It’s no surprise to anyone that there is a lot of information about taking care of ourselves, lots of misinformation as well. The internet is full of billions of articles that tell you what you need to be doing and what you shouldn’t be doing, and many of these articles contradict one another. The trendy term of self-care has resulted in dozens of understandings of what taking care of ourselves means. Today, we’re going to look at a few of the ways you can take care of yourself by taking care of your body.
Learn To Listen
This step might be the hardest one, especially if you’re someone who has years of ignoring your own needs and body’s messages under your belt. Every part of our health can be viewed as a message sent by our bodies to our minds. A breakout is your skin telling you something is wrong. Muscle spasms, energy levels, food cravings, soreness, congestion, itchiness, pain, texture, sensations—all of these things are your body trying to tell you that something is going on.
Whenever you notice your body is trying to get your attention, stop and listen. Don’t try to deny the sensation; feel it and take note of potential causes. You might discover you’ve been allergic to something for years, and there was an abundance of energy waiting for you the moment you cut it out of your diet. You might realize that your headaches appear whenever you’re focusing on something at a distance, and you actually need glasses. It’s so easy for us to get used to things and not address problems in our lives because of this.
Sleep Is Magic
Our bodies need far more sleep than we might realize. In our caffeinated, side-hustle-focused, productivity worshiping culture, it’s easy to feel like we have to skip out on sleep in order to keep up. In the early 1900s, the average American was getting nine hours of sleep a night. That was the average, meaning some people were getting more than that.
Our body needs sleep for every aspect of our health and wellbeing. It helps balance our hormones, give us energy, speed up our metabolism, improve our relationships, heal our bodies, strengthen our immune systems, clear our skin, and many other wonderful things.
Meditation
Meditation might not seem like it’s part of caring for our bodies, but our brain is a part of our body, and we’re hard on it. Meditation has been shown to literally heal the brain by reducing stress (cortisol, by the way, wreaks havoc on all aspects of our health), promoting emotional health, reducing symptoms of anxiety, increases our ability to focus, improves sleep, and soothes and minimizes sensations of pain.
Treat Yourself
When it comes to treatments or beauty regimes, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. You can also do the things you want to do. Going back to point one: what makes you feel good? Actually, feel good today and tomorrow (because sometimes something feels great for twenty minutes like that McDonald’s burger, but two hours later, our skin feels greasy, and our stomach isn’t quite so happy). The team behind https://www.lightrx.com/ point out that luxury treatments are going to look different for different people. Laser hair removal might be the perfect solution for one person, whereas another might love getting their nails done. Treat yourself to the things that suit you, and be sure to do your research on them beforehand. Some products or treatments that look great at the moment might be hard on your cells years later.
Get Out Of The Seated Position
Sitting is brutal for your health. It shortens our life expectancy and impacts our cardiovascular health. Unfortunately, our lives seem to demand it nearly constantly; workplaces are full of chairs and many of the common hobbies and unwind-at-the-end-of-the-day activities involving sitting as well. Even getting up to stretch once every half hour can help keep your blood flowing and oxygen reaching all your muscles. Stand up for a few minutes while watching TV and stretch your arms above your head. Rearrange how you’re sitting every so often. Your body will thank you.
The above list is only the beginning. As you listen to your body and notice what it wants and needs from you, and adjust, you’ll find more and more wonderful things that you can do to help your body keep you healthy and strong. In turn, your body will give you energy and feel-good hormones.
