Self-Care Planning

Self-Care Planning

Written By: Elaine Lopez

Self-care planning requires a lot of time and hard-work to maintain continuously no matter what is being thrown your way. But first, what is a self-care plan? According to a ReachOut article it is “a plan that can help you enhance your health and wellbeing and manage stress.”

Aspects of Self-Care

Each and everybody has their own way to approaching their self-care. There are several aspects and strategies to self-care. The most common include: 

• Physical
• Psychological
• Emotional
• Spiritual
• Relationships with other people

Physical Self-Care

Physical self-care is all about activities which help you keep fit and healthy and with enough energy to get through all your commitments. Some was you can improve your physical self-care include:

• Develop a regular sleeping routine
• Aim for a healthy diet
• Take breaks
• Exercise regularly

Psychological Self-Care

Psychological self-care are activities which help clear your mind and will allow you to engage with professional challenges that are found in your school, work or personal life. Some was you can improve your psychological self-care include:

• Writing a reflective journal
• Seeking help from someone when needed
• Engaging in hobbies
• Relaxation
• Create a positive environment for yourself

Emotional Self-Care

Emotional self-care allows you to experience your full range of emotions. This can be achieved by:

• Developing supportive friendships
• Watching a movie or TV show
• Doing something you enjoy
• Meeting with a social group regularly
• Talking to someone you trust about how you are coping

Spiritual Self-Care

Spiritual self-care involves having a sense of perspective beyond the day-to-day of life.

• Engage in reflective practices meditation
• Go to church/temple/mosque
• Do yoga

Relationship Self-Care

Relationship self-care is about maintaining healthy and supportive relationships. It ensures you have diversity in your relationships.

• Prioritise close relationships in your life e.g. with partners, family, children and friends
• Attend special events of your family and friends

The best way to find your own perfect self-care plan is trial and error. It is best to try a bunch of different options to see what works the best and narrow down from there. Here are some things you need to remember and ensure:

• The activities you choose are ones that you enjoy doing and that also support your wellbeing
• Write down your plan and place it on a spot that you will be able to look at it every day such as your fridge, memo board, mirror or other places
• Stick to the plan and practice the activities regularly whether it be every other day or every single day
• Reflect on how you are doing at the end of each month to see your progression

References:

https://schools.au.reachout.com/articles/developing-a-self-care-plan
https://csustemvista.wordpress.com/2016/04/04/long-term-volunteering-and-self-care/

https://au.pinterest.com/pin/500955158520880781/

Sleep

Sleep 

Written By: Niyati Roy

Sleep is needed for restoration especially for brain. The body’s metabolism slows down to aid this process to allow restorative processes to take over. The sleeping brain has shown to remove metabolic waste products at a faster rate than during an awake state. Anabolic hormones such as growth hormones are secreted preferentially during sleep¹. It has been shown that sleep deprivation affects the immune system as there is a lessening of white blood cells.²

Scientists have also demonstrated in various ways that sleep can enhance memory. Procedural memory (memory for motor skills) benefits from late, REM-rich sleep, whereas declarative memory (memory for general knowledge) benefits from early, slow wave-rich sleep.³

Hence younger adults (aged 18-25) need an average of 7-9 hours of sleep every night to ensure cognitive and physical restoration⁴. Sleep is an essential component to a healthy lifestyle and paired with exercise and a healthy diet ensures greater wellbeing.

References:

¹ https://web.archive.org/web/20080124000744/http:/www.helpguide.org/life/sleeping.htm

² https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10516257

³ https://doi.org/10.1097%2FEDE.0b013e318187a7b0

⁴ https://sleepfoundation.org/excessivesleepiness/content/how-much-sleep-do-we-really-need-0

Images from:

http://www.eattoperform.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/sleepbaby.jpg

http://www.nofructose.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/sleep-garfield.jpg

Introduction

Personal Wellbeing

Written By: Niyati Roy, Pavithra Srinivasan, Kaajal Sharma and Elaine Lopez

It is very good to be healthy. Health is a big and many-sided area of human life. I think that among all questions related to the human's body, the health must overcome all other aspect and become the main reference point for finding the answers. But in practice it is not always so, and very often people may harm themselves even knowing that they are doing something wrong. There are some simple advice which will help you save your health, and to stay healthy you should follow them. 

It is important for all of us to say in good health. At first, remember that the rational nutrition plays here a significant role. The everyday food is supporting our bodies. Thus, it is very important for health to give for body all it needs with meal. Natural vitamins could be a good solution here. There are a lot of high-quality vitamins in fresh greens and non-polluted vegetables. So, you should have them in your everyday ration. They are useful for adults as well as for children. If you will no have any vitamins then your organism will be weak and you can easily get sick. 

The definition of health has evolved over time. In keeping with the biomedical perspective, early definitions of health focused on the theme of the body's ability to function; health was seen as a state of normal function that could be disrupted from time to time by disease. Then in 1938, in a radical departure from previous definitions, the World Health Organisation (WHO) proposed a definition that aimed high: linking health to well-being, in terms of "physical, mental and social-wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity."

Generally the context in which an individual life is of great importance for both his health status and quality of their life. It is increasingly recognised that health is maintained and improved not only through the advancement and application of health science, but also through the efforts and intelligent lifestyle choices and intelligent lifestyle choices of the individual and society. According to the World Health Organisation, the main determinants of health include the social and economic environment, the physical environment and the person's individual characteristics and behaviours.

References:

• World Health Organization (1958). The first ten years of the World Health Organization. Geneva: WHO.
• Jump^ World Health Organization. WHO definition of Health, Preamble to the Constitution of the World Health Organization as adopted by the International Health Conference, New York, 19–22 June 1946; signed on 22 July 1946 by the representatives of 61 States (Official Records of the World Health Organization, no. 2, p. 100) and entered into force on 7 April 1948. In Grad, Frank P. (2002). "The Preamble of the Constitution of the World Health Organization". Bulletin of the World Health Organization. 80 (12): 982.Jump up
• ^ World Health Organization. (2006). Constitution of the World Health Organization – Basic Documents, Forty-fifth edition, Supplement, October 2006.