This week, we turn our attention to the Physical aspect of self-care.
As stated in our previous blogs, self-care is the act of nurturing yourself. However, we are part of a fast-paced society which pressurises to always be on the go which leads to many women putting their needs last. Working women, often juggle careers and family commitments and become resentful and judgement because they don’t take the time to nourish their physical, mental and spiritual needs.
It is important to remember that self-care is a multidimensional concept and is a lot more than having a bath once in a blue moon.
For us modern women who often have busy careers and manage family commitments, we need to have abundant energy, so we don’t just survive, we thrive. For this to happen, we must practice self-care consistently, holistically every single day. So, it becomes anchored in us. We must start implementing specific rituals, which then becomes our habit.
Let’s look at the different aspects of physical self-care
Nutrition: it is important that we listen to our body, the symptoms that we may be experiencing such as heartburn, indigestion, flatulence, feeling gassy or having food intolerances. They are all feedback from our physiology to let us know how the body is performing, in other ways how the biochemistry is performing. It’s important for women to get to know their body, to connect with the body, to understand what serves them and what doesn't serve them. So, the next time you have a meal, think about what you are eating, how you feel while you eat and what it does to your body. It's important that women take responsibility and connect with the body to get to know it because they can do this better than anybody else. When we fall ill, we tend to rely on medical practitioners to help us out however, if we are in tune with what we eat and how we feel, we can conclude what works for us and doesn’t in terms of nutrition.
Skincare: The Skin is our body’s largest organ and does an amazing job of protecting all our internal organs and acting as a barrier for foreign bodies. It is our duty to invest quality time in looking after it. Skin condition is a feedback from the physiology, and we must pay attention and work on the root cause, not mask it. There's a big disconnection where women associate self-care with a certain product because many bloggers promote them on social media. It's about the subscribers, about these products, about that product. However, it's more than that. It’s important for women to really know that self-care is deeper than that and that there must really work on different areas and to really find equanimity, to find balance, to find homeostasis and, equilibrium.
Oral health: Oral health is often neglected when we think about self-care. We might think that brushing twice a day and flossing is enough but there’s more. Most people wait until they have severe toothache or other issue before they visit a dentist. Unfortunately, if there is severe pain or soreness, the issue has already progressed a lot. This could have been avoided through early detection during a routine dental exam. Regular visits to the dentist can help you have a healthier mouth and enrich your overall health. Other things to help enhance your oral mucosa is oil pulling which is the practice of swishing a bit of oil around your mouth, for example coconut oil and spitting the mixture out. You could add an essential oil like peppermint or even oregano. You could choose any oil that resonates with you. The other investment is tongue cleaner which helps to scrape what’s on the tongue. This helps with cravings. This happens when we have remnants of food particles on the back of our tongue. By avoiding cravings, we are also in control of our diet and what we put into our bodies.
Muscle and joint health: There’s a lot of talk about how physical activity can uplift your mood and help you improve your overall muscle strength, enhance your stamina, deliver oxygen to your tissues and help your heart to work its best. When your heart and lungs work more efficiently and in synergy, you will have ample energy to power through your day.
Liver, gut, adrenals & hormones:
When it comes to self-care for adrenal health the key is managing stress skilfully. Balancing the mind can be uplifting instead of judging, resenting someone, or being infatuated with someone, it is important to have a balanced mind, a balanced mind equals a balanced body.
Gut health is important when it comes to self-care. We are all bio individuals, we shouldn’t be following someone else’s diet but instead, paying attention to what your gut symptoms are telling you. Many people tend to ignore that. Symptoms are feedback from the physiology to let us know how things are performing inside. If you experience bloating, indigestion, reflux, burning sensation, or have gas, you after certain meals, feel constipated or have diarrhea, the so-called irritable bowel syndrome, you will need a further check-up. It’s important to pay attention to all the signs your body is giving you, so you know what works best for you.
Next is the liver. Our liver is a key player in our digestive system and must be taken care of well in order to function optimally. Avoid liver loaders like caffeine, alcohol and friend food. Ensure your drink plenty of water. For every 20 to 25kg of body weight, you must drink a litre of water to stay well-hydrated. Liver is an important organ as it helps with the detoxification process. We don’t want to overload the liver especially women with numerous responsibilities. The more you load the liver, the more you will stress it out. This results in a hormonal imbalance.
Hormones play a major role in everything from our appetite, our sleep patterns, our stress response and everything between. Hormonal ratios shift every week so it’s important to adjust our lifestyle and dietary habits accordingly in order to make more hormones and efficiently break them down. These adjustments can help to prevent stress and burnout from tackling too many things simultaneously and also take a close look at micronutrient deficiencies to see where you can fix your plate as a bio individual. As a result, you enjoy a more relaxed lifestyle and thrive as opposed to just going ahead with the daily grind.
Amara Wellness offers a range of comprehensive and luxurious treatments to help uplift, nourish and soothe your skin and body.
Self-care is bio-individual, and what works for one might not work for another. Amara Wellness Centre offers a wide range of personalised treatments that help cater for a multitude of skin conditions. If you are after skin care treatments that will help nourish and care for your skin in a holistic setting, Amara Wellness Centre is your best choice.
After a nourishing and holistic self-care experience? Book with us today!