Self Care
What is self-care?
Self-care is any activity that we do deliberately to take care of our mental, emotional, and physical health. Good self-care is key to improved mood and reduced anxiety. It’s also key to a good relationship with oneself and others. When asked the question: “Do you take care of yourself?” most of us will answer “yes” — we’d even think, “What kind of question is this? Of course, I care about myself.” When asked, “In what ways do you take care of yourself?” — well, that’s where the tricky part begins.
What are the consequences of not practicing self-care:
Low energy
Feeling hopeless
Less patience
Increased headaches, stomach aches, and other physical symptoms of stress
Difficulty falling and staying asleep
Challenges in choosing healthy food and urges to eat “comfort” foods
Worsening mental health symptoms like depression or anxiety
Difficulty concentrating
Strain or distancing in the relationship.
Reduced performance at work
Less motivation to engage in social activities
What are the benefits of Self Care?
When we practice self-care, we are not only helping ourselves, but we are also helping others as well. Self-care can also award us with several health benefits too, including improving our immunity, increasing our positive thinking and mindset, and making us less sensitive to stress and other similar emotional health issues.
“Taking care of yourself doesn’t mean me first; it means me too.” Allow yourself to enjoy each happy moment in you’re life. People who love themselves come across as very loving, generous, and kind; they express their self-confidence through humility, forgiveness, and inclusiveness.
The most powerful relationship you will ever have is the relationship with yourself. The love and attention you always thought you wanted from someone else, is the love and attention you first need to give to yourself.”
Self-care is a deliberate choice to gift yourself with people, places, things, events, and opportunities that recharge our battery and promote whole healthy — body, mind, and spirit.” Self-care is not selfish. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.”
What can I do to practice self-care?
There are lots of ways to practice self-care. What works for you may not work for someone else. The important thing is to make self-care a priority in you’re scheduled. Here are some ideas for self-care:
* Go for a run or a light jog — Research shows that exercise can relieve stress, improve your mood, and help you sleep better.
* Meditate or do deep breathing for five minutes — Take five minutes to practice deep breathing. In just those few minutes you can lower your blood pressure and heart rate, thus lowering the physical effects of stress.
* Take a break when you need it for your relaxation.
* Choose who you spend time with — Spending time with loved ones is the number one determinant of happiness. Take time to connect with a friend or a family member.
* Laugh heartily at least once a day — Look for opportunities to laugh!
* Eat green and healthy foods daily — Promote a nutritious, healthy diet.
* Avoid emotional eating — Self-compassion is treating yourself like you would treat your best friend. Talk to yourself the way you would talk to someone you care about; replace self-critical thoughts with compassionate thoughts.
* Start a journal, books, painting — Journaling, reading, painting can have a lot of benefits. Writing can help you process your feelings, ignite creativity centers in the brain, and help you be in the present moment. Take a few minutes each day to journal/reading/painting.
* Learn to say ‘No.- When you learn how to say “no” to things that over-extend you and start making time for things that matter more, you slow life down in a wonderful way. This brings you’re goals into sharper focus and helps you to concentrate on what you’re doing.
* Stop overthinking.
* Follow your hobby — Find out time for you’re passions and hobbies, whether that’s hiking, crafting, dancing, reading for fun, etc. Hobbies can provide you an outlet for managing stress and can increase happiness levels.
* Taking a break from technology — Sometimes the best way to recharge is to take a break from technology. Research shows that downtime replenishes the brain’s stores of attention and motivation, encourages productivity and creativity, and is essential to both achieve our highest levels of performance and simply form stable memories in everyday life.
* Take sound sleep and naps — Sound sleep is essential to overall health and is closely linked to academic success. Napping throughout the day can improve energy levels.
* Be Kind to yourself — When you’re good to yourself, you might think you’re being selfish. In truth, self-care gives you the resources you need to be compassionate to others as well. Giving compassion is a bit like filling a bucket; you can’t fill someone else’s if you don’t have enough of you’re own!.
* Spend time in nature — Research shows that spending time in nature can have remarkable benefits to human health.
* Practice gratitude — One simple way to practice gratitude is by writing down 3 things you’re grateful for every day. Remembering to find things, experiences and people in your the life that your grateful can have powerful effects on your mood.
At last, I would want to say I wrote this blog as I thought self-care is an important topic that most people do not spend enough time thinking about.
I believe those who all are reading this blog will get inspired to start taking care of themselves and practice self-care. Pick at least four -five-point which suits you the best as your daily habit and practice it as it will add better productivity, better physical health, enhanced self-esteem, increased self-knowledge, more to give, and much more such fruitful values to your life.