Resources

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Self-care is about maintaining a healthy and loving relationship with yourself.

Below are some important ways to practice self-care:

1. Physical activity - Regular exercise like walking, running, skipping, or joining a fitness class improves one's health and mood.

2. Eating healthy - Eat healthy balanced diet and include more fruits and vegetables. Drink a lot of water to stay hydrated. Eating healthy will boost your energy, improve your mood and overall physical health.

3. Sleep is very important - Prioritize your sleep and do your best to have a consistent sleep schedule. sleeping well does the following:

• It helps with emotional regulation.
• It improves your decision making and learning/focus among others.

4. Take a break and free yourself from constant interruption of social media and the internet at regular intervals.

5. Do activities that help you to relax, for example:

• Listening to the music you love.
• Dancing
• Reading the books or genre you love.

6. Build a supportive network - Surround yourself with family, friends or people who are positive, who offer support and comfort and make you feel happy. That is, people who care about you.

7. Practice mindfulness - Research shows that mindfulness leads to more happiness and higher self-esteem, and it lowers anxiety.

8. Journaling - Keep a journal and write down your thoughts, feelings, daily happenings or anything you find interesting. It's a form of mindfulness.

9. Enjoy nature - Research has shown that being in nature or just seeing it diminishes anxiety, stress, and depression. It calms us and even reduces physical pain.

10. Practice gratitude - When you recognize the good things in your life and accomplishments, and you're grateful for them, it boosts your self-esteem, and you love yourself more.

11. Breath work - Do deep breathing exercises. It oxygenates the body and calms down the body which reduces stress and anxiety.

12. Self-care ideas for healthy relationships:

• Set boundaries - This would help you to protect your physical, emotional and mental health.
• Minimize people pleasing - Minimize pleasing people and do something you really want to do.  It's okay to say no sometimes, especially when you need to take care of your well being.