The Importance of Taking Care of Yourself

February is here, and with it comes Valentine’s day. This month is all about showing appreciation and love for the people who mean the most to you. Whether it’s through flowers, chocolate, or cards, I’m betting there’s somebody in your life you’re planning to go the extra mile to show them how much you love them!

One thing should be taken into consideration though: are you taking care of yourself? Are you showing self-love and appreciation to yourself? 

If not, maybe 2021 can be the year you begin doing that! You’ve heard the age-old phrase, “You can’t love anyone until you love yourself thoroughly.” Everyone reacts differently to this quote, however, one thing is certain: until you love yourself, and take care of your health, there’s no way you can properly love or appreciate the life you lead. 

We put together the following list of key points to keep in mind this month as you focus on loving and appreciating others, in the hopes that you’ll remember to take care of the number one person in your life: YOU!

Accept Your Body for What It Is and Learn Self-Love

We are given one body in this lifetime. You cannot go to the store to exchange it, you can’t rewind time when something goes wrong with your health, and you certainly can’t click your heels together and wish for a new one! It’s important to learn the values of self-love, and to accept your body for what it is: a hard-working vessel that is doing its best to keep you alive!

You are the most beautiful the way nature made you. Accepting your body for what it is and all of its abilities is the first step in having full self-love!

Listen to Your Body

Everybody is as unique as a fingerprint, every behavior has a root cause, and every feeling is pathophysiological. Listen to it carefully. As we grow, we tend to learn a lot about our own bodies through various day to day experiences. Some of us are more attentive to our physical well-being, some are attuned to mental, some are to both and some are to none. Whichever way you are, accept yourself like that.

All too often, people go years without seeing their primary care doctor for a check-up. Meanwhile, any pain noticed (or unnoticed) is worsening without any intervention, and their health is declining! Listen to your body. Are there things you used to be able to do with comfort that you can no longer accomplish now without experiencing lasting aches and pains? Are there things you used to be able to eat or drink that no longer agree with your system? Don’t ignore signs and symptoms when you experience them. Be proactive with early intervention and preventative care so that you can keep your body running in the best shape possible. 

Schedule a preventative full body screening appointment with your Physical Therapy doctor after scheduling one with your primary care doctor.

Treat Your Body with Respect

Our bodies are our temples, and we should honor them as such! Pain is our body’s language. If you are having any pain, albeit a minor one, still listen to it. Pain is an indication of dysfunction. When something is out of sync then you start having aches and pains at one or more places such as your head, jaw, shoulders, neck, back, hips, knees, feet, ankles, arms, elbows, wrist, or palms. Try listening to your body, be nice to it and give it a little love. Take care of your body. 

Often, we take the easy way and look up the internet on our symptoms. There is a plethora of information these days, you either get very afraid by self-diagnosing it and/or get confident taking care of it by yourself. However, without a licensed healthcare practitioner’s knowledge, you might be harming your body inadvertently.

Don’t Ignore Your Pain

Accepting your body as it is, does NOT mean accepting your pain. 

Natural wear and tear happens to all physical beings. As we get older, it can be easy to assume that the aches and pains we feel are a natural part of aging. Many people accept their pain far too quickly and don’t even question its presence, choosing instead to believe it’s just something they’ll have to put up with from now on. 

This is far from the truth. Don’t ignore your pain! This goes hand in hand with listening to your body; what do you think your pain is telling you? Something is wrong! 

Whether it’s growing pains when our muscles are elongating to catch up to our overnight bone growth, arthritis pain in your bones and joints, or myofascial body aches and pains, it’s never something that you should try to ignore or hope it will dissipate on its own. 

Call the Clinic Today to Act on Self-Love

Jeevam Therapy can help you if you notice you’re having unexplained pain. Visiting a Doctor of Physical Therapy for care can even be seen as an act of self-love because you’re taking an active interest in your well being and doing something to improve it. Make an appointment for a full-body screening or a consult today. We do your physical screening in a holistic manner.

This month, we invite you to treat your body the same way you plan on treating the ones you love. We hope that you’ll take these tips into consideration and continue with your self-love journey long after February and Valentine’s day is over!

Tags: health, physical therapy, health and wellness, healthy tips, self love, love, care