Do you have 5 minutes to take care of yourself?

5 practical tips to take better care of yourself. Have you given time to take care of yourself?

Hello friends!

These days ago I read a very interesting post on a foreign website, which gave 5 tips to start taking care of ourselves. Although it’s curious that we spend time taking care of a million other things, sometimes it gets to the point where we don’t even have 5 minutes to take care of ourselves, right?

What I liked about the text was that you can combine the useful with the pleasant. Take care of yourself despite the weather. After all, afterwards, we end up seeing that we also need to do what Jung called “feed the soul” or “be at the service of the soul”, that is, dedicate the affection and dedication that we give, for example, to work and to people that we love our being.

Tip 1) Learn to be silent (mental and environmental)

This simple tip shouldn’t even have to be mentioned, as silence always helps to calm and reassure us, as well as giving immense clarity to think, solve problems and make decisions.

However, as we know, few want or manage to silence their thoughts.

The tip, then, is to provoke external silence for a period of time from 1 to 5 minutes (as far as possible). Turn off TV, sound and muffle any external noise. This will help elicit inner silence.

Another tip that also works is to keep your attention focused on bodily sensations. One of the most incredible techniques of behavioral psychology for relaxation teaches us to go from head to toe, that is, pay attention in an upward direction, relaxing each muscle as much as possible.

When changing the focus to the sensations, the tendency – with practice – is for the mind to become silent until reaching the point where we are able to remain silent in the midst of a crowd or a large noisy metropolis.

A simple and effective way is to train meditation, as in the video below:

Tip 2) Affirmations

The so-called self-help literary industry has long declared the benefits of affirmations. Affirmations are phrases that are sent as a kind of mantra throughout the day.

For example, Louise Hay, the famous bestselling author, recommends that everyone say the phrase “I love myself” hundreds of times throughout the day.

Despite the criticisms that can be made (by self-criticism) or by epistemological (scientific) issues, it seems irrefutable that what we think changes our way of feeling and acting.

It didn’t take long for Aaron Beck’s cognitive psychology to prove that cognition precedes affect. In other words, our emotions and bodily sensations follow what we think.

So if we’re going to be thinking about a lot of things during the day, why not allow yourself to think positive phrases about yourself?

See – 50 phrases to gain self-confidence

Tip 3) Read more

I’ve always liked the metaphor that reading a book is like listening to what the author thinks. Thus, we can get in touch with the way of seeing the world of human beings as fantastic and genius as Plato or Aristotle or Fernando Pessoa.

Regardless of your preferred author at the moment, dedicate a daily time to reading. You will gain in knowledge, you will have many more stories to tell (and this way it will be more interesting), in addition to the obvious benefits for cognition and memory.

Tip 4) Write more

In the old days, girls had the excellent habit of writing diaries. The younger generations started to write in blogs (a craze in the 90’s and beginning of this century). With the charm of social networks, it seems to me that this wave has subsided – which is very bad news.

Writing is a complementary activity to reading. A good part of the meaning of reading is gaining knowledge, and a good part of writing is having your own opinion (whether for or against what you read).

Another advantage is that you can express your emotions and feelings, getting in touch with an unknown region of yourself that we call the unconscious in psychology.

You can decide if you want to write for yourself or if you want to spread what you wrote. Either way – with different purposes – the practice of writing is an excellent exercise for self-knowledge.

And, last but not least, with the internet is it even possible to partner with Google and earn money? You knew?

See more – How to make money online blogging

Tip 5) Discover a non-repetitive physical exercise

According to the most recent neuroscience research on happiness, exercising regularly is a simple and effective recipe for increasing our level of happiness.

However, with an addendum: physical exercises that are not repetitive. For example, walking random circuits is better than circular circuits or walking on treadmills.

The novelty of the environment awakens neurotransmitters linked to feelings of well-being.

I particularly like Pilates. See – Why you should do Pilates – Tips and Benefits

Conclusion

With the exception of the last tip, which may take a little more time than 5 minutes, all the tips mentioned in the text can be done in 5 minutes. And, in fact, it’s even possible to take short walks between breaks in everyday activities.

The bottom line is that we can and even should take the time to take care of our body and soul. As the Greek saying goes: “A healthy mind in a healthy body”.

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