Taking Care of Yourself: A Self-Help Guide

Taking care of yourself is important, not just for your own health and wellbeing but those around you as well. It’s also something you should do daily, not just when you get sick. Look after yourself in the right way, and you’ll stay healthy and fit and be well equipped to tackle everything that life throws at you.

Self-care isn’t something that comes easily or naturally. “Me time” tends to be last on the agenda with work, family, technology and heaps of other responsibilities and commitments getting in the way. If you want to change the way you live your life, here are some tips to get you started.

Take Care of Number One

How you take care of yourself determines your ability to function in the modern world. Taking care of number one is often considered to be a selfish approach to life. However, if you want the energy and clarity to help others, you must take care of your own needs first.

Get Some Nutritional Support

Sometimes, you just need a little extra help in the form of nutritional supplements. You might be recovering from an illness or going through one of life’s changes. Making sure your body is getting all the nutrients it needs is vital for your physical and mental wellbeing. A range of different nutritional supplements and health products UK can be bought online from reputable suppliers.

Take Regular Time-Outs

When you start to feel the pressure, give yourself a timeout. Giving yourself the time to recharge your batteries and practise self-care means you’ll be increasing your energy and stamina. Not only will you benefit, however. Those around you will benefit too because your stress is reduced, and your mood improved.

Get Quality Sleep

For optimal brain and body health, you must get enough good quality sleep. If you don’t, you’ll soon be feeling irritable, moody and suffer from poor judgement. The recommended daily amount is 7-9 hours.

Try Journaling

Journaling has become a popular method for destressing. Rather than allowing stressful thoughts space in your brain, you’re giving them another home. Try writing in a journal 10 minutes before you go to bed and see if it helps release the stresses of the day and put your mind at rest.

Exercise Regularly

Physical exercise is crucial if you want to keep your brain healthy. It boosts blood flow and other positive nutrients to the brain. Dopamine levels are also increased, and new brain cells generated. If you’re feeling a little stressed, take a walk to help clear your mind, decrease anxiety, improve your mood, and burn some calories.

Eat Healthily

A healthy balanced diet is good for your mind, body, and soul. It has now been recognised that we eat far too much meat, so try to reduce the amount in your diet. Increase the amount of fruit and vegetables, wholewheat products, beans, pulses, nuts and grains. Rather than eating meat every day, reduce it to just once or twice a week.

Learn How to Say No

If something you do isn’t making you happy or is causing you stress, learn how to say no and do something different. Remove all the non-essential things from your life. Be mindful of what you do and how you spend your time and energy. Just because you’ve always done things a certain way doesn’t mean it the best way to do them.