⭐️ Self-Care Sunday ⭐️

We found a fantastic article that really helps you to tailor your self care needs. Everyone has different needs to be met, what better way then some self reflection as you answer these questions and really dive into what you can do for your mental health. This article outlines 10 tips, but that's a lot to digest in one sitting. Over the next month we will highlight a couple of these insights at a time. Let's get started with the first two!

✎CONSIDER THIS! "As important as self-care is, I don't want it to feel like yet another "should" in your life, or something else you have to "get right!" It's really just a process of starting to learn to recharge yourself, and it is different for everyone." Now find some time and really dive into the following questions. To give it your full attention perhaps even take out a journal and jot down your ideas on these topics.

1. ⭐️What is most important to me? Identifying your values helps you decide how to best spend your energy.

2. ⭐️What makes me strong? Think about your life to date. Take an online test that measures your strengths, such as the free VIA Institute on Character's character strengths survey https://buff.ly/20hvKOi . Building on strengths is very powerful.

That's it, that's your focus for this week. What is important to you and where does your strength come from? Feel free to come back and comment here with any insights you discover about yourself!

Article for reference, spoilers of what's to come so try not to look ahead yet!: https://buff.ly/34xuuED

#standupaj #prevention #mentalhealth #selfcare #selflove #wellness

💤 Self-Care Sunday 💤

You may not realize it, but the amount and quality of sleep you get every night impacts the way your immune system functions, your mood and more. Here's some tips for prioritizing your beauty rest!

👉 Create a sleep routine. Have a wake-up time, a relaxation time and a bedtime. Have reminders or alarms set to help you being creating a healthy habit. Make sure your relaxation time is something truly relaxing, swap the screens for a book, journaling, meditation, or something else that helps you wind down.

👉 Quality Sleep: Try to get rid of distractions when you lay down to sleep. Consider the lighting, the background noise, etc. Perhaps even put your phone out of reach so you aren't tempted to be on it. Allow your mind to fully wind down so you can get a good quality sleep.

👉 Cut the Caffeine: Avoid caffeine 8 hours before bedtime so that it doesn’t interfere with falling asleep. Everyone reacts differently to caffeine but it is still a good rule of thumb to preserve your quality of sleep.

Learn more strategies and in in depth look at the benefits of sleep in this great article: https://buff.ly/3rHuv1D #standupaj #prevention #mentalhealth #selfcare #selflove #wellness

🍊 Self-Care Sunday 🥕

This week why not focus on making some healthy changes to your nutrition. Good nutrition is self-care because your relationship with food can help create a better sense of balance in your life. Here's a few things to keep in mind when you're filling your plate!

⮞ More COLOR! The more colorful the better. Not only does it lend itself to more diversity of immune-boosting and inflammation-fighting vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and more!

⮞Eat GOOD fat: What does that look like? You can find healthy omega-3 fatty acids in fish, olive oil, avocado, and nuts. These fats have been shown to reduce inflammation, lower blood pressure, improve cholesterol, and more!

⮞Eat for your gut: Your gastrointestinal tract is home to 90% of your serotonin, a chemical neurotransmitter that affects your mood, appetite, sleep, memory, and more. What are gut friendly foods? Natural yogurt, walnuts, almonds, oat bran and pumpkin seeds.

⮞Less sugars: Eating sugar heavy foods increases your risk of obesity, Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Check out the informative Forbes article for more nutritional health tips!: https://buff.ly/3KQjT8x

Try to avoid drastic diets that will only leave you frustrated when it is not realistically feasible to keep up with it. Instead pick a few healthy changes/hacks to implement into your life and once you have mastered them move onto the next. Make gradual changes that you will be more likely to stick to! Most importantly, be KIND to yourself. If you have a bad nutrition day just try again tomorrow. As long as you don't give up you are on the right track.