The idea of self-care being just for women is changing now, and steadily the importance of practicing self-care for men is coming to the surface. Despite this notion, men usually tend to skip taking care of themselves, mainly due to the fast-paced nature of their lifestyles. Self-care for men becomes doubly crucial in this time of the pandemic, which imposes self-isolation on a daily basis and makes the task of maintaining good mental and physical health even more challenging. Read on to discover the health benefits of self-care for all you men out there, and certain simple tips for an enhanced self-care routine.
A Closer Look at Different Forms of Self-Care for Men
A brilliant approach towards self-care can be taken by segmenting daily life into different areas of focus. Some such areas, for example, can be physical, mental, emotional, and professional life. More such areas can be added, which you think are essential. The bottom line here is that, it all depends on how you want to practice your self-care.
- Taking Care of Physical Health: The road to an overall self-care regime for men starts with caring about your physical health. The focus here should be always on leading a healthy and happy life. Some common things to be done for maintaining good physical health are – maintaining an exercise routine, getting a good night’s sleep, as well as maintaining proper hygiene. Keeping up with healthy habits not only helps you maintain a good physique but also helps you boost your mental health. Usually, maintaining a physical health regime is the hardest part of self-care, but it is also the most beneficial in the long run.
- Taking Care of Emotional Health: Emotions are one of the most commonly neglected parts of life, which is especially true for men, who tend to undermine, ignore, or suppress feelings. Men need to understand that nothing is more important than how they feel. All other forms of self-care are in vain if you don’t enjoy your life – be it because of stress, depression, or anxiety. Some strategies you can use for emotional self-care are – having deep and meaningful conversations to share feelings, asking yourself certain open-ended questions about life, and maintaining private journals to self-reflect.
- Taking Care of Professional Health: Men often incline towards developing a sort of narrow-mindedness with their work lives by becoming so focused and obsessed with the profession that other areas of life begin to become overlapped and blurred. Professional self-care begins with maintaining a work-life balance, by asking ourselves if the time we are spending in our work is, in fact, too much for us to balance. Secondly, proper self-care in work requires defining boundaries – not overlapping work with family and personal time, such as being busy on the phone while being in a family event. Additionally, we should find purpose and meaning behind us working – by addressing what we wanted out of our lives, way before we actually begin working.
Some Tips About Self-care for Men
- Doing things that make you happy: One should always keep in mind not to say yes to multiple social obligations without thinking about one’s own needs. Always keep in mind to affirm plans that genuinely interest you, and try to incorporate hobbies into your daily routine that you actually enjoy. Staying in a prolonged happy state releases endorphins into your brain, which motivates you to do more and helps you assign yourself and your needs as first priority! As a follow-up, if you are facing difficulties finding things that interest you, look for a hobby that helps you relax after a long day of work and brings you joy.
- Working out: One of the most obvious and efficient ways for men to get into a physical self-care regime is through workouts. Working out doesn’t necessarily mean just weight lifting or doing cardio exercises. Engaging in sports is a great alternative – hooping a few basket balls, shooting goals in a mini-soccer game, or even smashing a few tennis balls across the court, can help you enhance your fun time, along with relaxing your body and mind. Hiring a trainer, finding a gym buddy, or joining a team can help you make workouts a part of your regular routine.
- Keeping your diet in check: The varied tastes of this modern world provides a range of diet choices which a man can follow, such as keto, paleo, plant-based and intermittent fasting. In this flavorful journey of nutrition, it proves necessary to keep our focus on following things that we are sure we can do consistently.
- Getting comfortable with the doctor: Since we can remember, the idea of men going for regular check-ups, or going to the hospital for curing simple illnesses, has been frowned upon and looked at as a sign of that person being weak willed. Men need to get comfortable with the notion of regularly visiting a personal doctor for routine check-ups, and going to the clinic as soon as they feel they are having any symptoms. Additionally, maintaining a regular stream of health screenings can help men achieve a better physique, better sex, and a happier life.
- Taking out a little time for yourself: It is highly beneficial to keep some time aside for yourself every day. This time can go into practicing your daily meditation or for once-in-a-week massages for relaxing. The important part is to actively make efforts to carve out some time daily, just for yourself. Practicing this regularly, even if for just a few minutes, helps you make yourself stable and gradually improve your mental and physical health.
To sum it up, men need to understand the fact that self-care is not only for women, or for those in recovery. The primary idea on self-care is to maintain periodic activities which are incorporated into a routine. At its core, self-care for men follows a specific mindset – it means practicing to put yourself first, in order to become the best version of yourself. The practices that promote mental and physical health are more than just something to check off your to-do list. These practices are essential to add meaning and fulfillment to life. Practicing self-care for men is crucial in achieving all the goals in their lives.
