{"id":11868,"date":"2017-06-04T04:03:06","date_gmt":"2017-06-04T12:03:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/the-millennial-obsession-with-self-care\/"},"modified":"2017-06-04T04:03:06","modified_gmt":"2017-06-04T12:03:06","slug":"the-millennial-obsession-with-self-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/associatednews.info\/content\/the-millennial-obsession-with-self-care\/","title":{"rendered":"The Millennial Obsession With Self-Care"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Christianna Silva<\/a><\/span> <\/p>\n

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\n When it comes to millennials, it’s likely no surprise that the generation that takes advantage of the Internet the most is also the generation that devotes the most time and money to the $10 billion self-care industry.<\/p>\n

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Malte Mueller\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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Malte Mueller\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

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There is one generation that has been consistently defined by its obsessions: avocado toast<\/a>, memes<\/a>, Harry Potter<\/a> … and self-care. They are often perceived as entitled snowflakes, but millennials might be the generation of emotional intelligence.<\/p>\n

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Self-care existed long before<\/a> millennials did. Ancient Greeks<\/a> saw it as a way to make people more honest citizens who were more likely to care for others. In her 1988 book, A Burst of Light<\/a>, Audre Lorde wrote that “caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation and that is an act of political warfare.”<\/p>\n

Today, self-care, as it’s defined by Gracy Obuchowicz, a facilitator and self-care mentor and coach in Washington, D.C., “assumes that we’re OK as we are and we just need to take care of ourselves … Self-care alone is not enough. You need to have self-awareness too. Self-care plus self-awareness equals self-love.”<\/p>\n

While self-care has been around for centuries, it has only recently been co-opted by stars<\/a> such as Solange<\/a> and consumerized into self-care kits<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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In 2015, according to the Pew Research Center<\/a>, more millennials reported making personal improvement commitments than any generation before them. They spend twice as much<\/a> as boomers on self-care essentials such as workout regimens<\/a>, diet plans<\/a>, life coaching<\/a>, therapy and apps to improve their personal well-being<\/a>. They’ve even created self-care Twitter<\/a>bots<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But why is there a generational divide in taking care of yourself?<\/p>\n

One study<\/a> showed that this might have all sprouted out of the Internet. It found that students reported using the Web to identify self-care strategies, alternative therapies and other information related to nutrition and fitness.<\/p>\n