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Self-Care:Love Your Body. Discover self-care tips for mind, body & spirit. Build aroutine that works for you!
Life can be exhausting these days. Balancing work deadlines, relationship issues, and the general social media noise, it's easy to get lost in the endless flood of information and the distraction from what deserves our attention the most – you. Self-care is the foundation of a happy life, far from being another selfish esoteric selfie-cult. Think of your body as a great temple, and self-care as the loving restoration that it needs.
Welcome to your step-by-step guide to creating a personalized self-care routine that nourishes you and all of your parts from the outside in. We'll start with some practical tips, get intuitive with the emotional benefits of self-care, and then we'll prepare you for some of the common myths you might come across along the way. So, dig out an oversized blanket, a big mug, and prepare yourself for a whole lot of self-love.
## The Symphony of Self-Care: A Breakdown of Key Areas
self-care is a canon, not a sonata. There are multiple movements, all focused on different yet interconnected keys of your wellbeing. Let's take a tour. 1) Self... What? 2) Care... How?
Physical Self-Care: This is the basic level of self-care – tuning in to the needs of your body, like making sure you eat well, exercise regularly and sleep enough.
Mental self-care: We can be just as bad at tending to our mental 'gardens' as our actual gardens. These activities may include anything that helps to calm us, reduce stress, stay positive, etc.
Emotional self-care is all about checking in with yourself to feel and process what you're experiencing. Whether through journaling, a creative form of expression, or a conversation with a loved one, creating space to be with your emotions is a crucial form of care.
Spiritual Self-Care: A protected time to re-connect with a higher power or the part of the self which carries that meaning and purpose. This can be in the form of meditation or time spent in nature or other meaningful pursuits.
## Fueling Your Body: The Power of Physical Self-Care
Think of your body as a car. If you don't put in good fuel (nutrients) and take care of it with regular service (exercise and sleep), you won't go anywhere.
### Nourishment from the Ground Up: Building a Balanced Diet
Nix the trendy diets and processed garbage Let food be as diverse as it is beautiful – meaning, get back to basics and think whole, unprocessed foods, like those found in nature: fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein. The more color on your plate, the better: a rainbow on your dinner plate is not only pretty, it's nutrition on a plate!
### Moving Your Marvelous Machine: The Joy of Exercise
You don't have to exercise – it has to be something you enjoy doing, whether that's turning up the volume and dancing to a playlist of your favorite tunes, going for a brisk walk outside, trying a new yoga class, or anything else that takes your fancy. The important part is that you do it consistently. Small amounts of movement can make a big difference on a daily basis.
### The Sweet Symphony of Sleep: Prioritizing Rest
We've all been there: the groggy zombie hanging out with the rest of the undead. Getting enough sleep is essential to good health, both physical and mental. Get somewhere in the neighborhood of 7-8 hours of nightly quality shut-eye. Once you are asleep, keep that momentum going with a sleep-promoting bedtime routine. Get a decent mattress so you can sleep comfortably; keep the Facebook updates away from bedtime, turn off the iPad and turn in!
## Calming the Chaos: Tools for Mental and Emotional Self-Care
Life happens, and it's OK to not be OK all the time. Mental and emotional self-care are about being aware of your feelings, and giving yourself the tools to handle them.
### Mindfulness: The Art of Being Present
When you practice mindfulness – for example, through meditation – you learn to stay with the moment you're in, rather than being caught up in negative thinking. This is a valuable practice for relieving stress and anxiety.
### Express Yourself: The Power of Creativity
Sometimes words alone aren't enough. Creative expression can be a wonderful form of emotional processing. So dance, draw, write, sing and play!
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