Self-Care Tips for a Healthy Mind & Body

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Caring for your body is a way of showing how much love you have for yourself. It’s you telling you that you’re important, that you matter and that you deserve to be cared for.  There is no limit to how self-care can support you to feel good about yourself and its amazing how simple it can be. It also has a positive affect on your physical health, and your body will feel so much better for it.

Here are some simple self-care activities for you to make a regular part of your day.

Dance ~ Put on your favourite tunes and move your body, and let it do its thing.  Music and movement can really help to lift the mood, to feel energised and to release any tension that we’re holding on to in our body.

Stretch your body ~ This helps to move fresh blood and nutrients into the muscles and joints, keeping them healthy and flexible.  It can also bring our focus into our body and away from our mind that is often full up with thoughts.

Drink herbal tea ~ Try and skip the coffee and take time out with a cup of nourishing herbal tea. Just the act of sitting and sipping slowly will help to calm the mind, freeing up energy for your body.  It will also reduce the acid load caused by the coffee and will save the minerals magnesium, potassium and calcium from being eliminated.

Take time out to meditate ~ Practicing meditation to connect with our body is very nurturing. It can shift our focus away from any racy thoughts of the past or future, and allow us to feel more centered and relaxed. A calm body and mind will experience more settled digestion and sleep patterns, and give us the energy needed to move through our days.

Get some sun ~ With so much sunshine in Australia, it is strange to know that Vitamin D deficiency is very common here. Our bodies need a little exposure to the sun each day as we can’t make Vitamin D on our own. Just 15 minutes in the summer during 10am and 3pm and a bit more in the cooler months is usually enough to meet our requirements.

Try a new and healthy ingredient each week ~ Our bodies are designed to eat a broad range of foods covering hundreds of different nutrients. Choose a vegetable, fruit, seed or other plant food each week to add to your recipes that you haven’t tried for awhile or that you haven’t tried at all. Eating a wide variety of foods will help keep your body nourished and can keep your creative spirit alive in the kitchen.

Give your skin a treat ~ Splurge on a good quality moisturiser and spend time going over your body, finding the spots that need more attention and perhaps are in need of a gentle rub.

Have a good laugh ~ Perhaps the most important one of all is having a good belly laugh each day. Talk with a friend you can have fun with, watch some comedy or read something funny. Your body and mind will relax and thank you for it.

With a little self-care each day you’ll feel more connected to yourself, more relaxed and better able to cope with whatever comes your way.

Jesabe Warner

Naturopath, Affordable Wholefoods.

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