Why Running is the Best Self-Care
Your emotional wellbeing is just as important as your physical health.
Unfortunately, mental health often takes a backseat to lifestyle choices, such as working too much and overindulging in alcohol or other drugs.
But it doesn’t have to.
Running is a fantastic form of self-care, and there are other ways to treat yourself well too.
Here are a few easy-to-manage self-care practices that can make you a better version of yourself.
Move Your Body
The benefits of exercise cannot be underscored enough.
Not only is exercise basically preventative maintenance for your muscles, cardiovascular system, and joints, working out also releases chemicals in your brain that make you feel great.
Running has so many benefits and is an especially good form of exercise that prevent diseases, helps you lose weight, and relieves stress.
Want to start running? Try the Free 7-Day Learn to Run Challenge!
Some other fun exercise options: Yoga, swimming and martial arts are other beneficial forms of exercise to consider. Cross training helps too.
Engage Your Creative Side
Enjoying a hobby is a form of self-care that’s often overlooked or relegated to the pile of frivolous activities that don’t enhance our lives. But they do.
Hobbies are an outlet for frustration and a way to help get your life back on track after a personal cycle of setback and victory, such as completing an addiction rehabilitation program.
As a further benefit, especially for those recovering from addiction, depression, or other emotionally jarring life event, having a hobby can help introduce you to a social network of people who share common interests.
Tapping into your creative side gives your brain a chance to refocus. Even if you’re not artistic, other hobbies such as meditation, bird watching and even stamp collecting offer many of the same mental health benefits.
Get Enough Sleep
You might think the amount of sleep you get each night doesn’t really matter.
It does.
Unfortunately, in our ever-on-the-go society, sleep is often the first thing nixed from our schedules.
Sleep stealers, as Big Health refers to the 20 percent of people who forgo sleep because of time constraints, inch ever closer to suffering with insomnia, which can take a toll on overall health.
Give yourself the opportunity to rest and recharge your mind and body. Psychology Today offers tips on getting to bed on time.
Runners especially know how important sleep is to muscle and mental recovery – you wouldn’t sleep just 4 hours the night before a big race, right?
Make an effort to sleep well (all the time) and you’ll see a huge difference in your mental and physical health.
Eat Right and Drink Plenty of Water
Like sleep, a healthy diet gets pushed to the wayside as other obligations sneak into a priority position.
Learn to avoid hitting the drive-thru as you rush about your day. A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products will give you the energy and mental clarity to do things efficiently, which will open time for other things (such as exercise!).
Further, drinking water will help keep you healthy from the inside out.
Consider swapping your second or third cup of coffee with a glass of water, which will help your body remove waste and enhance the digestion process, according to a medically reviewed article posted on Everyday Health.
Learn more about essential nutrition for runners, and how you can drink more water with these hydration hacks.
Just Say No (to People)
If you feel pressured to say yes to every little request at home, work, and within your social circle, it’s time to practice the art of rejection.
You do not have to be everything to everyone and you are not obligated to cut into your personal time to make the lives of others easier.
Saying no may seem limiting or scary but it’s actually free-ing!
Releasing yourself from the pressure of commitment of tons of tasks for other people, and obligations, opens up mental space (and time) to focus on enjoying your life.
And contrary to some public belief…it is very healthy to focus on yourself sometimes and enjoy your own time!
Run it Out
Heard of the “runner’s high”?
It’s real, and so are all those happy endorphins coursing through your body after a good run.
Endorphins boost your mood. They make you happy.
And what is better for self-care than a happy mind and body?
Running is some people’s #1 form of self-care – even when life gets busy, you still run, because it makes you a better person all around.
Here are some important running tips to help you stay motivated, consistent and get better:
Summary
You don’t have to spend a small fortune or quit your job to give yourself the attention you deserve.
These tips are a good way to get started but, ultimately, your self-care routine should make you feel good inside and out and only you know what actions and activities do just that.
Guest post by Brad Krause – learn more about self care and it’s importance to leading a balanced and healthy life at his website: SelfCaring.info
Other Forms of Self-Care for Runners
6 Classic Foam Rolling Moves Every Runner Needs
How to Increase Your Running Endurance
