Self-Care is Health Care
When facing illness, we often overlook our own abilities to get better. In this blog post, we describe how diverse and eco-friendly self-care practices can provide therapeutic benefits.
What is self-care? Among many answers, self-care can be defined as “the ability of individuals, families, and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and to cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a healthcare provider." 1
Everything we do (or avoid doing) to nurture our health is self-care. Can relaxation and spending time in nature and with friends be a part of self-care? Yes, of course!
“If your compassion does not include yourself, it’s incomplete.”
What are examples of self-care practices? What can we do at home to improve physical and mental health? Let’s have look at a few of the most affordable and accessible self-care practices, and their benefits.
BREATHING EXERCISES (also known as breathwork). Have you heard about 4-7-8 and box breathing, alternate-nostril breathing, diaphragmatic breathing, Sudarshan Kriya breathing, or cooling pranayama? These types of breathing practices activate the parasympathetic nervous system,2 while clinical benefits include reduced depressive symptoms and anxiety, reduced pain and blood pressure, lowered systemic inflammation, and improved immune functions.3
MEDITATION (also known as mindfulness meditation) can be practiced at any time and any place, and, like breathing, it is also complimentary. Research studies show how meditation can reduce depression, addiction, pain, migraine headaches, trauma and PTSD, and can improve the severity of fibromyalgia symptoms.4 Meditation positively impacts the brain health and the immune system.5
Did you know that meditation can also slow down biological aging of our cells, as measured by chromosome telomere length.6 Whether you like walking meditation, or silent meditation in your room, there are many ways to enjoy this powerful self-care practice.
CONNECTION WITH NATURE (for example forest bathing, hiking, walking in a park, biophilic interiors). Improving mental health and immune functions are among many health benefits of being connected with nature. To learn more about how enjoying nature impacts our mind and body, please visit our recent blog post Nature is Health Care.
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY (for example any physical exercises, walking, hiking, running, jogging, dancing, tai chi, stretching, gardening, cycling etc.) Body movement is another example of affordable and accessible self-care practice. Physical exercise supports mental and physical health, and also improves cognitive functions (memory, attention, etc) across our life span.
Whether indoors or outdoors, physical activities improve the blood flow and oxygen supply, muscle strength and joint flexibility, as well as help to “clear the mind”. Whether your physical exercises are moderate or high intensity, focused on speed or endurance, let’s make sure that your weekly activities include recovery and resting as an integral part of taking care of your body.
“Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it.”
YOGA There are many types of yoga practice including restorative, hatha, vinyasa, hot, Iyengar, kundalini, ashtanga and more, so you can choose and practice what works the best for you. Yoga is the embodiment of aligning thoughts with physical movement. This mind-body practice has been recognized by the American College of Physicians as first line therapy for chronic low back pain.7
Our previous blog post Health Benefits of Yoga provides a glimpse at how practicing yoga offers clinical benefits for people with depression, diabetes, pain, epilepsy, insomnia, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, hypertension, arrhythmia, cancer, and anxiety.8
LISTENING TO MUSIC. Listening to music is very accessible since smartphones and music streaming go hand in hand. Health benefits of music range from pain relief to reduction of epileptic seizures and depressive symptoms.9 Music also brings clinical benefits for dementia and stroke neurorehabilitation.10
Please visit our previous blog post Music and Health Dance Together to expand understanding of Aretha Franklin’s quote “Music does a lot of things for a lot of people.” Whether you choose listening to music, drumming, singing, chanting, dancing, or enjoying nature sounds, please expect health benefits as well.
QUALITY SLEEP. One of the most powerful, yet underappreciated, self-care practices is sleep. Quality sleep improves immune functions, so we are less susceptible to infections.11 Sleep hygiene is also very important for people living with epilepsy, or mental disorders.12
“Prevention is better than cure.”
Perhaps you have noticed how some of our recent insights posted on Instagram carry a graphic theme: “ENJOY and EXPECT HEALTH BENEFITS”. While here we explore therapeutic benefits of self-care practices, let’s remember that self-care is also important to prevent chronic medical conditions for those who are more vulnerable (e.g. after remission, or when experiencing chronic stress, or living with adverse childhood experiences).
In addition to medicinal and preventative aspects of self-care practices, of equal significance is to emphasize how eco-friendly, affordable, and accessible they are. Empowering ourselves, our family and friends with the knowledge about health care benefits of breathing, meditating, physical activity, music, and sleep will also contribute to reducing carbon footprint and thus cleaner natural environment.
BTW - let’s remember that journaling, laughing, sharing kindness and gratitude can also be an integral part of our daily self-care. To learn more, please enjoy exploring insights in our website.
In conclusion, consider YOUR self-care as the most important step towards co-creating sustainable, regenerative and affordable health care.
Please take your time to nurture well-being.
Thank you and best wishes.
Grzegorz Bulaj, Ph.D.
Founder
PS. To learn more about integrating self-care with biophilic home environment, please explore this “Healthy Dwelling” article.
2. Breathe 2017
3. J Clin Psychiatr 2017; J Sport Rehabil 2017; Perspect Psychiatr Care 2017; Compl Ther Clin Pract 2020; J Am Heart Assoc 2021
4. Ann Behav Med 2015; Adv Mind Body Med 2017; Clin Psychol Rev 2018; JAMA Int Med 2019; Complement Ther Med 2019
5. Ann NY Acad Sci 2016; Annu Rev Clin Psychol 2019; PNAS 2021
6. Psychol Health 2020
7. Ann Intern Med 2017
8. References listed in https://www.omniself.care/blog/health-benefits-of-yoga
9. Pain Physician 2017; PloS One 2020; Clin Neurophysiol 2020
10. Lancet Neurol 2017
11. Pflugers Arch 2012; Physiol Rev 2019
12. Annu Rev Clin Psychol 2014; Epil Behav 2021
