Phew! Right after I published my last blog post, Self-Care Series I – Love Yourself, my assistant quit. My life was thrown into upheaval and I have been scrambling. I am finally getting back into the groove thanks to my new assistant, who is truly a God-send. That said, I am writing this post with more than a little cognitive dissonance since I have not done a great job with my self-care lately. That said, let’s move on.
I think it is easy to think about physical care when we think about self-care. That is why I started the series not with physical care but with emotional care. If we do not take care of ourselves emotionally, which is to say that we truly love ourselves, we won’t take care of ourselves physically. We care for the things we love and the things that we value. This is why we are not happy when our kid scratches our car with their bicycle or puts oatmeal in the DVD player. It follows that if you care about yourself and yes, love yourself, you are more likely to take care of yourself physically.
A lot of information is already available online about this topic, so I won’t belabor things. A simple search for “Self-Care” will yield you an endless supply of resources. He is a four-point summary of what you will find.
Nutrition: This is an area where I really struggle. I am on blood thinners, so vegetables make my Diet complicated, and I tend to avoid them. Add to that the business of my schedule these days, and my food choices are not impressive. Here is what I aspire to achieve, and I invite you to join me:
- Drink 6-8 glasses of water a day to hydrate
- Eat a diverse diet high in protein and fiber and less than 2500 calories/day
- Limit alcohol to 1 or 2 drinks daily at the most
Move: Movement releases good chemicals in our body. It also puts demands on our muscles to help keep them strong. It also lubricates our joints to keep us flexible. I am doing ok here. I run 4 miles 2 or 3 times a week and have started doing weight/resistance training again. Plus, I practice drums for about an hour a day. Here are some ideas for you.
- Walk a mile a day
- Do 10 minutes, even 5 minutes of stretching a day
- Sign up for the 100 squat or 100 push-up challenge, or both!
- Take the stairs
- Don’t take the closest parking spot to your destination
Rest: Another area where I really struggle. Sleep apnea and Restless Leg Syndrome make rest very difficult for me. I rarely get a good night’s sleep. Here are some tips to help you rest well.
- Get 7-8 hours of rest a night
- Practice good sleep hygiene by going to bed and waking at the same time
- Avoid these things for an hour before you go to sleep: alcohol, TV, phone/tablet screens
- Rest during the day by working for 75 minutes and taking a 15-minute break, then re-engage.
Connect: Have you read, The Body Keeps the Score? The stress that we carry, negative emotions, and conflict all impact our physical well-being. Your body really does keep a running tally. For this reason, one of the best things you can do to care for yourself physically is to have at least 5 close friends who you connect with regularly. These are friends who know you, get you, and accept you, warts and all. They will carry your burdens with you and process your hurts with you, thereby taking the pressure off of your body.
In my next post we will look at ways we can care for our “spirit.”
For a free resource that will bring you energy, self-care, and connection, use this link to download my Power Bank exercise.
What one thing listed above do you want to address to improve your self-care? I am going to focus on a regular sleep schedule to improve my sleep hygiene – I’m exhausted!