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We often hear therapists talking and posting about how important it is to practice self-care, but what does that even mean?
Self-care isn’t all bubble baths, face masks, and hitting the gym. While those can be great self-care activities, we want to open up the possibilities to some activities you might not have thought about or might not have realized are so good for you and your mental health!
Here we will introduce self-care tips, explain how to do them, and what benefits they have.
- Ground Yourself in Nature
- Much like grounding an electrical current, us humans can ground ourselves with the electrical conductivity of the Earth. Skin-to-Earth contact is necessary here, so kick off your shoes and get some grass between your toes. Grounding with the Earth has been shown to improve cardiovascular health and reduce physical pain, stress, depression, and fatigue (1). Our daily lives are filled with anxiety, chronic pain, sleeplessness, and other stressors that naturally cause our bodies to build up positive charges. The Earth naturally produces a negative charge. We can neutralize our charges by mindful connection to the Earth (2).
- How to Ground in Nature
- Walk barefoot – wiggle your toes in the mud, feel the softness of the grass or warmth of the sand. Be mindful of your surroundings and appreciate all the Earth has to offer you in this moment.Lie on the ground – lie on your back with your face to the sun, or whatever position is most comfortable to you. Focus on the grass, dirt, or sand beneath your body and listen to the sounds around you.
- Dip yourself in water – no need to fully submerge yourself, but wading through a creek or the ocean can have many positive effects on your physical and mental health. Always remember safety first when venturing into open water!
- Take a Dance Break
- Taking a dance break is great for your overall health and wellness. Not only are you physically shaking the anxiety, stress, sleepiness, and jitters out of your body, but you’re breaking up your routine and your brain loves that spontaneity. Turning up your favorite songs and moving your body encourages you to take a break from everyday stressors. Dancing helps with “turning off the incessant worry and negative self-talk” and, most importantly, “you don’t have time to ruminate while you dance” (3).UCLA conducted a study on conscious dance, “which encourages self-discovery through unchoreographed movement” (3). Participants in this study notices mental health benefits from engaging in this type of movement.Participants reported:
- “I feel more present in my body.”“I feel more present in the moment.”“I’m more relaxed.”“I have a greater sense of meaning.”“I have a greater sense of purpose.”
- Dancing allows us to communicate with and through our bodies. One participant said “trauma, anxiety, and depression can cause people to disassociate and disconnect from their bodies, but conscious dance allows them to get in touch with all their senses” (4).
- Taking a dance break is great for your overall health and wellness. Not only are you physically shaking the anxiety, stress, sleepiness, and jitters out of your body, but you’re breaking up your routine and your brain loves that spontaneity. Turning up your favorite songs and moving your body encourages you to take a break from everyday stressors. Dancing helps with “turning off the incessant worry and negative self-talk” and, most importantly, “you don’t have time to ruminate while you dance” (3).UCLA conducted a study on conscious dance, “which encourages self-discovery through unchoreographed movement” (3). Participants in this study notices mental health benefits from engaging in this type of movement.Participants reported:
- Take a Cold Shower
- There are several reasons why the discomfort of a cold shower can be good for you. Hydrotherapy – including cold water therapy – can be used to treat physical symptoms like fatigue, inflammation, and muscle cramps but it also has great benefits for your mental health. While you may see others diving into frozen ice baths, it’s best to start slow. Ease yourself into to by adding colder water for a few minutes at the end of your shower (5). In a 2008 study, participants noticed an improvement in their depression symptoms after several weeks of “2- to 3-minute sessions of cold water showers at 68°F (20°C), one to two times per day” (6).So why does this work? Cold showers have been proven to improve blood circulation by cooling down your body temperate. Your body temperature rises when you’re in an agitated or hyper-aroused state like feeling anxious or angry, so the cold water can help balance out these intense emotions (6). Cold water can “activate beta-endorphin and noradrenaline in the brain,” which are used in pain relievers and anti-depressant medications (5). Incorporating cold showers into your routine can help your body create these chemicals on their own. Cold showers can also provide a distraction that can “temporarily take your mind off the things you might be worried or fearful of. The minutes you spend focused on how the cold water feels on your body may act as a mindfulness practice, keeping you in the moment versus future events that are out of your control” (6).
- With cold water therapy, remember to start slowly and pace your breathing. Counting your breaths and breathing deeply through your nose can help!
Self-care as a part of our routine can help us feel more emotionally regulated and balanced. We are less likely to become overwhelmed and more likely to experience inner peace, contentment, happiness, and even joy. Other ways that we can take care of ourselves is to practice the expanded DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) skills, PLEASED.
- Physical health: tend to your overall physical health proactively to prevent illness. If you are sick, it definitely can affect your mood. Don’t wait until your body is totally worn down to make an appointment with your doctor. Annual check ups are an important part of self-care, even though it can be so easy to put off.
- List: barriers to self-care and create a plan for how you can work around them or eliminate them entirely. Not getting enough sleep? What is getting in the way and how can you problem-solve?
- Eat: not eating enough can be just as harmful as eating too much. Practice intuitive eating by listening to your body. What does your body need? Are you able to recognize cues for hunger and fullness?
- If this is an area that you may need some extra help, we highly recommend Samantha Jerome who is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Certified Diabetes Educator at Nova Nutrition.
- Avoid: mind or mood-altering substances. Most medications for anxiety, depression and mood stabilization do not pair well with alcohol. Alcohol (and marijuana) can disrupt sleep and make symptoms of anxiety, depression, irritability, and other physical symptoms worse over time. Pay attention to how you’re feeling if you decide to imbibe and how you feel the next day.
- Sleep: only use your bed for sleep and intimacy to strengthen your brain’s association between being in bed and getting rest. If you aren’t able to fall asleep after 25-minutes try getting out of bed, reading (nothing too interesting) a book until you are sleepy again then going back to bed. Turn your phone off, turn it over so you don’t see the screen light up with notifications, or leave it in a different room entirely. Use a sunrise alarm clock instead.
- Exercise: walking, swimming, pilates, yoga, whatever feels best to your body. Remember only to work out in a way that is appropriate to your fitness level to avoid injury and that it is always wise to consult your doctor before starting any new exercise routine.
- Daily skills practice!
Sources: (1) What Is Grounding and Can It Help Improve Your Health? (healthline.com) (2) The Mental Health Benefits of Grounding in Nature (anzmh.asn.au) (3) How Dancing Helps Your Mental Health (4) ‘Free moving’ dance has healing benefits for mental health (5) Cold Shower: Powerful Way To Improve Your Mental Health (6) Cold Shower for Anxiety: Does It Help?
