The positive effects of self-care on wellness

There are many ways to focus on improving self-care, several of which involve having a regular sleep hygiene schedule, prioritizing healthy meals, ensuring a balance of recreational or leisure in your schedule, and spending quality time with family and friends.

A simple but often overlooked form of self-care is having a self-pampering experience on a regular basis in the comfort of your own home.

Engaging in self-care is important for emotional health and makes us better caregivers. Having a well-cared-for body can make you feel positive about yourself and your life, and conveys to others that you value yourself. This can contribute to long-term feelings of well-being. For parents, the practice and role-modeling of self-care teaches children the benefits at an early age, so they are more likely to engage in healthy behaviors as well.

Self-care also helps improve physical health. While self-pampering doesn’t always lead to major improvements in overall health the way healthy diet and exercise can, the relaxation you get from it can trigger the relaxation response, which can prevent chronic stress from damaging your health. So in a sense, self-care is good for you inside and out.

Providing your body some special treatment is the most natural way to relieve stress and just feel good. Besides keeping your skin soft and your body in good repair, spa-type activities like massage and warm baths have been known to soothe people of all ages, even colicky babies. While we may forget the benefits of these activities as we age, due to increased responsibilities and the perception of reduced “down” time, none of us could argue the positive impact.

Now that you’ve decided it’s time to start nurturing your body and yourself, make sure to set aside some time for this. Setting aside some uninterrupted time is essential. All you need is a bathroom to give yourself a home-spa experience.

We all know the benefits of maintaining a healthy diet and getting regular exercise. While we are all made different, from our hair and eye color to our blood type, each of us has a number of foods that naturally create inflammation. For many, gluten is the culprit. For others, it is complex carbohydrates or proteins. There are many resources out there to help one determine what foods to avoid for your particular genetics. Here are a couple:

https://theconsciouslife.com/top-10-inflammatory-foods-to-avoid.htm,

https://www.mindbodygreen.com/articles/top-foods-that-heal-autoimmune-disease

As for exercise, there are so many different options available. You don’t have to have a gym membership to improve your physical fitness. There are many bodyweight exercises that can be done at home that will produce results. There are also a number of really cool gadgets that can be purchased online, at reasonable cost, which can up your fitness game.

Most healthcare professionals agree that as long as you are successful at working up a sweat and increasing your heart rate for at least 30 minutes a day, most days of the week, you are only helping yourself.