The 8 Pillars of Self-Care and How to Use Them
The importance of self-care has been illuminated more than ever in the past year. Self-care is a key stepping stone to happiness in your life. Once you start taking care of yourself, you start moving towards a life of fulfillment and happiness. As someone beautifully said, “An empty lantern provides no light. Self-care is the fuel that allows your light to shine brightly.”
Keep reading to learn the eight pillars of self-care and how you can use each of them to improve the quality of your life!
Health Literacy
Health literacy means having knowledge about true healthy habits and a healthy lifestyle. If you are aware of what it means to be healthy, you are more likely to work towards and in that direction.
How to practice Health Literacy
By taking time out of your day to educate yourself on steps to living a healthy life, you are practicing health literacy. As long as you are open to learning more about your health and healthy lifestyles in general, you are practicing health literacy. Reading health blogs and listening to health podcasts are good starting points to become more aware of health issues and how you can make small changes in your habits.
Mental Well-being And Awareness
The biggest part of caring for yourself is taking care of your mental health. You can’t call yourself a healthy person if you are not mentally healthy. When you are able to manage, process, and understand frustrating or overwhelming emotions, you will notice positive changes in other areas of your life.
How to practice Mental Well-being And Awareness
A few great ways to practice mental well-being and awareness are journaling, using positive affirmations, meditating, and even speaking to a life coach when you are having challenges. Research says practicing your choice of mental health exercise for 30 minutes a day can substantially improve your happiness quotient.
Healthy Eating
With so many hormones and neurotransmitters being regulated in the stomach, it is not a surprise that eating healthy can actually have a profound impact on your mental health along with physical health! Eating a balanced diet lowers your chance of developing life-threatening conditions later in life.
How to practice Healthy Eating
One key way to practice healthy eating habits is to honour your hunger cues. When you feel hungry in between planned meals, satisfy that hunger with filling snacks like fruits or protein. During meals, try to include each food group and proper servings. Prepare a meal plan based on your physical and mental needs and stick to them.
Physical Activity
Physical activity is important to keep the organs of your body functioning at the right rate. Physical activity can maintain a healthy heart and overall cholesterol levels as well.
How to practice Physical Activity
Healthy physical activity doesn't have to mean you're running marathons each month or hitting the gym for hours each day. Taking regular walks and giving your body time to heal after intense workouts are also key components of physical health. Daily physical activity can decrease your stress as it raises endorphin levels, the body’s “feel good” chemical produced by the brain and spinal cord that produces feelings of happiness and euphoria. Research also says that simple but regular physical activities can help you sleep better and reduce a lot of health risks.
Avoiding Health Risks / Unhealthy Practices
Risks are all around us, some risk-taking like going cliff diving or bungee jumping can be healthy and fulfilling for the seekers of adventure or thrill. The risks referred to by self-care pillars are potentially detrimental to your other pillars like physical and mental health.
How to use Avoiding Risks
Avoid smoking cigarettes, excessive drinking and stay away from drugs. Get vaccinated to reduce your risks and of others around you. Practicing simple things like wearing sunscreen can even help you to have a healthy body.
Define your daily hygiene ritual
Practicing good hygiene is an integral part of self-care. Sounds simple, right? Good hygiene practices can reduce the risk of contracting viruses and other harmful diseases. It also means you can avoid expensive illnesses and problems that follow poor hygiene like dental issues and skin ailments.
How to Practice Hygiene
Wash your hands regularly, brush your teeth twice a day and even clean foods before you eat them. Each of these reduces the risk of bacteria, virus, and fungus from entering the body and causing huge issues, something that has become super important in the times of Corona. Define your daily hygiene ritual for a healthy body and follow it diligently.
Rational use of Products and Services
Rational use of different products and services increases their effectiveness during situations where you actually need them, and using the correct product and service for your current situation.
How to use Rational use of Products and Services
Taking ibuprofen when you have a headache is great, but taking too many is not good for you. Always read and follow the labels on products and be aware of the inherent risks with each product. This also extends to the time we spend on various electronic devices. Monitor your screen on time on the various devices you have and reduce it.
Discipline – It's one thing to know and define your self-care practices but it’s another thing to make them effective. You can only make your self-care rituals / practices effective if you practice them regularly. As Jim Rohn said, “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.”
How to be disciplined?
Create a proper plan with daily goals, stick to it and measure your success regularly. Ideally, the desire to be happy should help you to be disciplined but sometimes it’s not easy; hence it's advised to have an accountability partner like your spouse / friend or hire a life coach who can keep you on track and guide you from time to time.
Inspired to take the next steps on this journey of self-care? For more such tips on caring for yourself and reducing stress, contact life coach Ashish Singh at The Calm Mind in Toronto.