Self-care is "a proactive action to support, maintain, and protect wellbeing, wellness and health that draws from diverse areas of wellbeing science while acknowledging the process is of self-discovery, not perfectionism or comparing yourself to others"

(Professor Narelle Lemon)

Self-Care as Your Wellbeing Anchor

  • Maintain your current wellbeing through consistent, grounding practices that keep you balanced and prevent deterioration of your mental, physical, and emotional health.

  • Protect your wellbeing by establishing healthy boundaries, building resilience, and creating buffers against stress and external pressures.

  • Grow by expanding your capacity for wellbeing through learning, exploration, and intentional development that pushes you beyond your comfort zones in healthy ways.

At She Speaks, we see self-care as the anchor that grounds your wellbeing journey. And we apply Narelle’s model of non-medicalized self-care throughout the work we do. This means developing practices that help you:

Self-care is a process of self-discovery that honors your unique journey while recognizing our shared human experience.

From Crisis Response to Proactive Empowerment

We move beyond the traditional model of self-care as damage control. Instead of waiting for burnout or crisis, She Speaks promotes proactive action that builds resilience before you need it. Our approach is forward-moving, growth-oriented, and adaptable to your changing circumstances.

From Individual Isolation to Relational Connection

Drawing from feminist scholarship, we understand that true self-care happens in relationship. We're not meant to care for ourselves in isolation—we're interconnected beings who thrive through communal care. She Speaks creates spaces where caring for yourself becomes part of caring for each other, honoring our shared vulnerabilities and collective responsibility for wellbeing.

The Relational Reality of Self-Care

Self-care is not an individual practice—it's fundamentally relational and systemic. At She Speaks, we recognize that you exist within an ecosystem of different contexts, relationships, and systems that both influence you and are influenced by you.

The Interconnected Nature of Care

We need to care for ourselves in order to have the capacity to care for others. But equally important: we need others for inspiration, motivation, support, and sometimes to help us with actual acts of self-care. This isn't dependency—this is the beautiful reality of human connection.

You might need someone to:

* Remind you of your worth when you've forgotten

* Hold space for your emotions when you can't hold them alone

* Inspire you with their own self-care journey

* Motivate you to keep going when your energy is low

* Support you practically by watching your children so you can rest

* Challenge you lovingly when you're not honoring your needs

Living in the Ecosystem

Your self-care doesn't happen in a vacuum. You exist within multiple contexts—family systems, workplace cultures, community dynamics, societal structures—and your wellbeing both affects and is affected by these environments. When you practice self-care, you're not just improving your own life; you're contributing to the health of the entire ecosystem you're part of.

This means that sometimes the most powerful act of self-care is working to change the systems around you, advocating for collective wellbeing, or supporting others in their self-care journey. Your flourishing and others' flourishing are inextricably linked.

From Market Consumption to Personal Empowerment

We reject the consumer culture that reduces self-care to products you buy or services you consume. Instead, She Speaks positions self-care as a powerful empowerment tool that helps you and your community proactively and intentionally negotiate your overall health, wellbeing, and resilience.

The Five Dimensions of Self-Care

Our approach is built on five interconnected dimensions that Narelle illuminates that work together to support your flourishing:

1. Self-Compassion: How do you treat yourself like a friend?

Self-compassion involves treating yourself with the same kindness you'd offer a good friend. It includes speaking to yourself gently during challenges, recognizing that struggle is part of the universal human experience, and observing your thoughts and feelings with mindful awareness rather than harsh judgment.

2. Mindful Awareness: What do I need in this moment?

This is your ability to observe your thoughts, feelings, and experiences in the present moment without getting caught up in them. It's about creating space between experiencing something and reacting to it, allowing you to respond from a place of clarity rather than reactivity.

3. Empowerment: Building your agency and choice

We extend empowerment beyond personal agency to challenge systems that devalue collective wellbeing. This dimension helps you develop belief in your ability to influence your circumstances while building the knowledge, skills, and resources you need to thrive.

4. Habits: Small, sustainable changes

Rather than rigid routines, we focus on developing adaptive patterns that respond to your changing circumstances. These are contextually fluid practices that support the active and continual promotion of your health and wellbeing.

5. Time: Flexible approaches to temporal wellbeing

We recognize that time is complex and multifaceted—from micro-moments to full days, from daily practices to monthly rituals. We address the reality that time scarcity often reflects structural inequalities, not personal failure, and work to integrate self-care into everyday life in realistic ways.

Why This Matters

The She Speaks approach to self-care isn't just about individual wellness—it's about recognizing that we exist in a web of relationships and systems where our wellbeing is interconnected. When we understand that caring for ourselves enables us to care for others, and that we need others to fully care for ourselves, we move beyond the myth of individual self-sufficiency.

This relational understanding transforms self-care from a private activity into a community practice. It acknowledges that sometimes the barriers to self-care aren't personal failures but systemic issues that require collective action. When we position self-care as both personal empowerment and relational responsibility, we create a culture where everyone's wellbeing matters and everyone has a role in supporting collective flourishing.