“Your body is precious. It is our vehicle for awakening. Treat it with care.”
– Buddha
The secret is out: quality sleep, nutrition, and exercise are all officially good for us! Part of the “not-so-secret” secret to lifelong wellness is to practice physical self-care, which includes all physical activities to help you stay healthy and provide you with enough energy to enjoy life. Physical self-care is the most basic form of self-care you can practice. Once you’re able to practice good physical self-care, you’ll then be able to adopt other forms into your routine as well. Here are a few critical pillars of physical self-care:
The human body craves care and movement. However, as your schedule becomes increasingly full, your body is often the first thing you neglect. To truly show yourself care, you must prioritize the movement your body desires.
If you need motivation to get moving, as many people do, here are some of the incredible benefits you can reap from thirty minutes of movement a day:
(Warburton et al., 2006)
Yoga is an ancient self-care practice that has been used for overall well-being for over 5,000 years (Google Arts & Culture). The benefits of yoga extend far beyond physical fitness. Incorporating a yoga practice into your self-care routine also leads to clarity, focus, decreased stress and anxiety, increased sense of wellness, and physical and emotional healing (Büssing et al., 2012). Additionally, yoga provides the tangible benefits of better posture, balance, increased energy, more efficient digestion, and lubrication of your joints. (Büssing et al., 2012)
Walking is a low-impact, stress-relieving activity that anyone can incorporate into a daily routine. It can be done virtually anywhere and requires very little equipment to get started–all you need is a pair of comfortable shoes. You should aim for 10,000 steps a day or 150 minutes of moderate activity a week (Huizen, 2021). To meet this guideline and show yourself physical self-care, you could walk for thirty minutes five times a week. Or you could break it up and sneak your steps in throughout the day. Bottom line: it doesn’t matter how or when you do it, as long as you get it done.
Walking can quickly turn into one of the most enjoyable parts of your daily routine. It is a perfect activity if you feel like you do not have enough time to exercise because it can fit into your day in seamless ways. Here are five ways to get yourself moving.
While taking the elevator in public places may practically be necessary with kids in tow, consider taking the stairs instead if you find yourself alone or with older children. If you have stairs at home, find reasons to use them!
It isn’t practical, or even feasible, to walk everywhere, but if you must drive to a location, park across the parking lot. This walk will get your body moving after sitting in the car. If you have young kids, park near a shopping cart someone else left behind (because walking to put it in the cart corral was too much), so you can safely navigate the parking lot with littles. Bonus, it makes things easier on the employees as well. Steps and service? That’s a win-win!
Self-care can occur even in the middle of an overwhelmingly busy day. If you need to respond to emails, you can do so while walking on a treadmill set to 3 mph at a slight incline. This pace is slow enough that you won’t be out of breath or too distracted to type but fast enough to count as moderate activity. If you don’t have a traditional treadmill, try this cheaper option that stores away easily.
If you have phone calls to make (bonus self-care points if it’s a conversation with a loved one), podcasts to catch up on, or audiobooks to “read,” invest in some Bluetooth headphones that connect to your phone and take a walk outside or around the house while you’re checking other items off of your to-do list.
To prioritize your physical self-care, get in thirty-minute walks every day. You can block out the thirty minutes in the following ways: one thirty-minute chunk, two fifteen-minute sessions, three ten-minute sessions, or six five-minute walks to break up the hours of your day. Schedule these breaks into your calendar on your phone with an alert to hold you accountable.
If you want added benefits of increased relaxation, fresh air, vitamin D, and connection with nature, take your walk outside. You can stroll around your neighborhood, stroll around a park while your kids’ play, walk your kids to school, or try a new hiking trail. Getting outside and breaking out of your routine can provide you with such a sense of wonder and appreciation for the beauty that you may not even notice you are exercising.
Stretching is a calming and straightforward way to incorporate physical self-care into your day and keep you connected to your body. Adding a five-minute stretching routine to your day will increase your flexibility, improve your mobility, widen your range of motion, and help the blood flow to your muscles (Harvard Medical School, 2019). It’s a stress-relieving activity that can reduce headaches, assist your posture, help with body aches and pains, and protect you against future pain (Harvard Medical School, 2019). Also, as you age, your muscles are prone to feeling stiff and may even shorten. Stretching helps to maintain elasticity in your muscles, and it can also lengthen the muscles to keep your body limber.
The following routine works best when your muscles are warm. Before you start, briskly walk outside or in your home for a few minutes to get your blood flowing. If you don’t have enough space to walk around, do some light jumping jacks for a minute or two. This routine utilizes static stretching, which involves holding a stretch comfortably for about thirty seconds; you can adjust this time based on how you feel. When you’re stretching, listen to your body–if something hurts, stop. Stretching can be a bit uncomfortable, but it should never be painful.
Dance signifies many things: celebration, art, beauty, movement, human achievement, and our primal instinct to move to music. Dance has always been a part of the human experience.
Dancing is not about being good or bad, being on or off the beat, or having a particular body type. Dancing is about freedom, expression, and letting your instincts move through your physicality. In removing inhibitions or self-criticism while you dance, you’re able to perform an act of self-acceptance and self-expression, which are both forms of self-care.
Your body is covered in nerve endings that allow you to sense what is around you. If you stop at any given moment to experience the sensation of touch–not just from another human being, but from all of the things that you encounter in the world–you might be surprised at all of the ways you experience the concept of touch.
For example, if you’re reading this right now while sitting in a chair, you may stop and pause to notice the weight of your body touching the surface of the chair. If you’re reading this snuggled up in a blanket, you may notice the warmth radiating from your body and the softness of the fibers against your skin. Take notice of the clothes you’re wearing, the way your hair moves across your neck, the weight of jewelry. In effect, you’re constantly “touching” the world around you, but if you don’t slow down enough to notice this experience, you’ll miss out on a vital interaction with your surroundings.
As moms, we can often feel “touched out” by the end of the day. After meeting the physical needs of everyone else, we just want our own space. If you cringe at the idea of being touched even one more time, that’s completely normal. A 2018 survey found parents only have 32-minutes to themselves throughout the day. And that was before the pandemic! A good portion of the day is spent hugging, kissing, holding, being pulled on, and having some form of physical contact, so it’s no wonder moms feel touched-out. So what can you do about it?
Let your spouse and children know when you need some space. It may feel like your toddler’s world will fall apart if you can’t hug them right now, but it teaches them body boundaries are essential. Take a minute to explain that while you love them very much, your body tells you it needs some space, and it’s critical to listen to our body’s needs. Let them know when you will be available for the physical contact they’re seeking, whether that’s an actual time frame or just making sure they know you’ll come to them as soon as you’re ready.
Make sure you include a beneficial touch to your well-being rather than solely focusing on caregiving for others. This could consist of getting a massage or pedicure. If you can’t find the time or money to go somewhere, pamper yourself with a hand massage in your room. Therapist Carolyn Wagner says, “Doing something that is focused solely on taking care of yourself, and including touch as a main component, is a great way to remind yourself and your body that being close and connected to others can be fulfilling and positive” (Waysman, 2021).
Don’t expect yourself to give 100% all the time. Nobody can meet those kinds of expectations. Be gentle with yourself. Talk to yourself like you’d talk to a friend who is struggling (Waysman, 2021).
It can be easy to lose sight of the present moment. You may find yourself constantly thinking about the past (regrets, questions, grief) or the future (what-ifs, anxiety, trying to control outcomes). If you’re actively thinking about the past or the future, you can’t experience the present. A necessary act of self-care is to bring yourself into the present moment so that you don’t miss a precious moment of the time you are given.
This simple exercise can be done anytime and anywhere to bring you firmly into the experience of your present moment. By recognizing your five senses, which are working all the time even if you don’t notice them, you acknowledge your current experience. It is this acknowledgment that brings your consciousness back to the here and now.
Ask yourself the following questions and respond in your mind. Or, if you’re somewhere private, you can say your answers aloud.
Do this exercise daily. If you find yourself feeling stuck in the past or the future, repeat this exercise numerous times a day until staying in the moment becomes a habit.
Your body is about 60% water, which means that over half of your composition is made up of water. Even more shocking is your blood is 90% water. Seeing as your body needs water to function at its highest level, staying hydrated is a basic form of self-care. There are numerous benefits to drinking enough water every day. Here are a few key advantages:
(Popkin et al., 2010)
A simple formula for how much water you should consume daily is to take your weight and divide it in half to calculate the appropriate number of ounces of water you should drink. For example, a 150-lb woman would divide her weight in half to get 75. This means she should consume 75oz of water each day.
A properly nourished body is a properly loved body. Taking time to feed your body when it’s hungry with nutrient-rich, healthy, whole foods is such an essential part of self-care. When you nourish your body, you’re taking care of yourself in a vital way. Proper health starts from the inside out. But, like most things on this list, that has become easier said than done now that kids are part of the picture. Meals now require more thought and organization, making it that much more tempting to fall into unhealthy practices. Here are some ways to help you keep your body adequately nourished:
You’ll be more likely to make healthy choices if you give yourself plenty of healthy options. Choosing to consciously nourish your body is an act of self-care that can impact your health, mood, and appearance (Huang, 2019). Next time you go grocery shopping, remember your ABCs and shop the rainbow.
ABC Shopping. The concept of ABC shopping is simple: you should leave the store with apples and/or avocados, bananas, and cucumbers. The health benefits of these foods are incredible; they satisfy hunger and provide great nourishment.
Shop the Rainbow. When you buy food, try leaving with something of every color of the rainbow. Red, orange, and yellow foods have antioxidant benefits because they have carotenoids. Green vegetables tend to be high in vitamins A, C, and K (ScienceDirect). As far as blue and purple foods go, the darker the fruit or vegetables, the higher the antioxidant level (Crokleton, 2021). This ensures that you have a variety and get a wide array of nutrients and vitamins necessary for a balanced diet.
Life has a way of getting unexpectedly busy – so you can stay a step ahead by preparing your meals in advance. This is a wonderful way to show yourself care because you’ll have delicious and nutritious meals waiting for you regardless of how little time you have. There are endless meal prep ideas online, so take some time to research, prepare foods, and plan your meals ahead of time.
Another option is to find a service that helps you with the prep. Something that Kristin has found helpful is signing up for Citrus Pear classes. In two hours, she can put together 20 dietician-planned freezer meals for those nights that are super busy. (There are also 10 and 40 meal options available depending on your family’s needs.) Citrus Pear provides the recipes, ingredients, tools, guided instruction, and clean-up (Kristin’s favorite part). Grab a friend and make it some much-needed social time, too.
Sometimes we become so focused on making BIG changes that we feel discouraged or disappointed when we cannot maintain them. The key is to create smaller, attainable goals. We’ll be going into this in more detail in a few lessons, but for now, identify one or two areas you’d like to improve. Focus on just those small changes for a few weeks until it’s become part of your routine. Once you feel you’ve mastered these areas, add another new piece.
Give yourself grace along the way. You’ve got a lot going on, Mama; it’s okay if you fall back into old, unhealthy patterns. It is a human experience, and you are not alone in that regression. What matters is that you recognize what’s happened and move forward, one step at a time. Eventually, you’ll find yourself in a place you never thought you’d be. You’ve got this!
– What’s one way you can improve your physical self-care?
– How will you start implementing this change? When, where, how. Be specific!
We’ll discuss the second pillar in the next lesson: emotional self-care.
