No matter where you’re from or what you do for a living, there’s a good chance you’ve faced stress and anxiety at some point in your life. This stress might have been the product of a hostile work environment due to an overbearing boss, or it could have been caused by a busy schedule and full course load at university. Whatever the case, there’s no question that stress is one of the most unpleasant ordeals one can experience in modern day life.
When you’re struggling with stress and anxiety, it’s easy to get caught up in your troubles. In between the hustle and bustle of meeting the demands of others, you might find yourself forgetting to take care of yourself. Things fall through the cracks all the time, and if you aren’t careful, your self care might be one of them.
So here you are. Maybe you aren’t getting enough sleep at night, or maybe you aren’t eating properly. You might not be giving your skin the proper nourishment and hydration that it deserves, or you might be neglecting to take personal time out for yourself. Whatever the case may be, there’s a good chance that stress has caused you to neglect self care.
The link between stress and self care
According to many researchers and psychologists, there is an unavoidable link between stress and self care. When under a great deal of stress, people are far more likely to neglect self care. When proper self care is exercised, your stress levels are far more likely to decrease. It’s a scientifically proven fact!
While this may be disheartening to some, there’s a silver lining to this dark cloud. The good news is that you can use this relationship to your advantage! If self care can help you deal with stress, then the obvious answer to this quandary is to take better care of yourself. So how are you going to go about the business of improving your self care routine? Let’s find out!
Self care: a necessity
Being that it is such an effective antidote to stress and anxiety, it’s easy to see why self care is so important. We’d go so far as to say that self care is so important that it’s on par with basic necessities such as food, water and shelter, in fact! But there’s still the question of how. How will you implement self care in your life? Here are a few ideas!
Improve your sleep schedule
Of all the basic necessities of life, few are so often and so regularly neglected as sleep. Even though it is absolutely crucial for your mental and physical health, the practice of sacrificing sleep for a perceived increase to available working hours or other arbitrary reasons. If you engage in this practice, we must warn you: it can have long lasting and irreversible effects on your health.
If you’re going to alleviate some of the stress that is causing you trouble, you’ll need to adjust your sleeping schedule. Getting enough sleep is perhaps the most important part of a good self care routine, and without it, you aren’t likely to maintain a healthy lifestyle. So how are you going to go about the task of getting your sleep schedule back on track? It’s easier than you might think!
The first step towards getting enough sleep each night is to plan out your evenings and mornings. Set out a flexible evening and morning routine, and always try to go to sleep and wake up at roughly the same time. Consistency is key with sleep schedules. From there you can get a better bed and pillow, a speaker playing soothing music or anything else that helps you get better, more restful sleep.
Start eating better
Unlike sleep, food is something most people don’t forget to incorporate into their daily routine. It’s a lot harder to resist the urge to eat than it is to resist the urge to sleep, after all! However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t make some improvements to your diet that will help you take better care of yourself and reduce your stress levels.
Unfortunately, the average American diet leaves a great deal to be desired when it comes to nutrition and balance. Incessant fast food advertisements, misleading nutrition labels, stress eating and a dozen other obstacles stand between the average Joe and a healthy, well rounded diet. This is where a meal plan and some good old-fashioned home cooking comes in.
If you’re going to improve your balance to better deal with stress and anxiety, you’re going to need to make a meal plan and start preparing your own meals. It doesn’t matter whether you’re an experienced culinary expert or a novice who doesn’t know how to hold a pan, a well balanced, carefully thought out meal plan will help you take better care of yourself and reduce your stress levels.
Work out regularly
Sometimes a proper diet, a proper exercise regimen and enough sleep each night just aren’t enough. For self care to be effective, you need a place that’s safe, a place that feels like home. You need calm and quiet. If this doesn’t sound like the place you’re currently living, then it might be time to find a new home.
A new home can be immensely helpful if you’re trying to break free from the stress and anxiety caused by work, university or family. Once you’ve got a place where you can feel safe and free, you’ll have a much easier time taking care of yourself and dealing with stress. A new house is more than just four walls and a roof; it’s a new home.
If this sounds like something you would be interested in, why not find a real estate agent in the area you want to move to? These skilled, experienced real estate agents are your best chance at finding a home that suits your needs and your budget, in the least amount of time possible. Before you know it, you might just find yourself starting a new life!
Conclusion
Now that we’ve discussed these points, we think it’s safe to say that there’s a lot to be gained from some good old-fashioned self care. When it comes down to it, you’ve got to take care of yourself before you can have a truly healthy and fulfilling life. That’s what self care is all about; taking care of yourself and putting yourself first.
