Treat Your Self(Care) – Mind. Body. Spirit.
To keep ourselves in good physical health, we monitor our food, strive for eight hours of sleep, try to eat our greens and make it a point to move throughout the day. In our fast-paced lives, it sometimes feels as though we must make sacrifices between being productive, maintaining friendships and staying physically active. All of these stressors take a toll on the mind. This begs the question: how do you manage stress to maintain mental clarity and demonstrate good mental health?
As Mental Health Awareness Month begins, our focus lands on a practice thrown around constantly: self-care. This simple concept has been covered in countless articles, news segments and TED talks. We know the benefits of spending time to refuel and recharge, yet many rarely seem to focus precious time on practicing self-care.
Self-Care is an important part of, not only good mental health, but also overall wellness. We cannot preform at our highest level if our metaphorical tanks are half-full. We cannot help others if we are not first helping ourselves.
Self-Care will look different for everyone, but no matter how it is carried out in practice, it is important to implement it in some way, shape or form daily. Regularly including small habits in your day-to-day cycle of meetings, goals and self-set high expectations will help you feel clearer mentally, more prepared and more well-rounded.
Try to incorporate one of the self-care practices below to better your mind, body and spirit this week!
MIND.
- Manage anxiety: Meditate, take a nap, unplug, sit in the sunshine
- Feel productive: Declutter your closet, organize your files, clean your room
BODY.
- Manage anxiety: Indulge in luxurious beauty routine
- Feel productive: Stretch, go on a walk
SPIRIT.
- Manage anxiety: Write your negative thoughts and throw them away, compliment your strengths as though you were a friend
- Feel productive: Read a great book, plan a getaway with friends, watch an inspirational TED Talk (we love these)