Whatever makes you feel good about yourself is good for your health.
As we get older, we sometimes worry about not looking as good as we used to or not feeling as great. All of these are sadly realities of ageing that we can’t change completely but we can have some control over. That’s why as we age taking care of ourselves with copious self-care is just so important.
Those moments that we give to ourselves, after so many given to others, are like little presents that remind us that we are still important and loved. One of the downsides of getting older is that people around us are no longer as healthy or as present and there is often a lot of loss of loved ones. It can feel grim and sad at times and loneliness unfortunately is much more a reality the older we get. That’s why the little gifts of self-care that we can give ourselves are so important for helping us to feel better.
Not only does relaxing and taking care of ourselves and allowing ourselves to be taken care of, feel good and help us to look better and stay happier longer, but those moments of downtime are actually really good for our health.
If you’re a typical parent/giver/taker carer of others, your life is filled with moments looking after those around you. This means many moments of concern for the welfare of family/friends/coworkers/clients. It also probably means stress and running around. Or if you’re now older and retired so that those moments of being with others are more seldom, you may not realise that you even deserve the self-care. But those little moments of stopping, breathing, relaxing are essential for your mental and physical well-being. They help the body to rest, digest, relax… And we need a good balance of run vs relax in our lives to age well and stay healthy.
Taking care of you shouldn’t be a guilty pleasure, it should be a daily activity counted towards the bucket of taking care if your health. So go ahead and indulge; it’s good for you! And it’ll help you to stay happier as you age and happiness is great for your health!