Nurturing yourself by developing a positive body wellness routine is paramount to building a foundation for growth in your spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical health. But how is a self-care routine able to make or break your health?
You’ve likely heard of the parable of the two builders; one who built his home on solid rock and the other who built it on sand. When storms came, the house that was built on rock was able to withstand the wind and devastating rains while the other saw his home blown over and washed away with the sand. This is much like our lives. When we establish good behaviors centered around taking care of ourselves, we are building habits that can sustain us when the unpredictable or powerful storms come through. When we don’t have a body that is well-maintained, we are more susceptible to physical and mental illness, exhaustion, and defeat.
So, what does a positive body care routine look like?
Here are some daily routines that can help establish that solid foundation:
- Skin care – Your skin is your biggest organ. Keeping it clean with natural, non-toxic products can help remove the daily build-up and also strengthen it with a protective barrier against the harsh outside world.
- Oral health – While keeping your teeth health mean a healthier self-image, it can also help to keep you with speaking, showing emotion, eating, and identify any oral disease in early stages. Brush, floss, use mouth rinse, and eat a good diet.
- Mental health – There are so many things that can affect your mental state during the day. Get a good start by beginning the day with uplifting, mind-strengthening activities and give daily acknowledgment to the things you are thankful for and that bring you joy. Reading, writing, art, music, talking with someone you love, meditation, and prayer are great ways to start.
- Physical health – It’s no secret that your body is made to move. Running, walking, break dancing, jumping rope, playing with your kids, or engaging in any activity that involves consistent movement is good for you. Make sure you’re feeding your body the things it needs to function well and avoid unnecessary sugar.
- Spiritual health – Some of the happiest people attribute their outlook on a connection to purpose higher than themselves. Find well-being in something that aligns with your values and cultivates meaning in your life such as prayer for the community and your neighbors, meditation to feel closer to nature, or event participating in a philosophy forum or discussion.
- Emotional health – We are our worst critics, right? Practice speaking to yourself with love, showing yourself acceptance, giving yourself grace, and embrace yourself with respect. What we think, we feel. What we speak, we do. Find time to be thankful for you, for the journey you’re on, and create a habit of being your own biggest fan.
If you’re looking for a way to create a healthy weekly self-care plan, there are a few ideas that we have:
- Stress-relieving hobby – Whether you’re a pro or a novice, find something that you enjoy doing and schedule it every week. Find people who share your affinity for that activity as they can create accountability and community, which are big tenets of establishing a habit. Ideas include a card group, sports, gambling, dancing, racing cars, or even knitting.
- Professional self-care – Sometimes it takes more skill than we personally have to take care of ourselves. Scheduling a massage or spa day, participating in an exercise class, getting in to see your chiropractor, visiting church, or attending therapy, the solution to self-care is often found in scheduling some professional talent to move you toward a more routine and healthier lifestyle.
Finally, a monthly wellness routine can include:
- Test yourself – Sometimes the most amazing successes come in leaning into the discomfort and doing the thing that challenges you. Where are the places in your life that you can push yourself? Can you move up the weight at the gym? Are you able to cut back on one soda a day? Will you be able to call a long-lost friend? Is there grace enough to forgive your enemy? Will you replace the negative self-talk in front of the mirror with positive affirmations? Plan to challenge yourself in some way, each month, to continuing growing. It’s okay to go slowly and cautiously into the challenges!
- New experiences – Just like testing yourself, challenge yourself to try something new. Say “YES” to something out of the ordinary that leads to a new experience or perspective. Try a new restaurant, watch a movie that is outside of the norm, pick up a book with a different subject, or simply change the way you look at something or someone. Yes, we’re telling you to drop the routine in favor of new experiences.
When you look at a list like this, it can seem a little daunting. But, a lot of what we do is already based on routine; think of work schedules, traditions, seasons, and holidays. Much of our lives are structured to observe those routines we established along the way. Similarly, if we are habitual about scheduling time and space to taking care of ourselves, we can build our bodily homes on a solid foundation. These care practices are centered on loving yourself, loving others, and creating habitual ways to take better care of ourselves.