Why self care is more than reading books and having baths

Self care is undoubtedly important to our mental well being. The more we look after ourselves, the more mentally healthy and confident we feel. I have written a number of posts with ideas you can follow to help you practise self care.

However today I’d like to focus on a deeper level of self care, that when we’re not feeling good about ourselves we can neglect.

Firstly we need to make sure that we are looking after our physical health. This means booking doctors or dentist appointment when there is something wrong with us. We make excuses for not going, because we’re too busy at work and don’t think we have the time. But we MUST make time to go to these appointments, your health should be your primary concern and nothing should interfere with that.

Making sure we get enough sleep every night should also be on our self care list. The recommended amount of sleep a night adults should get is 7-9 hours. This is what we should aspire towards. If I don’t get enough sleep a night, I really struggle throughout the day with my motivation and I find myself eating badly as I always favour a quicker and unhealthier option for my dinner.

Here are three top tips to help you get to sleep easier:

1.Don’t look at a screen one hour before you go to bed.

2. Focus on your breathing. You could meditate or practise some yoga to get you into a nice relaxed states.

3. Write down what is on your mind in a journal before you go to bed.

Eat well. The better we eat, the healthier we feel. I know this can be easier said than done but eating loads of junk food is a form of self destruction. We know eating fatty foods that are high is salt and sugar are bad for us, but we still put these foods in our bodies.

Finally, making sure we get enough exercise is very important to our physical and mental health. I find this one the hardest to do because I am naturally quite lazy, but I decided to look for ways to incorporate exercise into my day without it taking up too much time. For example, I walk from my house to my local metro station now instead of driving on my daily commute to work.

Find exercises you enjoy doing. This will make it less of a chore for you. I hate running with a passion, and I can’t see myself ever enjoying it, so instead as a form of cardio I like to dance instead. For strength training I enjoy doing yoga. Find something that works for you, it will take time to get into a routine of exercise, but once you have, you will start to feel happier and healthier.