8 Dimensions of Self-Care

The 8 Dimensions of Self-Care provides a simple framework for making self-care part of your daily life. Using this holistic approach, you can create a multidimensional self-care plan that aligns with your unique needs in real time. As you begin to more easily recognize what you need on a daily basis, you can select the most effective self-care activities that support you in each key area of your life.

In this article, you’ll learn more about LivingUpp’s multidimensional approach and how to create practical self-care rituals that support each of the 8 dimensions of your life: Systemic, Emotive, Luminescent, Financial, Cognitive, Aptitudinal, Relational, and Environmental.

LivingUpp is a participant in affiliate programs, which means we may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases on links to Amazon and other sites at no additional cost to you.

What is Self-Care?

First, it’s important to understand and define what self-care is to you. Self-care is personal, and only you can decide what it looks and feels like for you.

Self-care is a form of preventive health care that includes all the actions you take to improve, restore, or maintain your health. Simply put, self-care is everything you do to between doctor’s visits to support your health.

Origins of the 8 Dimensions of Self-Care Framework

In 2015, I created the first draft of the 8 Dimensions of Self-Care framework. At the time, my life was slowly unraveling around me. My marriage was falling apart and I was emotionally paralyzed. I couldn’t sleep, I was drinking too much wine, and I desperately wanted a way to heal and move forward with my life.

The idea for the 8 Dimensions of Self-Care framework came to me in the middle of the night. As I laid wide awake in bed trying to figure out how to clean up the hot mess my life had become, I envisioned the self-care circle.

Stumbling out of bed in the dark, I made my way to my office where I drew the very first draft of what is now the iconical framework below.

Ultimately, I rebuilt my life on the foundation of this framework. It’s how I recovered my physical heath, rebuilt my sense of self-confidence, and began to pick up the shattered pieces of my life. But perhaps most importantly, it gave me a renewed sense of hope about my future.

The 8 Dimensions of Self-Care Framework

Since that time, the 8 Dimensions of Self-Care framework has been much more powerful than I imagined. What began as a simple way to navigate a difficult time in my life has become a tool that others have used to successfully move through their own life transitions.

Here’s a quick snapshot of the 8 Dimensions:

The Systemic Dimension of Self-Care: How you eat, move and rest
The Emotive Dimension of Self-Care: How you express yourself
The Luminescent Dimension of Self-Care: How you illuminate your inner truth
The Financial Dimension of Self-Care How you allocate your resources
The Cognitive Dimension of Self-Care: How you think
The Aptitudinal Dimension of Self-Care: How you contribute to the world
The Relational Dimension of Self-Care: How you connect with others
The Environmental Dimension of Self-Care: How you harmonize with nature

NOTE: The first letter of each dimension forms the acronym “self-care” to help you remember them.

The 8 Dimensions of Self-Care Overview

Each of the 8 Dimensions of Self-Care are unique, yet interconnected. Together, they provide a framework to identify, prioritize, and implement self-care.

Here’s an overview of each dimension:

The Systemic Dimension of Self-Care

The Systemic Dimension of Self-Care focuses on how you eat, move and rest.

In this dimension, you look for ways to support your physical health—your habits around eating, exercising, and sleeping. Self-care strategies in this dimension can help you:

Reduce your overall health risks
Strengthen your immune system
Have more energy
Improve your strength and flexibility
Make better choices about how you nourish your body
Maintain a healthy weight
Feel more rested
Maintain healthy lab values, like cholesterol and vitamin D

The Emotive Dimension of Self-Care

The Emotive Dimension of Self-Care focuses on your how you express yourself.

In this dimension, you explore ways to support your emotional well-being—communication skills, emotional triggers, and how you respond to what’s happening around you. By choosing self-care strategies that support this dimension of your life, you can:

Manage your emotional energy
Return to a state of calm more quickly and easily
Experience more peace
Recognize when your energy levels are low
Press the pause button when you need to recharge
Feel more grounded

The Luminescent Dimension of Self-Care

The Luminescent Dimension of Self-Care focuses on how you illuminate your inner truth.

In this dimension, you seek out ways to support your spirituality, beliefs, values, and personal brand, which encompasses your unique strengths, personality, and individual preferences. Choosing self-care strategies that support this dimension of your life can help you:

Show up with more confidence
Clearly define your personal brand
Grow spiritually

The Financial Dimension of Self-Care

The Financial Dimension of Self-Care focuses on how you allocate your resources.

In this dimension, you explore ways to support your fiscal fitness—how you earn, spend, give, save, and manage your finances. By choosing self-care strategies that support this dimension of your life, you’ll be able to:

Make better financial decisions
Feel confident about your ability to manage your financial resources
Create a financial plan that supports the lifestyle you’re creating

The Cognitive Dimension of Self-Care

The Cognitive Dimension of Self-Care focuses on how you think.

In this dimension, you explore ways to support your thoughts—your mindset and beliefs. By choosing self-care strategies that support this dimension of your life, you’ll be able to:

Focus your attention on what you want (rather than what you don’t want)
Reframe your life experiences into something positive and meaningful
Shift your thought patterns toward what’s within your control
Find creative solution to problems

The Aptitudinal Dimension of Self-Care

The Aptitudinal Dimension of Self-Care focuses on your contribution to the world.

In this dimension, you explore your life’s work—what you’re uniquely suited to do in this world. By selecting self-care activities that support this dimension of your life, you can:

Align your profession with your strengths
Make a meaningful contribution to the world
Enrich the lives of others through your natural talents
Continue to grow your natural skills and abilities

The Relational Dimension of Self-Care

The Relational Dimension of Self-Care focuses on how you connect with others.

This dimension helps you explore ways to support your connections with others—friendships, professional relationships, and family relationships. By enlisting self-care strategies that support this dimension of your life, you’ll be able to:

Build and maintain supportive, mutually-beneficial relationships
Establish healthy boundaries
Communicate more clearly

The Environmental Dimension of Self-Care

The Environmental Dimension of Self-Care focuses on how you harmonize with nature.

In this dimension, you examine how to connect more closely with the world around you—how you interact within your community and impact the environmental through your daily choices. By choosing self-care strategies that support this dimension, you can:

Create sacred spaces
Connect with the rhythms of nature
Minimize habits and behaviors that have a negative impact on the environment

How to Use the 8 Dimensions of Self-Care Circle

The next step is to put the 8 Dimensions of Self-Care framework into daily practice.

Using the framework, you can learn to recognize your needs much earlier—before you experience an emotional meltdown that leaves you feeling helpless and hopeless.

Even the smallest acts of self-care can make big life transitions easier. Knowing what you need when life’s heavy moments appear without warning can help you bounce back from life’s challenges and disappointments.

As you become more familiar with this self-care framework, you’ll become more confident in your ability to identify and prioritize self-care.

Living the 8 Dimensions of Self-Care

Living the 8 Dimensions of Self-Care is about honoring this one beautiful life you’ve been given. Taking care of that gift is not a luxury; it’s an act of gratitude.

As you begin to learn how to support each key area of your life, you’ll slowly create a healthier lifestyle. And as you being to expand your daily rituals, self-care will become part of who you are, not just something you do.

If you need some structure to help bring self-care into your daily life, the Lifestyle Design Planner incorporates the 8 Dimensions of Self-Care framework and Rate Your 8 self-care assessment into the daily planning pages to make it easier to prioritize and practice self-care.

Buy the planner

Information on this website should not be interpreted as providing or replacing medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All content is intended for adults over the age of 18. LivingUpp is a participant in affiliate programs, which means we may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases on links to Amazon and other sites at no additional cost to you.

Originally published 3/20/2020