Taking Time To Be Good With Yourself Is Also Health

Take time to be good with yourself… When did you last do it? You may not even remember it. Because we are like that, we occupy our days with multiple and infinite tasks, but very few of them are aimed at promoting psychological well-being. However, we tend to convince ourselves that we are fine, that everything is going as it should.

Until it happens: an anxiety attack, the stress that overtakes us, headaches, dizziness, stomach pain and all those psychosomatic alterations giving us a clue that something in us is not going as well as we thought. The philosopher Henry David Thoreau said that “it is as difficult to connect with our inner voice as to look back without turning around.” And the truth is that it is.

We hardly make contact with our inner being to probe it, to know how it is, to become aware of its needs and what we can do to regain homeostasis, balance, well-being. We don’t do it for basically two reasons.

• The first is obvious, because life drags us, pushes us towards those obligations and that busy noise in which everything goes very fast.
• The second has its origin in our culture. In our social fabric, psychological self-care is not valued. We take care of our skin, our hair, our feet and even our beards. But what about my internal balance, my emotions, that stress that does not leave me truce, of the thoughts that fill my sleepless nights?

Spending time to be good with yourself, you think you do, but you don’t

If someone asked us right now if we take care of ourselves, we would most likely answer with a resounding yes. At the same time, we would show an expression of astonishment because, after all, what kind of question is that? Who doesn’t take care of themselves a little today? Well, things would get a little more complicated if after that first question we launched one more ” And how do you take care of yourself?”

Healthy food, some sports, two liters of water a day, sleeping eight hours a day … Our standard of self-care always follows these almost universal guidelines. However, there are few who have in mind to dedicate some kind of task that reverses in mental health, in emotional balance, in that internal calm in which we feel good about ourselves.

Dr. Joseph Leonard Goldstein, Nobel laureate in physiology and medicine, said that people spend the first half of our lives ruining our health and the other half trying to restore it. Somehow, there always comes a time when we become aware that perhaps our concept of care and care was not as comprehensive as we thought.

Taking time to be well with yourself should be part of that daily wellness ritual that we should not overlook. Let us know what aspects we should attend to.

The care of the self to feel free

Michel Foucault said that “self-care is synonymous with freedom. ” In what sense? What is the relationship between one concept and the other? Actually, a lot.

People are obliged to clarify who we are, what our values ​​are and to know clearly what our limitations are and what our valuable potential is. The moment we trace this knowledge about ourselves, we feel more secure, fulfilled and, therefore, free.

Self-knowledge, knowing who we are and what we want, gives momentum and freedom of movement to achieve goals and conquer dreams. Taking time to be well with yourself implies, therefore, occupying a few hours of our days to think about these aspects.

Self-care to reduce stress on our mind

The University of Kingston, Ontario, in Canada, conducted an investigation in 2011 to understand what are the most essential tasks of this self-care that affects our mental health.

Dr. Cristina Godfreig, director of this work, explains that being well with ourselves goes beyond mere gratification, indulging ourselves, resting, taking a trip or eating healthy.

The exercise that most affects our psychological well-being is knowing how to regulate daily stress. Prioritizing, understanding how far we can go and how far not, regulating our emotions, being aware of our thoughts and taking care of what we say to our mind will improve our reality.

Spending time being good with yourself: what matters is the here and now

If there is something that abounds in excess in our mental universe, it is the disappointments experienced, the mistakes made, the dreams not reached, the things and people lost. People have a tremendous fixation on placing our gaze on that rear-view mirror that is the past.

We must be clear, to work on our well-being it is necessary to place our attention in the present moment. Yesterday cannot determine who we are now or veto opportunities for the future.

Spending time to be well with oneself often involves having those conversations in which to forgive ourselves, close the stages and nurture the sense of hope towards all that we still have to live. Let’s keep it in mind.

To conclude, it is only possible to underline once again the importance of understanding that taking care of our health also implies giving priority to all the aspects indicated here. Mental well-being should be part of our routine.