It’s not hard to see how self-care, while important, can get out of hand after a while. If you applied the advice of every health column you read and every influencer you came across, self-care would be a full-time job. Not only would you be ingesting kilograms-worth of dietary supplements a day, but you’d be getting just the exact right amount of sun, exercising for the exact amount each day, spending a calculated duration in the sauna, managing your stress through meditation, reading a few chapters, asserting yourself everywhere, and constantly drinking water.
By the time you had finished everything, it would be 10pm and time to go to bed at the perfect time to sleep for another day. You have to accept that while self-care is essential, it needs to be customized to you, reasonably and sustainably applied, and of course, you need to accept a certain level of wear and tear and accept that you’re probably robust enough to handle it.
For this reason, taking your self-care back to its most influential basics is often key. How do we do that, though? Read ahead and see:
Caring For Your Body
Caring for your body is non-negotiable, because it’s such an important ‘tool’ of ours, it should serve as the most basic element of self-care. This involves stretching when we can, making sure that we use aids where necessary such as glasses to avoid eye strain, visiting the local dentist, and taking the time to visit our clinician should we notice something amiss. The basic pillars of diet, exercise and rest also make a massive change here, and can help you avoid thinking this or that herbal remedy has the answer, as you will be focusing on the most tried-and-tested methods first and foremost.
Learning What To Avoid
It’s good to learn exactly what to avoid when it comes to self-care, because that in itself can be helpful. For instance, lessening your drinking is tantamount to self-care. Managing your stress by cutting out people who make you stressed without reason could also be self-care. At a certain point, you also begin to see that which harms you, such as thinking that adhering to a certain beauty standard will help validate you, or being part of a bad relationship. As you can see, self-care is sometimes what you choose not to do, rather than what you do.
Perfecting Sleep
For active people who find themselves motivated to live life as much as they can, sleep can feel like an annoyance that just gets in the way. The truth is, however, that sleep has such a restorative effect on our body, mind and spirit that it should be considered the foundation of a life well-lived and self-care properly applied, not a supplement. Making sure you get the recommended 7-9 hours a night means caring for your sleep hygiene, keeping consistent hours, and not being ashamed of getting a good night’s sleep as often as possible. This is self-care 101, as your body knows how to heal you in this state.
With this advice, we believe you’ll be able to take self-care back to the most influential basics going forward.
*Collaborative Post