I’m sure you’ve heard the term “self-care” before but do you really know what it means?
Self-care can be defined as anything that you
do for yourself to benefit your health.
I found an interesting article on self-care
and I’ll link it here. The article talks about the same things I’m going to
cover in this blog post just more in depth.
Personally,
I’m guilty of using self-indulgent behavior claiming it as “self-care” like I’ve
gone on shopping sprees saying it was more my mental health.
A 2010 study published in JBI
Library of Systematic Reviews defined self-care as "the set of activities
in which one engages throughout life on a daily basis,” focusing on promoting
health, preventing illness, and managing issues that come up. The key takes
away I took from this is daily basis. Many professionals link self-care with
routine. I think it is important to do things for your health daily but the idea
of a routine seems a bit intense. However, I understand the importance of
having a self-care routine I don’t think it has to be the same routine every
day. Some days are busier than others and I think a self-care goal of doing 2-3
things a day for your health is good and doable goal that doesn’t seem so overwhelming.
That is just my personal take if you’re more of a routine person I would say go
for it, but if you’re like me small achievable goals are the best place to
start.
Self-care requires that you
listen to your body and give it what it’s asking for. If you’re feeling thirsty
try to grab a bottle of water compared to that second can of soda that day. I’m
a big soda drinker and many people have suggested that I ditch the soda and just
brush the comment off. I think trading off every other soda with a water is a
doable goal instead of the harsh “only water” rule that I see everywhere.
Another idea for a small
change would be to move around more. Physical activity is great for your body
and can benefit mental and physical health. If you’re an active person this
seems obvious but some of us live a more “relaxed” lifestyle. Something that I’ve
been doing to get moving more is walking to my classes instead of driving. If
you’re not close enough to campus to walk to class I would suggest parking your
car a little farther away to get some extra steps in.
One last tip on an easy
thing to incorporate into everyday life would be to improve your health would
be to start taking vitamins. I take vitamin d3 for energy and a daily once a
day woman’s multivitamin. Both of those vitamins are easily found and are once
a day. Once you get into the routine of taking vitamins it’s easy. One thing I
did for myself to remember to take my vitamins was I put them in my line of
sight when I wake up in the morning so I’m reminded of them. My sister told me
she keeps her vitamins next to her coffee maker so she sees them every morning
when she’s making coffee.
Self-care is different for
everyone and remember that even baby steps are steps forward!
I think you touched on a very important topic here as self care is so often referred to as a perfect skin routine or walking up at 5 am for the gym and those are just not accomplishable for many people so to highlight that self care is just focusing on the daily substitutions is so important! My personal self care is a mix of daily routine as well as making sure to occasionally spring for a shopping day or a spa day as I think that these could be just as important in maintaining physical and mental health.
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