Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you today. I’ve been working on my writing, running, and working. It was a busy week. My new story is coming along, and so far, I’m happy with it. But enough about that. Today, I want to talk about the importance of self-care.
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It’s especially important to have a self-care plan because the only real wealth in our lives is our health. We can’t enjoy our golden years if we’re not healthy, so it’s imperative to establish a self-care routine sooner than later, but starting any time is better than not starting at all.
The way I look at it, your body is a system. You have physical and mental systems. They work together. By taking care of your physical body, eating healthy and exercising, you also take care of your mental health. All the feel-good endorphins are produced when you eat right and move your body.
Another element of self-care is meditation or journaling. It’s important that we process our emotions especially in times of stress. Sometimes, things happen in life that blind-side us. A death in the family, or one of our kids gets sick, or a long-time friend decides they don’t want to be friends. These events cause stress and can disrupt our self-care routines. Emotions like anger, resentment, or grief surface. When these emotions pop up we need to process them now instead of squashing them or turning numb, because they don’t go away. They can resurface in physical and or mental health issues.
That’s why meditation or journaling are important. By dealing with our emotions when we’re experiencing them, it allows us to process them and let them go. This is an important step in your self-care program. Sometimes, when something derails us, we stop our self-care because we’re overcome with emotions, or we’re dealing with the situation and don’t have the time to eat right and exercise. So, meditation and journaling are especially important in times of stress.
For me, I try to run, hike, or walk at least five days out of the week. This helps me deal with the stress of my job and gets me moving. Writing is a sedentary activity, so it’s important to move your body as often as you can. I also meditate, but I’m going to start journaling as well. Just the act of writing things down will help me deal with negative emotions.
How about you? What is your self-care routine? Leave a message! I’d love to hear from you!
