more aware of your negative thoughts, regulate your responses, and reduce emotional suffering. They create space between trigger and response, leading to greater clarity, calm, and emotional resilience.

Countless studies confirm meditation’s efficacy in emotional regulation. One study found that meditation reduced mood disturbance, anxiety, and fatigue, while enhancing memory, attention, and recognition. Another study found that meditation changes your brain functions to help with emotional regulation and mood disorders.

Meditation is also a practice of spiritual self-care and mental self-care. It is easy to start, especially these days when so many videos and meditation apps are freely available. Start with five minutes of quiet sitting time at your convenience. Focus on consistency and daily routine over duration, and build on your practice.

2. Write Your Feelings Down in a Journal

Writing down your thoughts and feelings on paper is free therapy, especially if you do so without judgment.

Freewriting is the act of letting the words flow out of your hands without stopping or correcting. As a journaling technique, it allows your stream of consciousness to flow and is a great way to release your negative emotions.

Like talking to a close friend or a therapist, you feel calmer and lighter after writing it all down.

Research proves this benefit. A 2005 study found that people who wrote about traumatic, stressful, or emotional events in what it called an “expressive writing program” found “physical and psychological health.”

Dedicate some time—maybe just before going to bed—to write down your feelings. You can do it every day or as needed. A beautiful blank journal can inspire you to jumpstart your practice.

3. Practice Gratitude

Gratitude is a powerful emotion that improves your mood and overall well-being. When you make gratitude an intentional practice, you look for and relish the things in your life that you appreciate.

Regular practice of gratitude for at least six weeks can enhance mental well-being, a 2020 study found, possibly with lasting effects. This is consistent with an earlier study, which found that people who “counted [their] blessings” reported better well-being than those who didn’t, with benefits to emotional health and interpersonal relationships.

Your energy goes where your attention goes. The more you practice gratitude, the more you’ll find things to be grateful for. In the process, you change the way you view your own life and feel better about your place in the world.

You can make it a dedicated practice, like writing down five things you are grateful for every day. Or you can simply lean into the feelings of gratitude when you feel them.

If you want to see examples of intentional gratitude, check out Rhonda Byrne’s book, The Magic. It provides a 28-day program with 28 different ways to be thankful.

4. Practice Self-Compassion

Did you know that we are the harshest critics of ourselves?

By nature, our perspectives are limited to our thoughts, feelings, and affairs. We live our lives mostly in our heads, processing everything through a filter that then constructs our stories.

The result is that we become the biggest subject of our judgment and criticism, whether we deserve it or not.

Self-compassion presents a healthier way to relate to yourself. According to one definition, self-compassion “involves treating oneself as one would a friend, being more mindful, and understanding our situation in the context of a larger human experience.”

Self-compassion requires a change of perspective and awareness, as well as a constant choosing of kindness over criticism for ourselves. If you want to learn more about how you can practice self-compassion, check out self-compassion.org.

Another great resource comes from Thich Nhat Hanh. The video below teaches you how to transmute suffering with compassion.

5. Let Yourself Feel Everything

Suppression of uncomfortable emotions doesn’t make them go away. The longer they fester, the more likely they’ll manifest as a chronic illness or life drama.

There was a time when I suppressed all my feelings, although I didn’t know it at the time. I felt depressed and lived my life in a constant loop of drama and stress. I also numbed myself with alcohol and marijuana.

Then I realized that I had not cried for years. Not a tear, not a whimper. Nada.

So, as an interesting experiment, I set out to make myself cry. I asked people for movie recommendations to help me cry. Their choices were surprising and sometimes funny.

But I finally found one, in a French movie about a little girl dealing with her mother’s accidental death. I shouldn’t have sat down with my dinner to watch it, because the tears didn’t make it easy to swallow. But the feeling of release was significant and refreshing.

It also gave me something to talk about with my therapist at the time. It opened many doors to my psyche and what I was shutting down inside.

When’s the last time you had a good cry?

If you feel like you’ve been suppressing your feelings, it’s time to feel them and let them go. Watch Thich Nhat Hanh’s video above on how to feel and release difficult emotions.

6. Let Go, Let Go, and Let Go

Learning to let go of people, things, situations, and thoughts that do not serve you is a practice that requires vigilance. Humans have found “letting go” so tricky that countless books have been written about it.

But if you can recognize when something is sticking to you in an unhealthy way, and you can manage to fully let it go, the benefits are astounding.

You conserve time, space, and energy that can now be redirected to heal, build, and create. There is more space for joy in your everyday life.

Letting go takes awareness. Sometimes you’re so inside of your suffering that you don’t even realize that there is another way. This is also why regular practice of mindfulness and meditation is helpful.

To consciously let go, there are resources you can count on. I have found Michael Singer’s work to be profoundly helpful whenever I’m in a loop. You can check out his ideas on letting go here, or in the video below, and from The Michael Singer Podcast.

You can also cut cords, which is an energetic technique that lets you cut away from the link between you and whatever is not serving you. This can be a situation, thing, or person. Follow the instructions in this video and you’ll be all set.

7. Set Healthy Boundaries

Learning to say “no” is an art that takes courage. It’s also something I’ve gotten better at with age.

Many people feel uneasy about disappointing others or a possible confrontation. What’s comfortable for one person may not be comfortable for another.

It might sound daunting at first, but healthy boundaries protect your energy and respect your emotional limits. When you honor your own needs by saying “yes” to what feels good and “no” to what doesn’t, you create space for emotional balance and well-being.

Maybe it means taking breaks from conversations that drain you, limiting time spent on social media, or telling a loved one how you want to be treated.

A healthy boundary is less about pushing people away and more about communicating what you need. Honesty and communication can foster deeper respect and understanding in your relationships.

Remember, taking care of your emotional health isn’t selfish—it’s essential. With practice, saying no or asking for space becomes easier and ultimately creates stronger connections.

8. Get Proper Rest

Proper rest plays an important role in healthy emotional function and balance. We’ve all been in those moments when sheer exhaustion turns into irritability and bursts of anger.

Getting enough sleep is essential to your mental clarity and emotional stability, just like regular exercise and a balanced diet. Taking regular breaks during a long work day keeps you refreshed and focused, helping you be more productive in the long term.

For more pointers on how to get proper rest, check out Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity. Its author, Saundra Dalton-Smith, MD, outlines seven types of rest that address our needs more holistically: physical rest, mental rest, emotional rest, social rest, sensory rest, creative rest, and spiritual rest.

9. Move Your Body

Physical activity is vital to your mental and emotional well-being.

Research during the COVID-19 lockdowns found that people who exercised more experienced less depression and anxiety than those who didn’t. That’s because being active releases chemicals in the brain that are associated with feeling good, including dopamine and serotonin.

You don’t have to sign up for an expensive gym membership to move. Consider taking daily walks during your lunch breaks, preferably outside. Walking between 10 and 20 minutes every day can have surprisingly powerful benefits to your physical, emotional, and mental well-being.

If you have to work at a desk all day, take frequent movement breaks. Standing up and walking for 5 minutes every hour in a sedentary work environment improved people’s mood, retained focus and attention, and dulled hunger pangs, a study found.

10. Spend Time in Nature

Mother Nature does it again.

Spending time in nature is associated with a variety of benefits, according to the American Psychological Association, including “improved attention, lower stress, better mood, reduced risk of psychiatric disorders, and even upticks in empathy and cooperation.”

Even spending just 20 minutes a day in nature goes a long way to lower your stress hormones, according to research.

Spend time outside in nature today, and see how it makes you feel. Take a walk outside and look at something green.

11. Limit Screen Time

How much time do you spend on a screen every day?

Higher levels of screen time are associated with many health problems, including obesity, unhealthy diet, depression, and poor quality of life.

It is also linked to numerous mental problems, including lowered self-esteem, increased incidences of mental health issues and substance abuse, slowed learning, and increased risk of cognitive decline.

For younger people who grew up with an abundance of technology, the impact can be more severe. With increased screen time comes an increased likelihood of developing symptoms of mental illness, including “depression, anxiety, inattention, and aggression.”

No matter what age, increased screen time means less time engaging in physical activity, building meaningful relationships, enjoying hobbies, and sleeping.

Break yourself away from the constant text messages, emails, social media, and barrage of information. Set aside times—a couple of hours before bed—to intentionally unplug and be present in your life.

12. Find Community

This is a bit of overlap with social self-care, but community is essential to our emotional well-being and even survival. Human beings are social animals, and our need for connection and social interaction is fundamental.

Research shows that a person who feels less like a part of a community has a significantly higher chance of experiencing depression, anxiety, and stress symptoms. The opposite is also true. People who enjoyed a greater sense of community in their lives are more likely to be happier and satisfied with life.

So, how do you find community if you don’t already have one?

A spiritual home, whether that’s the church or the temple, is a great place to start. Engaging in enjoyable hobbies—such as gardening, knitting, or yoga—can also introduce you to the right people.

The hard part is taking the first step, but the benefits are worth it.

13. Find a Creative Outlet

For me, having a creative outlet on a regular basis has always been crucial to feeling content. Just as we’re social beings with a fundamental need to connect with others, we are also creative beings with a deep need to express who we are.

People do this differently. For some, starting a new business and making it grow is their creative expression. For others, writing poetry or music and sharing it with others helps them feel fully themselves.

An abundance of scientific research confirms that creative expression benefits our mental and emotional health: emotional regulation, cognitive flexibility, and social connection.

Enroll in a painting class or find a group to write with. The possibilities are endless!

14. Laugh More

Find more reasons to laugh. It really can be that simple.

How, you may wonder. If you’re choosing your next book to read, look for something light and funny. Same thing for your next Netflix binge-watching.

You can consciously choose to surround yourself with higher frequencies of laughter and joy. You also do NOT want to expose yourself to anything that you don’t want to experience.

Meaning, if it’s not something you don’t want to show up in your life, don’t read or watch it.

This does not mean that we don’t read the news or put on a blindfold to injustices. But it does mean that we limit our exposure to stressful events and focus on uplifting solutions.

Leaning into joy and laughter is a conscious choice. Just like practicing gratitude, it brings you up.

15. Find Professional Help

In life, there are times when getting the help of a support group or professional counselor is not only appropriate but also crucial.

The stigma attached to getting professional mental help is less than it used to be. But I often find that people are in denial about their mental health.

Maybe they genuinely don’t realize that they can feel better, or that there is another way. Or they still feel like it would be a sign of weakness to talk to someone about their problems.

It’s time that we reframe this entirely. If you had an achy tooth, you’d to see a dentist. If you fell and hurt your back, you’d see a doctor.

Your mind and emotional self deserve the same care and consideration. At some point, your family and friends are not enough to support your emotional challenges, especially if the underlying condition involves trauma.

It may take a few tries to find the right therapist for your needs. But stick with it, and talk therapy can be a part of your next healing journey.

Final Thoughts

Emotional self-care is about taking care of your heart and spirit. It’s not as tangible as going for a walk (which helps with emotional health, by the way). But there are many practical steps you can take to help yourself feel better, in any of life’s moments.

I hope that this list of 15 emotional self-care practices gave you some ideas to try right away. I’d love to know if you did, and please comment below!

15 Effective Emotional Self Care Tips for Your Wellbeing