5 Mental Health Benefits of Self-Care and How to Achieve Them
The stresses of daily life can take a toll on your mental and physical well-being. Thankfully, there are many things you can do to reduce stress and improve your mental health.
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In the meantime, learn more about how self-care can positively influence your mental and physical health.
1. Decreases Stress
Stress can have all kinds of negative effects on the body. It can make you feel depressed, anxious, overwhelmed and unmotivated. It can also contribute to changes in weight, muscle pain and headaches.
Some ways to decrease stress include getting fresh air, getting enough sleep, finding a meaningful job, taking a break from work and exercising. These practices can help you feel calmer and more in control.
As Redfin notes, it can also be helpful to address your household. Things like clutter, poor lighting and sour attitudes can really make a mark on your outlook on life. Take steps to cut back on stress with simple lifestyle changes, like organizing and opening your shades to allow in natural light.
2. Increases Productivity
When you're lacking self-care, you may feel fatigued and unmotivated. You may find it hard to stay awake and complete necessary tasks, leaving little time to do things you enjoy. Properly caring for yourself can make it easier to check items off your to-do list, improving your productivity and keeping you in the present.
Cleaning and decluttering your home is a great way to practice self-care and increase productivity. Having a clean and uplifting space will help you feel at ease and ready to work on other tasks. These improvements to your home can also help relieve tension between you and your family or housemates, making your home a more stress-free environment.
3. Increases Energy
Fatigue is common when your mental health is lacking the care that it needs, as Medical News Today asserts. Nurturing your mind and body can relieve this fatigue and make you feel more awake and energetic. Increasing your energy level can make it easier to complete tasks, care for yourself, nurture your relationships and make time for hobbies.
Poor sleep, exercise habits and diet can all contribute to fatigue. You should make sure you get plenty of sleep to give your body and mind the rest you need. Sufficient exercise and diet will improve your mood, make you feel more productive and help you live a happier and healthier life.
4. Improves Relationships
You cannot put your all into your relationships if you are not taking care of yourself. Carving out time for self-care can make you a better, friend, colleague, partner and relative. Self-care can give you the time, energy and positivity required to maintain healthy relationships.
Stress can cause irritability and make you feel overwhelmed and anxious when communicating with others. Clearing your mind and reducing stress with self-care can help. When you are less stressed and feeling more positive, it is easier to interact with others without feeling so overwhelmed. Rather than thinking of all of the things you need to do or how tired you are, you can focus on enjoying time with loved ones.
5. Improves Confidence
Feeling depressed can have very harmful effects on your confidence and self-image. Encouraging more positive thinking and taking better care of your body can help alleviate these feelings so that you feel better all around.
The sense of accomplishment and mental health benefits of exercise and a healthy diet can make you feel better about yourself even if you haven't seen any changes in weight, muscle tone or other physical characteristics. Unhealthy diets have been linked to depression, so simply eating better can have immediate positive effects on your mood. You can also treat yourself to some new clothes that make you feel confident and beautiful.
Self-care can enrich your life by decreasing stress, increasing productivity, increasing energy, improving relationships and improving confidence. Simple practices such as exercising, eating healthier, getting enough sleep, getting fresh air or cleaning your living space can have incredible long-lasting effects on your mental and physical health.