EPISODE TWO TRANSCRIPT

SELF-CARE

Hi everyone! Thank you for tuning back into Healthful! It’s Siluni, your host. Now in the last episode, I spoke about what it really means to become a healthy person, and one thing you need to do is care for your community, but before you go into doing that, you need to take care of yourself and make sure you are in a good place. When you do self-care, you’ll look better, feel better, and do better. You’ll gain good health and confidence. And once you develop a healthy relationship with yourself first, then you can radiate good feelings to others, and help your community. That’s why in this episode, we’ll discuss self-care. Self-care is everything you do to positively impact your well-being, or simply taking care of yourself, because you are important, loved, and valued. The sooner you understand this and take care of yourself the better. There are several areas of self-care: physical, emotional, social, spiritual, personal, and work. Taking care of all these areas will allow you to be at ease, in a good place, happier, and healthier. 

Firstly, physical self-care can mean getting enough sleep. You don’t need to be up late on Netflix or on your phone when you have school or work the next day. Do yourself a favor. You also need to do exercising, yoga, stretching, and just as much as getting physical, you also need to take breaks and give yourself rest days from working out. You don’t want to wear yourself out. And if you can’t afford to go to the gym, work out at home by following youtube videos, and go out on walks around your neighborhood to get some fresh air. Working out at first is not easy, so start slow, and don’t feel discouraged, because you’ll get stronger and healthier over time. Also, eat healthier, because you are what you eat. If you eat better, you function better. It doesn’t have to mean you can’t treat yourself to junk food or sweets every now and then. Just cut down, because it can really impact you. There are plenty of nutritious meals that taste amazing. Try out some healthy restaurants, and if you’re not sure what to cook, look up recipes and inspiration online. Make sure you stay hydrated as well. Always have a glass of water on your desk. Physical well-being also means if you don’t feel well, don't hesitate to go to the doctor, don’t miss any appointments, and take your medication. To practice, emotional self-care meditate. Sometimes meditation can be difficult, but you can start by taking a few breaths, and focusing your mind on only the way you are breathing. This is called breathing meditation, and it stops your mind from getting distracted when you are only focusing on your breath. Another thing you can do is practice affirmations. Some good ones are “I am doing my best”, “I love myself”, and “I am worthy”. Write out affirmations like these and keep them at your table or on your fridge. Make yourself believe these affirmations. Show appreciation. Appreciate good health, having good people in your life, freedom, and appreciate yourself. Have gratitude, and be grateful. This leads to more positivity and greater happiness. Lastly, don’t judge anyone. You don’t know what they are going through, and it may not be what it looks like. It may feel good at the moment, but it won’t make you better or healthier in the long run.

Social self-care is activities that will help you build bonds and deepen your relationships with people in your life. With your family, have game nights, movie night, and family dinner. Call, visit, and check-in with your relatives. With friends, host a sleepover, go on trips, or have a picnic. Join a sports team, or school clubs to practice teamwork and bond with your community. Social self-care is so important because spending time with the right people helps us deal with stress, is great for our mental health, and makes us happier overall. Spend time with good people who you feel comfortable with. Even if they are relatives, if you make you uncomfortable, know your boundaries. And still make time for yourself, with relationships, because you can only spread kindness and good feelings if you are in a good place individually first. If you ever feel the need to distance yourself from anyone, do it. Spiritual self-care can mean believing in something that is greater than you. It does not need to be religious, although it can be. You can spend time in nature, and then close your eyes and listen to the sounds around you. Be aware of everything going on around you. Meditate, do yoga, and dedicate time for self-reflection, and ask yourself deep questions about who you are as a person, and your purpose. Spiritual self-care is so important because we can develop a sense of connection to a higher power and find the true meaning in our lives.

Personal self-care is doing things you love, and enjoy, like your hobbies, which can include photography, playing sports, reading, baking, playing an instrument. It also means getting creative, with things like painting, sculpting, drawing, or writing songs. Take time to find yourself, understand your personal identity, and plan and write down your goals. Your goals can be something you want to do or accomplish, or they can be about what type of person you want to become. Try to make your goals realistic, and more specific. Having goals is important because they guide you, and give you a reason to keep going, to strive for them. Your goals will be a motivation to you. Along with goal setting, and doing things you enjoy, try new things, and learn a new skill. Make sure you make time to do things you enjoy, with yourself, and with others. Lastly, we have work or school self-care. Stay organized. Organization helps with productivity, and practice time management. Set a time limit to complete each task, and start your task early. For example, don’t save a homework assignment for the last minute. Plan ahead, and prioritize certain tasks that are most important and urgent. For example, prioritize assignments that are due earlier, or bigger projects that are worth a lot of your grade, and that will take time. Very importantly, stop procastinating. This can be so hard, especially when we don’t like what we are supposed to be doing, and it seems more enjoyable to be on your phone. Instead, commit to your task, and promise yourself a reward if you really stay commited without procrastinating.

You can also ask someone to come check in on you every now and then. They can remind you if they see you procrastinating. But the most important of all, is to identify what is the main thing that is distracting you, and do something about it. If it is your family, being loud, let them know they are distracting you, and move to a quiet room. If it is your phone, turn off notifications, or best of all, turn it off, just until you finish a task. It can greatly increase your productivity.

To practice self-care, make sure you pay attention to all these areas in your everyday life. Just know that you are valued, loved, and important, so you need take care of yourself. I’ll help you start off. Right now, write a list of things you love about yourself and your goals, go outside, read a book, turn off your phone, and do something better, paint, listen to music, give yourself a massage, or drink a glass of water. You can choose some of those to do right now to start yourself off and get yourself in the habit of daily self-care. I hope this episode was helpful to you, and I highly encourage you to follow these tips to become a healthier person. Make sure to follow us on social media, and check out the website, which now has episode transcripts. Email us with any suggestions, questions, or concerns. Thank you so much for tuning into Healthful. Stay safe, and take care of yourself. I’m Siluni and this was Healthful with new episodes every other Saturday.