She Can Heal Podcast

Ep. 36 - Physical Self-Care: The Importance of Caring for Your Body

• Keila Aldea, LCSW • Season 2 • Episode 36

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Your body is the only one you'll ever have—are you treating it with the care and respect it deserves? In this illuminating episode, we explore the essential components of physical self-care and why they form the foundation of your overall well-being.

 Physical self-care encompasses everything we do to maintain and improve our physical health, recognizing our body's needs and responding with kindness and intention. It serves as the foundation for resilience and optimal functioning in daily life.

• Sleep and rest are crucial for brain function, emotional regulation, and physical repair
• Consuming nutritious whole foods directly impacts energy, mood, and overall health
• Regular movement strengthens the cardiovascular system and improves mental health
• Preventive healthcare through regular checkups catches issues before they become serious
• Listening to your body's signals and responding with compassion prevents burnout
• Physical self-care creates ripple effects that enhance mental and emotional wellbeing
• Small, consistent actions create significant long-term health benefits
• Your body is your lifelong vessel - it deserves intentional care and respect

Join me next week when we continue this self-care series with a deep dive into emotional self-care and discover how to nurture your inner well-being.

Episode Resources

Why We Sleep by Mathew Walker PhD

Sleep Smarter by Shawn Stevenson

90-day Self-Growth Journal - A great companion you can use on your healing journey. For 90 days you will have daily prompts on the topics of self-love, self-care and gratitude.  This journal is great for beginners, novice and anyone that wants to dive deeper into their true selves.   https://amzn.to/4fk14sq

Ready to nurture your mind, body, and spirit? Get our FREE Self-Care Challenge

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to another episode on the she Can Heal podcast. Thank you so much for joining me for today's conversation, because we're going to continue our discussion on self-care. Last week, I shared the foundation what is self-care, why it's so important for us. So if you didn't get a chance to listen to that, make sure that you listen to that, because I really talk about all the benefits and how it really helps us to become resilient. And so for the next couple of weeks, I'm going to break it down and I'm going to talk about the different parts of self-care. So we'll talk about physical, emotional, spiritual, and I may add one at the end that I also think is really important, which is financial self-care. So we shall see if we get there. So today we're going to talk all about what is physical self-care. So we shall see if we get there. So today we're going to talk all about what is physical self-care, why is it so important and how can we practically, you know, add physical self-care into our habits and into our days? So please keep listening so that you can learn more. All right, so the number one thing that I wanted to cover is what exactly is physical self-care? I'm sure by the name, you're probably thinking it has something to do with my physical self, and that is correct.

Speaker 1:

Physical self-care really encompasses everything that you do to maintain and improve your physical health. It's all about recognizing your body's needs. It's responding to them with kindness and intention. It's not just about addressing problems when they arise. Physical self-care really is what you want to do to prevent, right? It's to be proactive when you are supporting your own body's optimal function. It's all about respecting your body. So physical self-care is doing activities that ensure that we are in good physical health. So it has everything to do with how we take care of our bodies and our bodies are our vehicles which allows us to perform our daily tasks from the day we were born to the day we die. We have a duty to take care of our bodies and to make sure that we have the highest possible quality of life. It is necessary to keep our bodies active and provide them with high quality energy and rest and recharge our bodies when necessary.

Speaker 1:

And some of the things that self-care includes things such as fueling your body with the right types of food, being hydrated to help your body function properly, being physically active most days, going to well checkups, medical attention when necessary. I know this is a big one for a lot of us where we don't go to our regular checkups. There's so many clients that I speak to that they just don't go to the doctors or they have huge gaps of time between doctor appointments. You're not feeling okay. It is really getting the help that you need so that you can be okay, so that you don't let things kind of just go on and on and by the time you get to the doctors it's become something so much bigger that you could have prevented by going to the doctor earlier. It's getting enough rest, it's taking breaks when needed. It is so much more.

Speaker 1:

It is, you know, doing all of the things that we need to do in order to feel physically well and to be healthy, and so I wanted to talk to you about the reasons why. Why is physical self-care so important. I mean, I just named all the things that it encompasses, and I'm sure that you are getting the idea of how important it really is. When I think about physical self-care, I think about taking care of our bodies so that we prevent illness, we prevent ourselves from having to, you know, lose energy and not feel well enough to do other things that we want to do. And just like I spoke I think it was two episodes ago when I was talking about you know how we can do things now. In order to feel, to be strong and to have energy when we're a lot older, physical self-care is necessary. It is very necessary for us to take care of ourselves on a daily basis to prevent ourselves from being sick, from preventing illness and disease, and just to be able to function fully in the best way possible.

Speaker 1:

And the other thing about physical self-care is that how you take care of your body also affects your mental health. So if you are not exercising, if you're not getting enough sleep, if you're not drinking enough water, if you're eating a lot of, you know, unhealthy processed foods, that is going to affect the way that you feel, it's going to affect your mood. So this has a lot to do with our mental health as well. So this is why this is so important. And so let's talk about the key benefits.

Speaker 1:

The key benefits are number one you're going to have improved physical health. So when you are moving your body on a regular basis, when you are fueling your body with good, nutritious foods, when you're getting enough sleep, it actually makes your health so much better. It improves your immune system, it reduces the risk of chronic diseases and it boosts your energy levels. It also is going to help you to have a healthy weight, which is really important in order to be healthy and well and to have strength and energy. It improves your cardiovascular health, which is so important, right, our heart health, especially for us women, because as we age, we start noticing that you know we do suffer from you know issues with our heart, and it enhances our physical stamina. So, overall, by just doing the, by taking care of your physical body, you're going to help yourself in all these different areas when it comes to your physical health, like I mentioned earlier.

Speaker 1:

The second thing is it enhances your mental and your emotional well-being. So physical self-care is going to help you to reduce stress, anxiety and symptoms of depression. It's going to help you to promote relaxation. It's going to improve your mood, it's going to improve feelings of wellbeing, all by doing those habits that are so important to keep our physical body healthy. The third thing is it increases your productivity and your focus, because when you take care of your physical needs, you're going to have more energy and mental clarity to tackle daily tasks. I think about when we don't listen to our bodies and we don't give our bodies the rest that it needs to restore ourselves, when we don't give ourselves those seven to eight hours of sleep, we are going to struggle. It is going to affect us in energy wise. It's going to affect us in thinking and mental clarity and doing everything that we need to do. So it's just taking care of your body, doing the things that we need to do to help our body function the best, is going to just make you feel so much more productive. You're going to be able to do things so much more easier than it is if you are neglecting your physical health.

Speaker 1:

Prevention of burnout Regular self-care helps replenish your energy. It prevents physical, mental and emotional exhaustion. So you're preventing yourself from burnout, from feeling this overall fatigue and exhaustion, because again you are taking the steps to take care of your body. And it's so important because again, it's not just about the outside right, it's really taking care of your full body, inside and out, and it's going to help us to feel so much better. So what am I saying? I am saying that physical self-care is a foundation element to having a healthy and fulfilling life. By prioritizing your physical needs, you create a strong, more resilient version of yourself that is going to help you to be able to navigate life challenges easier. Right, you're not going to be struggling so much because you are taking care of your vessel, which is our physical body.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so now let's talk about what are some areas that we need to focus on, what are some really important tips and habits that are going to help us in to incorporate better taking care of our physical self. Okay, incorporate better taking care of our physical self Okay. So the number one place that we're going to start is sleep. Number one is prioritize sleep. I'm going to say prioritize sleep, slash rest right, we're going to put it in the same kind of container, because number one is that sleep is extremely, extremely important for so many reasons, and I just don't think that many of us give ourselves the time to really get those seven to nine hours of quality sleep each night.

Speaker 1:

I hear from so many clients who struggle with sleep for a variety of different reasons, and I see how much it affects their ability to work the right way, to feel energized, to have motivation. There's just so much that sleep really does for us that it is crucial. It is just a critical habit that we really need to get better at, and so it's all about engaging in the habits that help you to have better sleep, and I wanted to also talk about what's so important about sleep right? So why is sleep so critical? Number one is brain function. Sleep plays such an important role in helping to consolidate your memories, processing information, enhancing your cognitive functioning. It supports your attention, your concentration, your decision-making, and lack of sleep really impairs these cognitive processes, leading to decreased performance and increased errors. When we don't get enough sleep, it affects the way that we are able to think and focus and concentrate, because the brain hasn't had the chance to do its work, clean out what it needs to do. So brain function is number one, and I see this a lot with so many students and even adults. So brain function.

Speaker 1:

Two is physical health. So sleep allows the body to repair and to regenerate tissue, muscles and cells. It strengthens the immune system, making you less susceptible to illness. It helps to regulate hormones that control your appetite, your metabolism, your growth. Adequate sleep reduces the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and obesity. Don't take it from me this is information that I've gathered by doing research on why it's so important. There's a lot of really good books for sleep that I would definitely recommend and I'll definitely link them in the show notes, because when you hear someone talk about like these experts talk about how sleep really helps you, you will truly understand. That's why I really, really, really encourage my clients to take the habits to do what they need to do in order to get better sleep. It also helps your emotional well-being. It's essential for regulating mood and your emotions, and lack of sleep can really lead to you feeling very irritable. It leads to anxiety, depression. Sufficient sleep really promotes emotional resilience and improves your coping mechanisms. So those are all the most important reasons why we need to sleep more.

Speaker 1:

And when I say sleep slash rest, I'm talking about Not just getting your seven to nine hours of sleep. I'm talking about, in your day, finding times where you can give yourself moments of rest, and that could be two to three minutes, you know, in the middle of your day, to just close your eyes and you focus on your breath. It could be sitting outside and, you know, taking in the sun and the fresh air. It could be getting home from work and just giving yourself a couple minutes to just rest and to just like settle yourself before you're moving on to the next thing, you know. So it's really important that it's not just sleep but rest is also really, really important, and it's something that, like I also encourage, because it is crucial for you to let your mind and your body get some rest from the day. So not only sleeping your seven to nine hours of sleep but really how can you incorporate these moments of rest in your day, these little breaks and again, it's not about having 30 minutes every couple of hours. Sometimes it is taking just a minute to just close your eyes and literally just breathe. Or it is to just go get a cup of water or sip on your you know your bottled water. Just literally just sit there and just focus just on drinking your water. Believe it or not, that does so much. It's so much benefits to us when we can give ourselves these little micro moments of rest as well. So sleep and rest are crucial.

Speaker 1:

Number two is your diet Nourishing your body with healthy food. Food is fuel, food is medicine, and it's so important that we eat more whole, nutritious foods and less processed, sugary foods. That shows that what you put into your body absolutely affects the way that you feel, it affects your energy levels, it affects your mood, and so really paying attention to your body and really it's helping yourself to start making choices that are healthy for you. Because, if you think about it, a lot of the foods that we eat especially if you're a busy person and you're eating out a lot of those foods are just really loaded with a lot of chemicals, a lot of oils, and that really does not do anything good for our bodies. It really creates a lot of just inflammation. It creates a lot of problems with us, with our gut health and digestion, creates a lot of problems with us, with our gut health and digestion, and it really does affect the way that you feel.

Speaker 1:

Think about going out to eat somewhere. You had a big burger, fries, and how do you feel afterwards? You usually do not feel good. You feel bloated, you feel overly full, you feel really tired, and so this is another really important area when we're thinking about our physical self-health is self-care, is fueling our bodies with foods that are nutrition, and we really want to work on having whole, unprocessed foods like fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains.

Speaker 1:

Fiber is a huge one, if I'm really passionate about number two is because this is kind of where I'm at. I am trying so hard to make so much better choices with what I'm putting into my body, and so, especially as a middle I don't want to call myself middle age, but you know middle forties we really have to think about what we're putting into our bodies. And fiber is absolutely necessary, protein is necessary, and so it's really identifying what is it that I need to? Where can I make better choices? Where can I make changes? I mean, for me, I know it was fiber. I was not eating a lot of vegetables. I know it was fiber. I was not eating a lot of vegetables. I wasn't eating a lot of, you know, foods that are really rich in fiber.

Speaker 1:

And so it's really helping yourself to assess yourself and kind of say where is it that I'm at so that I, that we can learn how to avoid? Or you know, we're not saying you have to completely get rid of your everything that you're eating, but it's really assessing yourself and saying to yourself where could I start? Where could I start? Maybe, like, for me it was eating more veggies, and so I I said to myself, I'm going to eat more vegetables at some of my meals, like I started having, you know, peppers inside of my scrambled egg, which I never used to do, having a side salad with my dinner, and so it's really you know making those small choices.

Speaker 1:

Maybe it's sugary drinks, maybe you are a person that has a lot of sugary drinks, and sugar is definitely something that you really need to monitor. Sugar is so toxic to our bodies it's ridiculous how bad sugar is and how much sugar is in a lot of things that we eat and drink. And so, for you, if you're saying you know what that's an area I want to focus on, then maybe it's incorporating more water and incorporating more drinks that are low in sugar, and really understanding how important hydration really is for us, and incorporating drinking more water, putting more electrolytes in our waters, and really it's all about what am I putting into my body. If I am assessing myself and noticing I am not eating enough fruits and vegetables, then how can I add that into my diet? If I am assessing myself and noticing I am not eating enough fruits and vegetables, then how can I add that into my diet? If I notice that I'm not really drinking enough water, how can I increase the water that I do drink so that I can be closer to where I need to be. It's saying to yourself maybe I need to meal plan, maybe I need to when I go grocery shopping, I will shop for foods that are whole, nutritious foods, so I can have those on hand. So this is another important area and I absolutely think that we all can make small little changes to start incorporating better choices to fuel our body.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so let's move on to number three, which is another important part of physical self-care, and that is to move your body regularly. I can't stress this one enough, but it's not about doing anything extravagant like running a marathon or lifting you know, power lifting or anything like that. It's really finding activities that you enjoy, whether it's walking, whether it's yoga, dancing, swimming and really aiming to move your body at least 30 minutes a day, if possible, moderate to moderate intensity most days of the week. Even short bursts of movements can make a big difference. Exercise is absolutely critical.

Speaker 1:

There's so many benefits to moving our bodies. Some of them are regular physical exercise strengthens your heart, improves your blood circulation, reduces, like your heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure. Exercise strengthens your muscles, your bones. It improves your posture, your balance, your flexibility. It also reduces the risk of things like osteoporosis, arthritis. It improves your immune system, so physical activity can boost your immune system, making your body more resistant to infections and illnesses. It reduces chronic diseases, so moving regularly lowers the risk of developing, like type 2 diabetes, certain types of cancers and other chronic conditions. It increases energy levels. While it might seem counterintuitive, physical activity can actually increase energy levels and reduce fatigue. I can tell you that that is absolutely true. No matter how tired I am or how I don't want to go and go to the gym or go for a walk, I always feel better. I always feel more energized. It improves your mood, it reduces stress, it enhances cognitive functioning and there's just so much, so many benefits that I can go on and on and on about why it's important to include physical exercise into your day.

Speaker 1:

And again, it's about thinking for yourself. You know your, your schedule, your routine, what's going to work for you, and you can always just start go for a walk. You can start with something like morning yoga, you can start with just, you know, moving your body. Anyway. One of the things I personally like to do is I aim for a specific step count. You know, over and over and over I see a lot of you know experts talking about how important it is just to move your body more through just getting more steps in your day. So, for instance, if you notice that you only get like 4,000 steps per day, you might say you know what? I'm going to bump that up to 5,000 steps per day until you can get to a pace that is really good for you. Most of the time it's between 6,000 to 10,000 steps, depending on where you are age-wise and physically wise. But you got to start somewhere. I would say start somewhere.

Speaker 1:

One of the things that I hear a lot about is going for a walk after each meal. So after you have breakfast, going for a 10 minute walk, lunch, dinner. Sometimes it's going for a walk at your break time. So go for that 10 minute walk at break or 20 minute walk at your at your break. That 10 minute walk at break or 20 minute walk at your at your break Um, you know, before, um, when you get home now it's lighter out going for a walk. Um, if you feel like you're, you're ready to incorporate more like weights, it's, you know, buying yourself some weights. You don't have to go and buy, pay for a gym membership. Just go to Walmart, go to a local store and get yourself some weights that feel good to you and just start incorporating some type of weightlifting for yourself, no matter what you do, no matter if it's going for a walk, no matter if it's lifting weights, no matter if it's doing yoga. You are doing something that is going to help your body to feel healthy. You're going to increase your energy and you're just going to feel so much better.

Speaker 1:

So moving your body regularly is another critical habit when you're talking about taking care of your physical body. Okay, so let's move on to number four, and number four is scheduling regular checkups. Okay, we're talking about prevention here. We're talking about taking care of our bodies so that we can feel healthy, we can feel energized, we can feel able to do all the things we need to do. And absolutely, absolutely Going to your regular checkups is another important habit that we need to start doing better with.

Speaker 1:

So it's not about waiting until you're sick, it's not about you get injured. It's about regularly scheduling your medical appointments. That means making sure you're getting a physical every year, making sure that you are getting a dental check physical every year, making sure that you are getting a dental checkup every year. Believe it or not, your dental health is critical too. It can cause things. I mean, I've heard stories of someone you know it affecting their heart because of bacteria that leaks into your blood system and it goes to your heart. Your dental health is absolutely important.

Speaker 1:

Getting your eyes checked, you know, for us women is so important to make sure that we're going for our annual GYN appointment. It's, you know, if it's time for your mammograms is to go. And you know, get those preventative exams done so that you can be well, so that you can take care of yourself and you can catch anything that may not be well. I mean, I have a client who right now her blood sugars are really high and she hasn't been to the doctors in two years and right now it is just catching up with her. So it's really important that you get those regular checkups and also, if you're not feeling good, if something doesn't seem right, call up your doctor and make an appointment. Don't wait until it's too late, don't wait until it's really bad. Get your regular checkups and make sure that you are getting checked if you're not feeling good, if you're not okay and this is another one that I would say where, if you're not feeling good, if you're not okay and this is another one that I would say where, if you're not feeling good, give yourself what you need to. If you are feeling under the weather, stay home, get rest, fuel yourself with foods that are going to help you to get better.

Speaker 1:

Don't push yourself to do things when you are not doing well because your body probably just needs a break. Your body, you are not doing well because your body probably just needs a break. Your body is telling you. Listening to your body is important. It's telling you something's not right. Why don't we slow it down? Why don't we take a break so that your health doesn't continue to deteriorate? Okay, so the last area that we're going to cover is listening to your body. This is really, really important, because it's so important that we pay attention to our body signals, which means, if you're feeling tired, rest. If you're experiencing pain, address it. Don't push yourself beyond your limits. Address it, don't push yourself beyond your limits.

Speaker 1:

Learning to recognize the differences between pushing through a challenge and ignoring a legitimate need for rest or care is not good for you, and that's also important when you are feeling stress, if you are noticing that you're feeling overwhelmed, if you're noticing that you're feeling stressed, if you're noticing that, like your body just feels really, really tired because you've just done too much in the day, give yourself what you need, making sure that you say to yourself today has been a really heavy physical day, emotional day, whatever it is, and I'm going to give myself some rest today. Maybe I'm going to go to bed a little bit early, maybe I'm going to order out so that I'm not having to cook today, maybe it's doing something relaxing at the end of my day, such as reading, maybe doing some yoga, meditation to really help you, because chronic stress can take its toll on your physical health. So it's so important to find healthy ways to manage your stress and doing things that feel good to you. You know, for some people that's meditation and for some people it's going for those much needed walks in nature. For some people it's, you know, taking a nap or doing something that is very just relaxing and calming, and really it's paying attention. Don't ignore when your body is telling you I've had too much. Don't ignore pains. Don't ignore things when they just don't feel right. You know your body.

Speaker 1:

So really important is to not ignore your signals, to really listen to your body and give your body what it needs in that specific moment. You know, and that includes, you know, do I need some restorative activities? Right, the ones that help your body to recover and recharge, you know, is that taking a warm bath? Is it going to bed a little early? You know, maybe I've noticed that. You know, I've been feeling a lot more tired lately. Maybe I've been feeling more fatigued lately. Maybe I've been that you know I've been feeling a lot more tired lately. Maybe I've been feeling more fatigued lately. Maybe I've been feeling bloated a lot lately. Maybe I need to go and you know, make an appointment with a doctor so that I can really see what's going on.

Speaker 1:

So it's really important that you don't ignore the signs and actually listen to the signals that your body is telling you and give yourself what it needs. Don't ignore it. You are too important and remember your body is your vessel, like this is the only body that you're going to have, and so you have to take care of it, because if you don't, what's going to happen is it's going to catch up with you, and it's really sad to see. You know, hear stories of people who are older who are experiencing so many health problems because they didn't take care of their bodies. You know, earlier on they weren't exercising their bodies and now, you know, they have all these physical health symptoms. They weren't paying attention to themselves and they have all this stress and anxiety and depression and they have to be on all this medication. So it's really so important for us to take care of our physical selves, because this is the body that you have. This body is all you have. You can't go and exchange it for another one.

Speaker 1:

And also remind yourself that when I take care of my body, when I am getting enough rest, when I'm putting really good foods into my body, when I'm getting enough water, when I'm doing things that I truly enjoy, when I am, you know, addressing my health I'm going to regular checkups and all of that you are going to feel so much better. You're going to have more energy. You're just going to feel better. You're going to feel more motivated to do things you need to do. You're just going to feel so much better than you were. I know that for me, when I started taking more proactive habits into my life, I have started to feel so much better, right, when I started to eat better food and when I started to incorporate more exercise and more movement into my day. That has really helped me to feel so much better.

Speaker 1:

And even on the days that you don't feel good, really coming back into your body and saying what is it that I need will really help you to feel better. Because, again, not only are you prioritizing yourself, but you're doing it with self-compassion. Right, you're coming to yourself with kindness and you're saying I am feeling stressed, I'm feeling overwhelmed, I'm going to give myself the afternoon to just rest. Or I'm just not going to go into work today and I'm actually going to just sleep in and I'm just going to have a restful day. Or maybe it's I'm going to schedule that massage that I've been putting off for so long. Or I'm going to go for that walk today. It's a beautiful day, the sun is shining. I'm going to go for the walk and give yourself exactly what you need, because you are important and you need to learn how to treat yourself better, healthier, so that you can feel your absolute best.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so, to wrap this up, physical self-care is everything that you do to take care of your physical body and I talked about. Number one is getting enough sleep and rest, making sure that you are prioritizing sleep, because sleep helps your body, helps your brain to function so much better. It is focusing on what you're fueling your body with, so really being mindful of putting things into your body that are good for you and starting to assess what can you remove for your diet so that you can feel a lot more better and you can feel healthier. Number three is moving your body regularly, no matter where you are. Right now, you can start to incorporate more movement in your day. Even if it's something as simple as taking a 10 minute walk every day maybe it's, you know, doing some yoga. Whatever it is that you can do to incorporate more movement in your day is going to be absolutely helpful to your physical health.

Speaker 1:

Number four is getting regular checkups not waiting until something bad happens, but really scheduling those annual preventative exams so that you can make sure that you're doing well physically. And the last one is listening to your body, so giving yourself what you need, no matter if it's rest, no matter if it's relaxation, but really listening to your body so that you can be well and feel your absolute best. And so I want to thank you so much for being here and listening to today's episode, and I encourage you to use this information to start to assess yourself in the area of physical self-care and really think to yourself what are some things that I can start incorporating into my day so that I can do better at taking care of my body. Okay, so that's all for today's episode. Please come back next week because we are going to continue this conversation and we're going to talk about the importance of emotional self-care. So please come back, hit the subscribe button so you don't miss the episode and I will talk to you next week. Take care.