Self-Care Beyond the Hashtags
Getting Real About Taking Care of You
Self-care isn’t cute. It’s not always green juice and crystals and rose-petal baths. Sure, those things can be a part of it—but they’re the window dressing. Real self-care? It’s that raw, unglamorous work behind closed doors. It’s saying no when you’re scared to disappoint someone. It’s facing your sh*t head-on. It’s crying in your car between therapy and Trader Joe’s and calling that growth.
We’ve been sold this Pinterest version of healing—and while it looks good in a story highlight, it doesn’t hold you when the anxiety hits or when you're spiraling at 2 a.m. Self-care isn’t about performance. It’s about preservation. It’s survival work that becomes your foundation.
And it’s time we start treating it like that.
Why the Instagram Version Isn’t Enough
We live in an age where everything, even healing, gets filtered. You light a candle, snap a pic of your journal, throw a quote over it, hashtag it #SelfCareSaturday—and boom, healing. Right?
Wrong.
That version of self-care often becomes a trap. A shiny distraction from the real work. It keeps you consuming instead of connecting. Comparing instead of grounding.
You don’t need a Himalayan salt lamp to heal. You need to stop betraying yourself.
What Real Self-Care Looks Like
Here’s the truth: real self-care isn’t always sexy. It’s often lonely. It’s doing the things you don’t want to do because you know the future you will thank you.
Let’s talk about what self-care really is:
It’s leaving the relationship that looks good on paper but drains your soul.
It’s creating a budget when you’d rather spend your way out of discomfort.
It’s eating something green when all you want is fries and Netflix.
It’s saying “I need help” when your pride wants you to white-knuckle it.
It’s not “treat yourself” every time you’re down. Sometimes it’s: “Sit with it. Don’t numb. Let yourself feel it—and survive it.”
It’s not just what you do. It’s how you do it. It’s the tone of your inner voice when you mess up. It’s how you speak to yourself in the silence.
Why Self-Care Is Emotional Fitness
Think of it like going to the gym. You don’t lift once and get strong. You show up. You sweat. You push through resistance. And over time, you build.
Emotional fitness works the same way.
Boundaries are reps.
Rest is recovery.
Saying “no” is your core workout.
Honoring your truth? That’s your personal record.
You don’t build self-respect in a bubble bath. You build it in the tough conversations. In choosing yourself when it would be easier not to. In not texting your ex because you’re lonely and know they’re a Band-Aid, not a solution.
Five Real-World Self-Care Practices
Audit Your InputsWho are you listening to? What are you watching? What energy are you consuming every day? Clean house.
Create Emotional Check-InsAsk yourself: What am I feeling? What do I need right now? What am I avoiding? Get curious, not judgmental.
Build a “Treat Yo’ Self” with Purpose ListYes, treats matter. But intentional ones. Ones that nourish, not numb. A hike. A solo drive. A new book. A playlist that cracks you open.
Have the Hard ConversationWhether it’s with your partner, your parent, your boss, or yourself. Avoiding it costs more than you think.
Create a Ritual That’s Just YoursMorning coffee in silence. Journaling in the car. A walk at sunset. Protect that time like it’s your oxygen.
Self-Care and the Power of Community
Here’s the paradox: self-care is deeply personal, but it isn’t meant to be practiced in isolation.
We need mirrors. Witnesses. People to say “same” when you voice your shame. That’s where healing accelerates—in community. In being seen and still loved. In showing up raw and being met with realness, not platitudes.
That’s why we created the 7 Days to Reclaim Your Singlehood challenge.
Because self-care isn’t just bubble baths and solo dates. It’s shared breakthroughs. It’s messy journal entries and voice notes with strangers-turned-friends. It’s showing up for yourself and being held while you do.
If you’re tired of pretending self-care looks like candles and cute captions—if you’re ready to do the real, unfiltered work of reconnecting to yourself—join us.
This isn’t just another self-love checklist. It’s a gritty, grounded, no-fluff deep dive into what it means to be single on purpose. For seven days, we unpack the thoughts that sabotage you. We rewrite the stories you’ve inherited. We rebuild your connection to self—brick by brick.
It’s $7. Why? Because I want you to commit—but I don’t want it to sting. I want you in. Not someday. Now.
And here’s the real juice: you’re not doing it alone.
You’re doing it with a tribe of people just like you—people who are done waiting, done spiraling, and ready to reclaim their singlehood with intention, purpose, and power.
Not just for the “aha” moments. For the momentum.
Because healing in isolation is exhausting. But in community? It's electric.
Let’s Do This
This isn’t about becoming a “better you” so someone will love you. This is about finally loving yourself so deeply that you stop chasing people who can’t meet you.
If that hits? You’re ready.
Powerful stuff! So much of the self-care conversation gets reduced to a quick success story highlight reel, but real self-care is often quiet, unglamorous, and deeply personal. People hear the success stories but rarely see the messy, mundane, one-foot-in-front-of-the-other slog it took to get there. Appreciate the insight!