February is a month usually devoted to love and heart health.  I have decided to dedicate this month for self-care.

As a society, I don’t think we talk enough about self-care and when we do talk about it, self-care is billed as a luxury, not a necessity. This is misguided thinking, as lack of self care is one of the main reasons our health “mysteriously” gets worse all of a sudden in our 40’s, 50’s and 60’s.

We don’t mysteriously get hypertension, heart disease, high cholesterol or diabetes.  Most of these illnesses have slowly progressed over time — many years. It starts in our cells and, after months or years, it begins to show up as various symptoms in our bodies — weight gain, lack of energy, sleep disturbance or pain.  Finally, once it has gotten really bad, it shows up on our blood work at the doctor’s office.

Reversing most of these diseases and symptoms is possible, especially when they are caught early. Better yet, they could even be prevented in the first place if we would learn how to practice and prioritize routine self-care!

According to the American Holistic Nurses Association, self-care “focuses on care of self and self-healing which is essential to caring for others. Self-care comprises those activities performed independently by an individual to promote and maintain personal well-being throughout life.”

Well-being is not just a state of mind, it is a state of health.  It is not having symptoms like bags under your eyes, getting out of breath walking up the stairs, or having a personal summer in the middle of your meetings.  Well-being is not being short with your spouse or yelling at your children because you are tired.

Self-care starts with the things that we do everyday!  What we eat, how we are moving our body, how we handle stress and how we sleep.  Self-care starts with our lifestyle habits. Simple changes can make all the difference between having to taking cholesterol medications for the rest of your life or not.  

These are the basics for self-care. Once we master these, then we can graduate to massages, spa days, vacations, etc.  

For many of you, getting off of your medications could be the motivation you need to finally take action to change your life.  Here is the best part of self-care… once you start practicing self-care, it becomes an easy habit just like brushing your teeth!

The opportunity to learn more about self-care practices is what our patients love about our practice’s approach.  It is the number one reason for their continuing success, even after they have finished their program. Click here if you’re interested in learning more about our many patients’ success stories.

To learn more, join us at our next Stress Hormones and Health dinner presentation, so you can start making changes and move closer to your optimal health.

To Your One Sweet Life,

Dr. Dae