What is Self-Care?

We all have days when the stress we feel in our everyday lives becomes overwhelming. Whether it is work, spousal or familial stress, we all have experienced a worrisome situation at least once in our lives. Although stress is an unavoidable part of life, that doesn’t mean you should allow it to consume you. Taking time for yourself isn’t selfish, but is a vital component for your overall health. Here are some ways to help to become a healthier you!

Recognize When You’re stressed

Many people go through life accepting that stress is an integral part of their life and don’t take steps to rectify their situation. Once this goes on for a while, people fail to realize they are even emotionally strained. Not realizing that you are in a constant state of stress is extremely damaging and can cause a variety of diseases ranging from depression and anxiety too much more. That’s why it’s important to evaluate how you’re feeling at the end of each day. Keeping a self-care journal to log the emotions you feel on a day to day basis can help you immensely. If you see a pattern within your journal that points towards negativity and anxiety, then it may be time to consider relaxation tactics and activities.

Learn Yourself

Identifying what triggers your emotional strain is easier if you have a better understanding of who you are, as well as your likes and dislikes. It isn’t always easy to understand what you’re thinking and feeling, and often people may not know where to begin. To start, you can ask yourself detailed questions about every facet of your life. What are your short-term and long-term goals? Are you extroverted or introverted? When do you consider yourself to be happy or unhappy? Asking yourself these introspective questions will help you to understand if you’re satisfied with your life, how you can fix it if you’re not, and who you want around while attempting to change.

Get Enough Sleep

Once you’ve gotten a handle on emotional and psychological wellbeing, you must then take care of your physical needs. Taking care of your body is another important element that contributes to your overall self-care journey. While you can choose to only focus on one aspect of self-care, you should try to refrain from neglecting all of the other fundamental parts. Without sleep, your body and your brain cannot function. There are so many reasons why someone may not be getting enough sleep. While there may be many hindrances, there are also many potential solutions as well. For example, a softer mattress can drastically improve how you sleep. Or playing soothing white noise to help relax and ease your mind. 

Don’t Skip Meals

It’s easy to skip meals when life gets hectic. Accidentally skipping your lunch while at work or grabbing fast food instead of making dinner can really impact your health.

The amount of food, as well as what kind of food you ingest can affect your mood, memory, energy and much more. Although it may be hard, try to control how and what you eat. To do this, try setting an alarm that reminds you to eat, while also incorporating healthy fruits and vegetables into your meals. If you ever contemplate skipping a meal or picking up takeout, remember that the more healthy and nutritious foods you eat, the more productive you’ll be overall. 

Love Yourself

The most important thing is to know your value and love yourself. Understand that your health is important not just to you, but also to the people that care for you. Block out any negativity that prevents you from realizing your potential. Loving yourself is fundamental to your wellbeing. Exercising and eating healthy do not matter if you are not confident in yourself. Learning to love every part of you will be a gradual process. Forgiving yourself for past mistakes, being confident in who you are as a person and realizing that you deserve some pampering is where you can start your self-love journey.

Why it’s important

Taking care of yourself emotionally, physically, psychologically, etc., isn’t selfish. You’re making sure your overall health is in the best shape it can be. Constantly thinking of yourself before others can become problematic. Taking a few times a month to check in with yourself and making sure you’re mentally, emotionally and physically sound should be something everyone does more frequently.  

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