Self-Care 101: Taking Care of Yourself So You Can Be Your Best
Self-care is a vital part of maintaining a good, healthy and vibrant life. It’s a way of living that incorporates behaviours that help you to RESET, letting you feel refreshed and replenished. This ultimately enhances your personal motivation and growth as a person.
However, many of us view self-care as a luxury, rather than a priority. Consequently, this has left many feeling overwhelmed, tired, and ill-equipped to handle life's inevitable challenges. It's important to assess how you're caring for yourself in several different areas of your life so you can ensure you're caring not only for your body but your mind and spirit too.
Self-Care can be split into 6 types of focus areas namely: emotional, physical, social, practical, mental, and spiritual. Each type is important for overall mental and physical health.
Reading this you’re probably thinking to yourself, how are you ever going to find time to touch and apply each type. Well, take a deep breath, hitting the pause button on your day doesn’t have to be complicated. Commit to a self-care schedule, pencil in a time each day that you will spend completely focused on yourself. Put it on your calendar if you have to, or set multiple reminders on your phone. Now let’s dive a little deeper into some different types of self-care and ways to biohack them to become a healthier, happier you!
Emotional Self-Care
It's important to have healthy coping skills to deal with uncomfortable emotions, like anger, anxiety, and sadness. Emotional self-care includes practices that help you acknowledge and express your feelings on a regular basis. A way to biohack Emotional Self-Care is the practise of meditation.
Go outdoors and soak up the fresh air and warm sun. This will allow your mind and body to release stress and built-up emotion.
Physical Self-Care
You need to take care of your body if you want it to run efficiently. Keep in mind that there's a strong connection between your body and your mind. When you’re caring for your body, you'll think and feel better too. A great way to biohack your physical Self-Care is to ensure you get enough sleep. Sleep is the fuel your body needs to recover and become stronger.
If you are someone who battles to get good quality deep sleep, a great way to synchronize your circadian rhythm is to limit your exposure to junk light with TrueDark Twilights. TrueDarks blue blocking technology frees your hormones and neurotransmitters, to enhance sleep and night time hormones.
Mental Self-Care
The way you think and the things that you're filling your mind with, greatly influence your psychological well-being. Mental Self-Care includes doing things that keep your mind sharp. A great way to biohack your mental wellness is by practising Gratitude.
Try writing down 3 things you are grateful for each day in a notebook or on your phone. Alternatively, you can do this mentally and tell yourself 3 things you are grateful for each day! Mental wellness can also be biohacked using nootropics. The same way that millions of people turn to gym supplements and vitamins for a boost, you can do the same in your day-to-day life for mental performance and cognitive optimization!
Closing thoughts
Self-care isn't a one-size-fits-all strategy. Your self-care plan will need to be customized to your needs. Assess which areas of your life need some more attention and self-care. Reassess this often to ensure that as your situation changes, your self-care needs shift too.
Most importantly schedule time to focus on your needs. Even when you feel like you don't have time to squeeze in one more thing, make self-care your priority. Even the smallest steps lead to the biggest leaps!
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