‘Self-care is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation.’
Audre Lorde
What is self-care?
Self-care is often viewed as something people do sporadically when their energy levels become depleted, or they become emotionally overwhelmed. Self-care, however, should be an integral part of your daily routine. There is a common misconception that self-care is a luxury and only for those who like to be selfish or self-indulgent. Frankly speaking it’s not! You are not being selfish or self-indulgent but it is a sign you are being practical and effectively managing your mental, emotional, physical and spiritual health. Self-care means taking care of yourself, so your physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual wellbeing is healthy.
Why is self-care important for our health?
Self-care has a significant impact on all areas of our health. It is important that we check in with not only our physical health but our emotional, mental and spiritual health too. Usually emotional or mental health issues can present as physical symptoms in the body. Similarly our spiritual health can also manifest in our body if we are not aligned with our subconscious.
Physical Health
Self-care practice can significantly reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease and stroke. Our body and mind are always working in conjunction with each other. This link between your body and mind means that if you don’t look after your physical body, you can’t expect to feel good mentally. When you feel healthy physically, this reflects in your thoughts and feelings.
Practicing self-care means bringing awareness to your eating habits, your exercise regime and your sleep quality and your overall body health. Check in and notice if you are feeling off either mentally or physically because this can be a key sign that something is out of balance.
Even seemingly simplistic self-care practices such as a relaxing bath or shower can be beneficial for your physical and mental health.
Mental Health
Self-care practice can positively impact your mental health. By gently checking in and monitoring your mental health you can easily reduce stress, prevent certain illnesses and diseases and establish a good mental health relationship with yourself, which will be transferred in all your interactions with others.
Keeping your mind sharp, as you age, also ties in with self-care. Changing your route on the way home to and from work frequently or challenging yourself with new hobbies, games or puzzles, will keep your mind strong and active, which greatly determines the ongoing state of your mental health.
Emotional Health
Self-care practice has been shown to make you more resilient emotionally, more able to cope in difficult situations and it can boost and increase your self esteem. It can also improve your relationships with others. By ensuring you are looking after yourself, making time for yourself and respecting yourself enough to check in and monitor what is happening within yourself; you will then be more able to be there for others and deal more healthily with any challenges that occur in your life.
Emotionally we go through emotional ups and downs everyday. Its perfectly normal to go through a myriad of emotions day-to-day. In our society we frown upon feelings of anger or sadness. Being angry or sad, every now and again is normal. Its how we react to these feelings that’s important. If you find yourself in a perpetual cycle of feeling sad, angry or down or you continuously react or erupt in situations, by taking it out on other people, you should seek additional therapeutic support.
Spiritual Health
Spiritual self-care practice, essentially entails any rituals or activities that celebrates you being your authentic self. Spiritual health ties in with finding your sense of meaning and happiness in your life, and what legacy you want to leave behind. Asking yourself simple questions such as:
When the going gets tough, who do you want to be surrounded by?
Who or what fulfils you and sets your heart on fire?
Who or what type of person do I want to be?
How do I want to be remembered and what do I want to leave behind?
Being your real, authentic self can sometimes feel at odds with other people perceptions of you and who they want you to be. Think about what you want, who you want to be. If you live your life just following other people’s expectations you will never be truly fulfilled or find true happiness. You are unique, you are special, you deserve to be the real you and to follow your dreams! Being your true, authentic self allows you be free, to feel fulfilled and to positively go after your dreams.
How can I practice self-care?
Self-care shouldn’t be a last resort effort you turn to, when you are exhausted, overloaded, and overwhelmed. Practicing self-care everyday is important. Many of us already know we should be practicing self-care, but we often find it difficult to find the time to implement these positive changes into our everyday routine.
Always remember your needs are important. We all have a tendency to spread ourselves too thin, often prioritising our family or friends or our work than ourselves, when we are already low in energy. You can’t give to others, if you don’t have enough energy yourself. Prioritise your self-care needs first.
We all do it, we organise to go get our hair done, once in a while, or take some time out to pamper ourselves occasionally but we forget that day-to-day our bodies and minds need self-care, so we don’t fall into negative patterns of feeling overwhelmed, anxious, underappreciated, and depressed.
Becoming the best version of yourself means taking time to prioritise and look after yourself.
What self-care changes can I make?
Begin by making small changes and you will notice you have more energy, are more positive and be more able to deal with life’s challenges:
Start your day with a large glass of water to replenish your body
It may sound simple but starting your day with a large glass of water will replenish your body after sleeping all night. It will also clear any brain fog that can ensue from dehydration.
Over the course of the day we should all be drinking at least eight glasses of water to ensure our body and minds can work at their optimal capacity.
Begin your day with something that puts a smile on your face
We are all so often wound up in our day-to-day routines that we forget the importance of enjoying life. By beginning your day with something that puts a smile on your face, you are positively choosing how you want your day to go, what mood you want to start your day with and prioritising your mental health.
Something as simple as enjoying a cup of coffee in the garden or spending ten extra minutes in bed cuddling your dog, can have a huge impact on your emotions.
Increased levels of serotonin gives us an energy boost, amplifies our ability to cope, reduces stress, enhances our connection with others and has long-term positive benefits for our physical and mental health.
Practice gratitude
Gratitude is an often overlooked secret weapon which boosts your emotional, mental, physical and spiritual health. By learning to be thankful for all that you have in life and where you are in life, you are altering your mindset to a more positive thinking pattern. It encourages you to stop comparing yourself to others and to truly be happy in yourself and with your life.
Start small and simply begin by thinking of three things every night before you go to sleep that you are thankful for or that went well during the day. Without even realising it you will become much more positive, clear and calm in every area of your life.
Take 10 minutes – 30 minutes out to relax, just for you.
It sounds simple but taking a break that isn’t lunch or exercise or actively doing something, is incredibly important for your mental health. It allows you to simply sit and relax, to mentally check out and give your thoughts, your mind and body a reprieve.
Try sitting with your feet up or sitting quietly in or garden or in the park and just pause and breath. Enjoy the quiet and simply taking time out. Practicing this daily will increase your energy levels, it will make you much more positive and peaceful.
Meditate
Meditation is the process of redirecting your thoughts into more positive thought patterns. Mediation raises your awareness and allows you to be able to become attuned with your emotions, mind and body. Meditation actively reduces stress, helps you balance your emotional and mental health and increases your ability to think and see outside the box. It also increases your memory and focus and enables you to tap into your subconscious, promoting greater clarity and peace.
Prioritise your sleep
The most important part of self-care is prioritising sleep. Sleep quality far outweighs sleep quantity. You should be sleeping at least seven hours a night, dependent on your age. Sleep deprivation can make you more susceptible to mental health issues, mood disorders, illness, such as cold or flu, and more long-term diseases and a weakened immune system.
Good quality sleep will also ensure you are more productive, your concentration levels will be better and you will have more energy.
Eat healthily and keep everything in balance when eating
Eating healthily has long-term benefits for your mind and body. You are what you eat. You should practice self-care with every meal, by eating regularly, following good nutrition guidelines, with an array of rainbow fruit and vegetables, healthy fats and carbohydrates, nuts and seeds, herbs and spices and lots of fibre.
Its also important to limit sugar and alcohol but my motto is everything in moderation. If you are going to eat a piece of fruit, its better to have a piece of chocolate, to balance it out, instead of denying yourself and then losing your willpower later, which often leads to two bars of chocolate! Food should be enjoyed healthily. Just be mindful of what you are eating and balance is the key!
Exercise in a fun way
We’ve all been there. Unless you are Hercules or Wonder Woman, sometimes going to the gym can feel gruelling. Exercising is good for both your mental and physical health. Choosing some form of exercise you enjoy, such as, swimming, yoga, dancing, gymnastics or boxing, can increase the benefits of exercise even more profoundly. Choose a sport or exercise routine that excites you and you can look forward to. If you’ve always wanted to try belly-dancing, go for it!
If you find you react emotionally in situations through anger, why not try boxing to expel all your stray emotions?
Feeling anxious, why not try yoga to calm you and help you destress in a safe space?
Exercise can make the difference in both your long-term mental and physical health. Taking the time to do a work out has been shown to increase serotonin levels, to eliminate anxiety and to focus our minds positively.
Get some rays of sunshine
Spending at least ten minutes in the sun, without sunglasses, is important for you to get sufficient levels of Vitamin D. Spending time in the sun (obviously, in conjunction with using sun cream) is important because it boosts our mood, increasing the serotonin in our body. It also helps our immune system to function properly. The increase in Vitamin D also helps our bones and lowers blood pressure. It also acts as a natural alarm clock, promoting better sleep quality.
Walk in nature
Walking in nature can be extremely restorative. Being able to walk and enjoy nature has been linked to reduced stress, anxiety and depression. Research has shown that spending time outdoors improves our productivity and instils greater happiness and peace in us all.
It also helps you be more active and promotes better physical health. By walking only twenty minutes a day in nature, you lower blood pressure, manage your weight and keep your heart healthy.
Spend time with positive, supportive people
Spending time with positive people can do wonders for your emotional, mental, physical and spiritual health. By surrounding yourself with positive, supportive people you are bolstering your mental health. You are signalling to others that you respect yourself and recognise that you deserve to be treated positively.
Your thought patterns and the people you surround yourself with can all have a major impact on your mental health. You are the five people you surround yourself with! Surrounding yourself with positive people will result in you viewing the world much more positively and vice verse or negative people. We start to become more similar to our family and friends, the longer we hang out with them and spend time with them. Choose wisely, you only have one life, choose people who will be your greatest champions, supporters and positive influences.
Please check out our article on ‘Finding and Attracting your Soul Tribe’ to find our more -https://www.simplesoul.blog/simple-relationships/finding-and-attracting-your-soul-tribe/
Self-care is important. Making time to nourish and nurture yourself will do wonders for your emotional, mental, spiritual and physical health. Start small and be gentle with yourself. Self-care should be part of your daily routine, rather than fitting it in, in small insignificant bursts. Most importantly, prioritise yourself, you are the only you, so remember your worth and look after yourself!