Why is taking care of myself important? ( Part 1)
Self-care remains a complex yet essential topic for promoting lasting mental and emotional wellbeing in today’s world. Moreover, rising rates of depression, anxiety, suicides, and loneliness highlight the urgent need for proactive mental health support. Therefore, prioritising self-care practices can significantly reduce these risks and improve overall quality of life for many individuals. Additionally, fostering awareness about self-care encourages healthier coping strategies and reduces stigma surrounding mental health struggles in society. Ultimately, addressing this growing crisis through self-care initiatives empowers people to take control of their health and happiness.
Embracing Uncertainty & Building Resilience
However, certain aspects of life will always remain beyond our control, and accepting this reality supports emotional resilience. Moreover, uncertainty has always been part of human existence, with change being inevitable and stability only temporary in nature. Therefore, adopting a realistic mindset helps manage expectations and cope better with life’s unpredictable challenges and setbacks. Additionally, practising prevention and self-care strengthens mental and physical health, reducing the impact of stressors like pandemics or climate change. Ultimately, embracing these strategies encourages adaptability, fosters hope, and promotes overall wellbeing even during prolonged periods of instability and uncertainty.
The Role of Self-Care in Overall Wellbeing
Moreover, self-care serves as a vital approach for managing chronic health conditions and preventing illness through healthier lifestyle choices. Furthermore, evidence demonstrates its significant contribution to addressing a wide variety of health problems across different populations and settings. Additionally, the concept of self-care extends beyond physical health, encompassing practices that support emotional and psychological wellbeing effectively. Ultimately, prioritising self-care empowers individuals to take proactive steps towards maintaining balance, resilience, and overall quality of life.
Let’s look at some key insights in modern science, relevant to this topic.
Relaxation and Neuroplasticity
Moreover, neuroplasticity describes the brain’s ability to adapt and change throughout life. Additionally, experiences constantly shape neural pathways, influencing our thoughts and behaviours. Furthermore, many of these changes occur unconsciously due to environmental and social factors. However, we can intentionally direct neuroplasticity to create desired personal and emotional changes. Likewise, deliberate actions such as learning new skills can strengthen specific brain connections. Similarly, practising positive habits can replace unhelpful patterns with healthier neural responses. Consequently, relaxation techniques like meditation can significantly enhance beneficial neuroplastic changes over time. For example, scientific studies confirm meditation produces measurable structural brain changes. Therefore, incorporating relaxation into daily routines supports both mental and emotional resilience. Ultimately, understanding neuroplasticity empowers individuals to actively shape their overall wellbeing.
Epigenetics & the Influence of Life Experiences
Moreover, epigenetics studies how behaviours and environmental factors influence gene activity without altering the underlying DNA sequence permanently. Furthermore, while our genetic code remains largely stable, its expression can vary significantly based on life experiences and choices. Additionally, factors such as stress, nutrition, and relationships can increase or decrease the activity of certain genes. Likewise, research shows maternal behaviour towards infants can create lasting gene expression changes passed through multiple generations. Ultimately, positive lifestyle changes and supportive environments can promote healthier gene activity, benefiting both current and future generations.
The Bidirectional Pathway Between Brain & Body
Activity in the mind can influence the body, and vice versa. This important because we now know that people who report higher levels of wellbeing are also physically healthier. Training our minds to cultivate wellbeing will induce changes in our bodies that will promote both physical and mental health (Dahl et al., 2020). In addition, mental illnesses are a risk factor that affect the incidence and prognosis of diseases traditionally classified as “noncommunicable”. For example, patients with type II diabetes mellitus are twice as likely to experience depression as the general population (Cosgrove, 2008, cited in Kolappa et al., 2013), and those patients with diabetes who are depressed have greater difficulty with self-care (Gonzales et al., 2008, cited in Kolappa et al., 2013). All this is still being researched, but it is very worth considering.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, practising relaxation regularly allows the mind and body to recharge, promoting lasting physical health and emotional resilience. Furthermore, incorporating relaxation into daily routines reduces stress levels and enhances overall quality of life significantly over time. Moreover, developing consistent self-care habits fosters balance, happiness, and the ability to manage life’s inevitable challenges effectively. Finally, prioritising relaxation ensures long-term wellbeing while empowering individuals to maintain harmony between personal needs and everyday responsibilities. In Part II of this post, we’ll investigate some ways we can incorporate self-care into our everyday lives…
Relaxation: Written by Branka Mlinar
If you think that you can benefit from professional support on this issue you can reach out here.
Branka Mlinar is a psychologist and Gestalt therapist offering psychotherapy and counselling to adolescent and adult individuals. She’s mostly worked with problems of anxiety, interpersonal and relationship issues, procrastination, work-related stress, trauma, and grief.
References
Dahl, C. J., Wilson-Mendenhall, C. D., & Davidson, R. J. (2020). The plasticity of well-being: A training-based framework for the cultivation of human flourishing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(51), 32197-32206.
Davidson, R. J., Jackson, D. C., & Kalin, N. H. (2000). Emotion, plasticity, context, and regulation: perspectives from affective neuroscience. Psychological bulletin, 126(6), 890.
Kolappa, K., Henderson, D. C., & Kishore, S. P. (2013). No physical health without mental health: lessons unlearned?.
Lucock, M., Gillard, S., Adams, K., Simons, L., White, R., & Edwards, C. (2011). Self‐care in mental health services: a narrative review. Health & social care in the community, 19(6), 602-616.
