Welcome to Blog Profiles! Each week, we select a topic and handful of blogs that do a great job contributing to the conversation. To celebrate Valentine’s Day, we’re showing some love to these self-care blogs that want you to put yourself first. Do you have a blog (or vlog) that deserves recognition? Tweet our writers at @BeyondBylines.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Whether or not you’re celebrating the holiday, we feel like it’s a good reminder to take some time to show yourself some love. After all, we all deserve a bit of self-care, especially after making it through the last couple of years.

What is self-care? It’s all about making yourself the priority and doing what makes you happy. It’s not just about face masks and yoga (although they can definitely be a part of it!).

You can generally break down self-care practices into several key areas:

• Emotional: Activities that help you connect, process, and reflect on your emotions.
• Mental/Intellectual: Activities to help you keep a clear head, think about things in new ways and grow intellectually.
• Physical: Practices to ensure your body is functioning at its best (think exercise, eating habits and getting enough rest).
• Social: Nurturing relationships (and ending toxic ones) to maintain your wellbeing. This also involves setting boundaries.
• Spiritual: Practices that nurture your soul – it doesn’t have to involve religion.
• Professional: Setting boundaries and finding a work-life balance.
• Financial: Creating a healthy relationship with money to reduce stress and anxiety.

Want to set aside time to be lazy and watch TV? That’s self-care! It’s whatever you need to find some peace and be happy in this chaotic world.

If you need some help to make yourself a priority, these self-care blogs are full of tips and advice.

1. Uncustomary

This vibrant blog is written by Mary England, aka “Uncustomary.” Her goal is to help readers find what makes them happy and develop habits to keep those feelings of “Merriment” consistent. In short, she’s all about having fun.

While Uncustomary loves color, joy, and fun, she’s not afraid to go deep in her posts and podcast episodes to talk about mental health, trauma and therapy. “I want to show you how amazing you are. I want to twirl you around and remind you that you’re gorgeous. I want to give you the tools so you can wake up every day with confidence and optimism. I want to make your life something you want to celebrate,” she says on the site.

Recommended reads: Using Your Expressive Writing To Move Forward In Life; How To Foster Respect In The Workplace; and What Is Merriment Making? (podcast).

Follow @uncustomary on Facebook.

2. The Self-Love Rainbow

This colorful, eye-catching blog is written by Dominee Calderon. She started the blog (formerly called Blessing Manifesting) in 2011 to document her mental health journey – she struggles with depression, anxiety and, at times, agoraphobia.

Every post published on Self-Love Rainbow comes with a colorful infographic to help break down the main takeaways and tips. Topics cover self-love, mental health, self-acceptance and more.

Check out these helpful posts: How To “Sit With Your Feelings”; The Foundations of Self-Love; and Self-Love Languages, What’s Yours?

Follow @SelfLoveRainbow on Facebook.

3. NAMI Blog

This blog from the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) provides well-researched articles covering healing, acceptance and support for anyone who has previously or is currently experiencing mental health issues.

The wide selection of blog post categories includes social anxiety, stress management, exercise and relationships – all topics that provide advice and tips for living a happier, more fulfilling life.

Read these posts to get started on your self-care journey: How Volunteering Improves Mental Health; The Surprising Mental Health Benefits of Fishing; and Taking the Leap of Faith to Healthy Self-Esteem.

Follow @NAMICommunicate on Twitter.

4. Develop Good Habits

If self-care isn’t a regular part of your routine, the DGH blog can be a great resource. Blogger Steve “S.J.” Scott is all about self-improvement through setting actionable goals and developing habits.

S.J. realizes that just thinking positive isn’t the end-all-be-all of personal growth. His blog posts are written to help readers test drive new habits that can improve their fitness, organization, relationships and careers.

Self-care doesn’t come naturally to everyone and sometimes it takes work to achieve. The DGH blog will help.

Bookmark these posts: 25 Self Care Day Ideas & Activities for 2022; 15 Ways to Increase your Self-Love; and 31 Self Care Ideas for Women to Avoid Burnout.

Follow @habitsguy on Twitter.

New post: "5 SMART Goals Examples to Improve Workplace Teamwork" https://t.co/xG47EB0iGw

— S.J. Scott – Author (@habitsguy) February 6, 2022

P.S. Ever wonder how we come up with ideas for our blog profiles? Our handy list of industries and subjects on PR Newswire for Journalists stays top of mind. If you’re a blogger or journalist looking for self-care or mental health news, let us know. We can customize a newsfeed for you.

Rocky Parker is the Digital Content Lead at Cision PR Newswire. She works with journalists, bloggers, and content creators to create their targeted newsfeeds from PR Newswire for Journalists. Rocky has also counseled on content writing best practices. Check out her previous posts for Beyond Bylines. In her free time, Rocky can usually be found cooking, binge-watching a new show, or playing with her puppy, Hudson.