It's only fair to share…

JournalingWhen I say the word self-care the first thought, for most, is self-indulgence or selfishness.

Yes, they all start with self and that is where the similarity ends.

The cost of healthcare is rising exponentially. In fact it has risen greater than the cost of living for over a decade now and there are no signs of slowing.

One of the greatest contributors for healthcare visits is stress. It is stress management that makes self-care so critical.

Have you ever noticed that when you stress yourself out for a long time that you get ill. For most that illness will affect you for about 2 to 3 weeks.

Let’s just say you believed in self-care and as you were going through this time of extra stress you took the time to nurture yourself and de-stress.

Your routine could look something like this:

  • A few 5 to 10 minutes breaks throughout the day to do some deep breathing and take a walk
  • A 30 minute bath every few days
  • 5 minutes of gratitude journaling every night
  • 2 hours every weekend for a coffee break with a friend.

If you took all the above and calculated it out for the year you’d get around 370 hours which is just over two weeks of time. Now if you are ill a couple of times a year or just not feeling well in general you are losing out on way more than 370 hours. Why not take time to do a little self-care and de-stress adding quality to your life and saving on downtime due to illness.

I don’t know about you but I would rather have Saturday morning coffee time with my friend than a congested runny red nose.

 

Nanette Achziger – is a wellbeing advocate, culinary explorer and author. Nanette is passionate about sharing how easy it is to achieve a general sense of health and wellbeing. Through tips and tools in her blog and her book, Kaizen, she shares ways to create your own self-care rituals, reduce toxic exposure, and nurture our selves through food, connection and self-love.