Engaging ourselves in self-care activities can be beneficial and can ensure our general well-being.
What is self-care all about?
By definition, self-care is a “method that promotes health and active management of illness when it occurs” [1].
However, according to World Health Organization, self-care is “the ability of individuals, families, and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and to cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a healthcare provider”[2].
Additionally, self-care is the ability to keep our body in good working condition without the interference of health experts.
Taking care of ourselves is not only good but compulsory because once you neglect any part of your body your health will suffer the consequences. Some people suffer serious health problems because they did not take care of themselves.
Some may think that when they fall sick pastor or bishop will pray for them and they will receive healing from God but remember God gave us knowledge and choice, therefore if we know that you should take care of ourselves and we neglected that and fall sick, now will God also take responsibility for your negligence? Heaven helps those who helped themselves. Unless God decides to heal you miraculously, else you must pay the price for your failure.
Today’s article focuses on various self-care activities that will help us maintain a healthy lifestyle. It also revealed some important reasons why everyone should take care of themselves with all seriousness.
What are self-care activities?
Self-care activities are those activities we put ourselves in to “promote health, prevent disease, and cope with illness” without a doctor’s assistance. self-care activities are not limited to our choice of food, physical exercises, how often we sleep, dental care, and so on.
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Self-care Activities For a healthy lifestyle
- Self-care activities for Social Health
- Physical health
- Spiritual health
- Emotional health
- Mental health
Self-care activities for physical health
These activities are carried out to keep us physically fit to work and to overcome any health challenges that may come our way in the future. They include:
- Proper feeding and healthy diets.
Feeding is the intake of food substances to keep our body nourished and as well to quench hunger. Feeding is an important self-care activity because through it our body receives every nutrient it needed to carry out its activities.
If you are not on religious fasting, it is not good to skip eating your meal. When I said meal, I mean a balanced diet. As the saying goes, “one apple a day keeps the doctor away”. We should never have fruit and vegetables because most of them do wonder of our bodies. Fruits like apples, watermelon, Guava, and so many others on the list are very nutritional and also provide antioxidant effects on our bodies.
- Proper rest and adequate sleep
Research has shown that the ability of our body to function properly declines when we do not take adequate sleep. And the effects of lack of adequate sleep manifest in the following areas
- Verbal Skills.
- Reasoning Ability.
- Ability to think.
The study has also shown that not getting adequate sleep can affect brain performance.
Recommended sleep duration is given below.
- Exercise for fitness
The benefits of regular exercise on health can never be overstated. As part of self-care activities, we must exercise our bodies regularly to keep. Remember, the exercise mentioned here is not limited to the gym, but it also means physical activities like;
- Running
- Swimming
- Juggling
- Walking
Benefits of regular exercise
- Helps in weight management.
- Helps to lower the risk of some heart diseases.
- Helps in managing blood sugar and insulin levels.
- Helps in keeping you occupied so that you make not have time to relapse into addictions you are trying to overcome.
- Boost mental health and improve mood.
- Helps to improve cognitive activities like “thinking, learning, and judgment skills”.
- Helps to build stamina strengthens the bones and helps to develop the muscles.
- Helps to relax your muscles and also helps to fall asleep.
- Stay away from health hazards and take precautions against accidents
- Dangerous falls or falling objects,
- Exposing ourselves to dangerous chemical substances.
- Staying away from fire hazards.
- Avoid electrical that may harm or electrocute you.
Finally, stay away from polluted environments, and polluted air which may contain carbon monoxide.
Self-care activities for spiritual health
Every human has a spirit, hence it’s unwise and detrimental to neglect one’s spiritual life. Just like we eat food to nurture our body for growth and development, also the spiritual part of Our life must be nurtured and trained to develop along with the body.
There’s a saying that the spirit controls the body, therefore, slacks in self-care activities for spiritual health may affect other aspects of our life be it physical, emotional, mental, or even social health. Therefore, these self-care activities for spiritual health below can be of help.
- Develop your spirit-being through prayer or meditation.
Religious people can engage in spiritual exercises like fasting and prayer. But if you are not a religious person you engage in deep meditation, deeper thought into life, and our real purpose of existence.
- Nurture your spiritual life
Spirits don’t eat food like the body but they can be fed, but how? By intake or digestion of positive words and thoughts. Sometimes negative thoughts do come into our minds, do you dwell on them, rather, than chase them away? In a nutshell, learn to allow and as well dwell on positive thoughts.
- Speak positively.
Make it a habit to confess positively always, and never conclude on a failure when there is still life and opportunities ahead. Remember, “out of the abundance of thought in our heart our mouths speak” and that is why you should learn to allow good thoughts to dwell in you.
Self-care activities for emotional health
Emotional health can not be helped without self-discipline. We need self-discipline to overcome negative emotions like Anger. Anger is the only emotion that leaves you in regret after acting on it, it is, therefore, wise to learn to control it else it will control you. Let us look into these self-care activities for emotional health below.
- Anger Management
Anger is an emotion that arises within a person as a result of “frustration, or of feeling blocked or thwarted from something the subject feels is important. It can manifest as a defensive response to underlying fear or feelings of vulnerability or powerlessness”.[6]
Because anger can bring about a catastrophic outcome which will only leave regret as its product. Hence, the need for Anger Management.
Remember, always try not to act fast when angry but rather allow yourself to choose how to react to your provocation. Always pause, take a deep breath, and ponder the next move before making it.
- Anxiety control
Anxiety is said to be when your body responds to stress. It is an emotion that gives out the feeling of fear or apprehension about the future outcome of something or an event. This can manifest when “going to a job interview, or giving a speech may cause most people to feel fearful and nervous”.
Practical activities to manage anxiety.
- Take a break and carry out relaxation activities like listening to music, and meditating, because taking a break from the problem may help you to think properly.
- Eat a balanced diet, and avoid smoking or drinking alcohol to relieve yourself because it can bring about a panic attack.
- Get adequate sleep.
- Interact with people and avoid being lonely.
- Identify things that give you humor, those things that make you laugh, look for them and get engaged.
- Sadness
- Interact with people around you instead of dwelling in grief. Also, share your problem with them if you trust them.
- Close the door against negative emotions, by dwelling on positive thoughts.
Self-care activities for mental health
Our mental health has a vital role it plays in another area of our health, it affects the emotional and psychological well-being of an individual.
Being in a good mental state is very crucial because it determines how we think, and act on things and how to relate to others.
Four (4) types of mental illness
- Anxiety disorders.
- Personality disorders.
- Psychotic disorders (such as schizophrenia).
- Eating disorders.
It is therefore wise to endure that we do things that will improve our mental health. But I am not going to dwell on types of mental illness rather let’s focus on these self-care activities for mental health below.
- Engage in activities that can stimulate you mentally. Sometimes do think like playing puzzles games and other things that give tasks to your brain.
- Avoid intake of substances that may impact your mental health negatively. Stay away from hard drugs that may have adverse effects on you mentally.
- Try to find meaning in your everyday activities.
- Engage in meditation, this can also help to strengthen your spiritual health.
Self-care activities for social health
No man can survive alone, and no man is self-sufficient, hence we must put in efforts to have a healthy social life through our interactions and relationships with people around us not necessarily related to us biologically. It can be friends, business associates, or work colleagues.
The vital quality or human trait that may help you drive in your social life is called TOLERANCE, the ability to put up with or accept or condone the nonsense of others. Self-care activities for social health
- Make good friends: “No man is an island”, as well no man is indispensable, we all need each other to survive, hence we need good people around us who we can call friends. When choosing friends, choose those who can impact us positively.
- Maintain your friendships: Making friends is not enough maintaining them is best.
How to Maintain friendships
- Keep an active communication link between you and your friends. Here you can visit them physically from time to time or you can call them, text them chat them up on social media, by doing so, you remain in touch with them.
- Give or exchange gifts with friends and family businesses, and associates, No matter how wealthy they are, there are always things they like that you can get for them as a gift. This will show that you care for them.
- Stay away from negative energy. There is a saying that “bad associations corrupt good manners”. Stay away from people with bad influence who may affect your relationship with others.
Reasons to engage in self-care activities
- To live healthily
- It can be a means to overcome depression, anxiety, and stress.
- To live a happy life because we are happiest when healthy.
- To Build Stamina and boost our energy.
- To become physically fit and flexible.
- To establish strong relationships with people.
JC is passionate about finding the impact of foods (feeding habits) on human fertility and reproductive health and a way to improve fertility.
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