Giulia Ralph is a qualified Nutritionist, Strength & Conditioning Coach, Weightlifting Coach, and Personal Trainer. She has a Bachelor of Health Science in Nutrition and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Human Nutrition.
The World Health Organization defines self-care as individuals’ ability to preserve and promote their health. It can also play an active and necessary role in disease prevention (1). To lead a holistic life, you need to be complete in physical, mental, and social well-being. A balance achieved in all areas should be equally valuable to each other to reach optimal well-being. In this article, we’ll be focusing on physical self-care, taking every other component of self-care and well-being into consideration. Read below to learn about the 7 pillars of self-care, 10 self-care strategies you can use, and the importance of physical self-care.
Physical self-care involves any components that contribute to your health and the function of the physical body. Basically, it deals with all the building blocks that are required to maintain physical health. While physical activity seems to be the most obvious component of physical self-care, other underlying components also exist. Sleep, nutrition, mindfulness, and personal hygiene all add to optimum physical health. Physical self-care is the most important component of self-care – it leads on into all other dimensions of well-being, linking into mental self-care and emotional self-care (2).
Components are variables of exercise that can be divided into more types, such as muscle-strengthening activities, cardiovascular activities, and flexibility and balance exercises, e.g. yoga or stretching.
Read more: What are Restorative Somatic Relaxation Techniques?
Physical self-care can be divided into seven main components, all of which contribute to overall physical health and well-being. While it may seem exhausting to have to think about meeting seven different categories, by breaking them down, it can be easier than you may think (2).
Any physical activity is better than none, and more can be even better. The good news is that any kind of movement and activity can contribute toward daily physical activity, not just structured exercise.
To support and promote overall health and well-being, the World Health Organization recommends that all adults engage in at least 150 to 300 minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week, or 75-150 minutes of vigorous intensity activity. For children and adolescents, an average of 60 minutes of moderate aerobic physical activity per day is recommended (3).
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Your eating habits and food intake can directly influence your physical health, including playing a direct role in body weight. Maintaining a balanced diet with a healthy eating pattern will help support a healthy body weight. Conversely, eating excessive amounts beyond your daily energy needs, consuming a lot of ultra-processed and nutritionally poor foods, and eating at irregular times can all negatively impact your body weight and are all factors that can lead to becoming overweight or obese (4).
Sleep is essential for maintaining optimal physical health and can directly influence various important health outcomes. Adequate sleep (7-8 hours per day) supports cardiovascular health, helps regulate blood sugar levels to prevent diabetes, and helps you maintain a healthy weight (5). Inadequate sleep can lead to a higher risk of health issues such as heart disease and obesity. Maintaining a consistent sleep routine and ensuring an adequate amount of sleep is achieved each night can help protect against adverse health outcomes and promote overall physical and mental well-being.
Being well-hydrated is another key aspect of overall health and contributes toward physical health and self-care. Water plays a crucial role in maintaining physical health by (6):
Personal hygiene is another key aspect that underpins physical self-care. The importance of maintaining good personal hygiene is perhaps not immediately thought of when thinking about physical health. However, by reading the key areas below, its importance will become more obvious. Practicing good personal hygiene can (7):
Reasons why medical check-ups are important (8):
Relaxation techniques such as mindfulness can help (9):
Read more: Meditative Movement: How Mindfulness and Exercise Work Together
In addition to the core components discussed above, here are 10 practical self-care practices you can easily incorporate into your daily routine:
Even just 30 minutes of exercise such as walking can have a positive impact on your mood and health.
Establishing healthy eating patterns, including a balanced diet and adequate hydration, can support energy levels and focus throughout the day.
Sleep is a crucial part of optimal health and well-being. Establishing a consistent sleep routine that ensures an adequate amount of sleep each night will support your overall health and well-being (10).
Incorporating mindfulness and meditation into your daily routine can help reduce stress and enhance your overall mental clarity and well-being (9). These are just a few simple examples of emotional self-care that you can seamlessly incorporate into your daily routine.
Regular journaling provides an opportunity for self-expression and reflection, which helps you process emotions and gain insights into personal growth.
Maintaining strong social connections is essential for emotional health, providing support, reducing feelings of loneliness, and fostering a sense of belonging.
Engaging in hobbies and interests can boost your mood, reduce stress, and provide a creative outlet that enhances your overall quality of life.
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Establishing and respecting personal boundaries is the key to maintaining healthy relationships and protecting your mental and emotional well-being (11).
Regular self-reflection allows you to assess your progress, understand your emotions, and align your actions with your values and goals.
Practicing gratitude regularly can shift your focus to the positive aspects of life, fostering a greater sense of happiness and contentment.
Read more here about the different forms of self-care.
According to the International Self-Care Foundation (12), the seven pillars of self-care are: Knowledge and health literacy involves understanding health, disease, and self-care. Health literacy is a crucial component as it empowers you to access, understand, and use basic health information properly. People with good health literacy skills make healthier choices, which results in better overall health. Health literacy also helps you recognize and avoid potentially misleading or harmful information. The World Health Organization states that individuals with good health literacy should be able to understand their health, seek relevant information, make positive health decisions, and know when to seek professional advice. Mental well-being encompasses life satisfaction, optimism, self-esteem, feeling in control, having a purpose, and a sense of belonging. According to the World Health Organization, mental health is a state where individuals realize their potential, cope with life’s stresses, work productively, and contribute to their community (1). Self-awareness refers to applying your health knowledge to your personal situation, helping you understand your mental and physical health. Agency is the ability to take action based on this awareness. Both are essential as they form the foundation for self-care, allowing you to identify strengths and areas needing improvement, ultimately leading to better health outcomes. A lack of self-awareness can result in poor health decisions and gradual declines in health, which contribute to non-communicable diseases. The WHO emphasizes the importance of self-awareness as part of health literacy, encouraging actions to improve health. To maintain good mental well-being, it’s important to regularly measure and monitor health metrics, understand personal and family medical histories, and be aware of lifestyle factors that impact your health. This includes knowing your physical activity levels, diet, stress, and how to use self-care products effectively. Pillar 3 emphasizes the importance of physical activity and regular exercise for maintaining good health. Physical activity, which can include any movement, such as structured exercise as well as daily incidental activity, supports optimal health and well-being while lowering the risk of disease. Regular exercise can also help with weight management, stress reduction, better sleep, and improved mental health. The World Health Organization recommends different levels and types of physical activity based on age groups. For example, children and adolescents should engage in at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily, while adults should aim for at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise per week. Older adults are encouraged to include activities that focus on improving balance and muscle-strengthening activities to help with fall prevention. A healthy diet is a significant influencing factor for both your short- and long-term health. Maintaining a healthy eating pattern influences both your physical and mental health and can help reduce the risk of poor health outcomes. On the other hand, poor diets, which can be characterized by the consumption of nutrient-poor, calorie-dense ultra-processed foods, can lead to overweight and obesity, in addition to increasing the risk of developing chronic disease. A balanced diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and healthy fats supports optimal health. Eating habits and food intake also play a significant role in gut health and digestion, which has a strong link to aspects relating to emotional health, such as your mood. The World Health Organization’s guidelines for healthy eating recommend maintaining a healthy weight, increasing your intake of plant-based foods, and reducing your consumption of ultra-processed, nutrient-poor foods, which are often rich in unhealthy fat, sugars, and sodium. Risk avoidance and mitigation encompasses the act of reducing or avoiding behaviors that increase the risk of disease or death. Key actions can include getting vaccinated, quitting smoking, limiting or avoiding alcohol, protecting yourself from the sun, and driving safely. Avoiding high-risk behaviors is essential as it significantly reduces preventable illnesses, injuries, and the risk of death. Personal hygiene practices, such as handwashing, are a simple yet effective action to help minimize the spread of germs. Not only do habits like these help protect your own health, they also help those around you. Another aspect of maintaining good personal hygiene such as keeping a neat presentation through regular grooming, bathing, brushing teeth, and caring for hair and nails, is the increase in self-confidence. When you care for your body, you feel better about yourself, which can positively impact your mental and emotional well-being. This sense of confidence and self-respect can then radiate outwards, affecting how you interact with others and even how you approach your daily life. Therefore, embracing good hygiene is a powerful form of self-care that contributes to your overall health and toward a strong sense of self-assurance and well-being. Responsible use of self-care products and services emphasizes the safe and effective management of health using various tools such as: It’s important to use these products and services appropriately, focusing on quality and safety. Proper use can help maintain health, prevent illnesses, and empower individuals to manage their conditions. However, using products carelessly or overusing medicines can lead to health risks. It’s recommended to always seek appropriate guidance from a healthcare professional and follow their advice. The 8 areas of self-care can be interlinked to the eight different areas of wellness. Wellness is a broad and multifaceted concept that has many components. These include physical health, emotional health, and occupational, intellectual, financial, environmental, social, and spiritual dimensions (13). While some areas may not seem as important, each dimension ultimately has the ability to influence another. For example, when you worry about your finances, this can cause stress and anxiety, which places strain on your emotions. This emotional stress can lead to physical health issues and create significant challenges in your work life. From there, it could progress to starting to question your sense of meaning and purpose. This example highlights the profound impact of financial stress on your overall well-being and how each component is linked. This is why holistic health and wellness is an important consideration. You can read more here about forms of self-care. The four basics of self-care are (14) : The 10-10-10 rule is an approach that encourages reflection and consideration of the impact of decisions and actions over the next 10 minutes, 10 months, and 10 years. By following these methods, you can simplify your approach to self-care and determine what’s important to your long-term health and well-being (15). Consider making your own Self-Care Checklist or read more about it here.Frequently Asked Questions
What are the 7 pillars of self-care?
What are the 8 areas of self-care?
What are the 4 basics of self-care?
What is 10-10-10 self-care?
Physical self-care is an essential aspect of overall well-being and encompasses various practices that support and maintain the health of your body. The seven key strategies for maintaining physical self-care include regular exercise, proper nutrition, adequate sleep, hydration, personal hygiene, routine medical check-ups, and relaxation techniques. Each of these components plays an important role in promoting physical health and influencing all other aspects of health, such as mental and emotional well-being.
Consider utilizing the mentioned practical self-care tips, such as mindfulness, journaling, and establishing healthy boundaries, to help take control and facilitate optimal health. By focusing on consistency and making small, manageable changes, anyone can enhance their physical self-care routine, which can lead to a healthier, more balanced life.
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