What is self-care? The World Health Organization (WHO) defines self-care as “the ability of individuals, families and communities to promote their own health, prevent disease, maintain health, and to cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a health worker.” In this description, the emphasis is on individuals taking an active role in managing their own health care. A more holistic definition of self-care might be characterized as protecting and increasing one’s well-being and happiness to decrease stress and the risk of illness.

Be Well

Dani Williamson is a family nurse practitioner (FNP) and owner of Integrative Family Medicine and Wild &a Well: A Wellness Emporium in Franklin, Tenn. She’s also the author of “Wild & Well Dani’s Six Commonsense Steps to Radical Healing.” In a recent vlog titled “Self Care Sunday: Are you pouring from an empty vessel?” Williamson shared insights into how prioritizing self-care can reduce illness and lead to overall wellness.

“Self-care is all about filling up your vessel,” Williamson says in the video. “If you have an empty vessel, how are you going to help anyone else?” Williamson shared her favorite self-care activities, including gardening, walking barefoot outdoors, setting work boundaries, and eating nutrient-dense whole foods.

Williamson points out that low-value foods, such as those processed and packaged with excess amounts of salt, fat, and sugar, can increase your body’s cortisol, the stress hormone. If cortisol escalates too much, it can lead to elevated blood pressure, increased blood glucose levels, weight gain, low libido, excessive tiredness, depression, chronic illness, and more.

Williamson explains her six steps to healing: “When you eat well, sleep well, move well, poop well, de-stress well, commune well, you will be well.” In integrative health, the pillars to self-care are very similar: Nutrition, lifestyle, exercise, sleep, life-work balance, mental and emotional health, and spiritual peace or inner wellbeing.

The Dish on Nutrition

The type, quality, and quantity of food you eat are critical to your health. Williamson recommends including a variety of colorful unprocessed foods in your diet. Eat what your body needs, not just what your taste buds want, and eat regularly. Starving yourself to fit into a special outfit is not a good way to maintain your body’s daily nutrient levels.

If packaged foods are eaten, make sure to read the nutritional facts label to help you seek out nutritious options.

The daily value percent (%DV) on the nutritional facts label shows how much of a nutrient in one serving of food contributes to a total daily diet. This information can help determine if a food serving is high or low in an individual nutrient. As a rule, 5%DV or less of a nutrient per serving is considered low, and 20%DV or more is considered high.

When reading the nutritional facts, keep in mind that no amount of trans fat is recommended, and although the %DVs of sugar are not listed on nutritional facts, the National Institutes of Health’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that less than 10% of total calories come from added sugar.

Taking the time to check the ingredient labels is a small lifestyle change that can make a big impact.

Living Life

Lifestyle self-care is a broad term that covers many core areas, such as physical exercise, healthy eating, sleeping well, socializing, and not engaging in risky behaviors like smoking, excessive alcohol use, or not wearing your seatbelt.

Physical exercise has significant benefits for health. It can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and osteoporosis and help control weight and promote mental well-being. The National Institutes of Health recommends that adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week to live longer and reduce heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and depression.

Besides the physical health benefits, physical and longer recreational activities, such as camping, fishing, or other leisure endeavors also create valuable social foundations, which can prevent isolation and loneliness and improve mental health.

Balancing Act

Finding a balance between work, family, and social responsibilities is an often overlooked element of self-care. This could mean saying no to extra responsibilities and setting stronger boundaries. While it may be uncomfortable to do at first, with practice, it can create mental health stability and help build your self-esteem and confidence.

Psychology Today’s Abigail Fagan, who majored in cognitive science, recommends that if saying no is tough for you, try using the “sandwich method.

This approach involves sandwiching something that could be considered negative between two positives. An example might go something like this: Thank you for asking me to organize the birthday party for our friend. I appreciate you seeing me as helpful however, I won’t be able to do it. I’d be happy to check my schedule for a different event where I can help out.

Setting strong boundaries and not regularly overworking yourself can give your body and mind time to rest and heal.

Support Yourself with Sleep

Numerous studies have found that getting enough restful sleep can help promote a healthy outlook on life, elevate mood and energy levels, and improve concentration and productivity.

Dr. Catherine Darley, the founder of the Institute for Naturopathic Sleep Medicine in Seattle, says that the most common sleep problem among working Americans is not getting enough of it. How much sleep you need, however, varies from person to person. The often-quoted recommendation of eight hours of sleep is not necessarily true for everyone. Your age, gender, health issues, medications, and job type can all contribute to how much sleep you need.

Talk to your healthcare practitioner if you (or your sleep partner) suspect you have sleep apnea, chronic insomnia, restless legs syndrome, or suffer from somnambulism (sleepwalking). If left unaddressed, conditions that impact your sleep can have a serious impact on your mental and emotional health.

Mental and Emotional Well-being

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services clarifies the difference between emotional and mental health. Emotional health is the ability to cope with and manage emotions. Mental health is the ability to think clearly and make good decisions.

The following are tips for practicing good emotional health self-care:

• Be aware of your emotions and reactions
• Express your feelings in appropriate ways
• Think before you act
• Manage your stress
• Connect with others
• Find purpose and meaning
• Stay positive

Many of the ways you sustain your emotional health can be used to stay mentally healthy, too. If you’re unsure about the state of your mental health, try asking yourself these questions.

• Are you feeling sad or down?
• Are you confused easily or unable to concentrate?
• Do you have excessive fears or worries or extreme feelings of guilt?
• Do you experience extreme mood changes of highs and lows?
• Have you withdrawn from friends and activities?
• Are you extremely tired, have low energy, or have problems sleeping?
• Do you have suicidal thoughts?
• Are you feeling overly paranoid or experiencing hallucinations?
• Do you have trouble understanding and relating to situations and/or people?
• Do you have physical pain?

If you answer yes to several of these questions, especially if you feel you might harm yourself or others, seek help from a qualified mental health professional immediately.

Answering yes to only a few of these questions may not indicate a mental health issue, but it’s always a good idea to discuss your mental health with your healthcare provider. They may offer suggested lifestyle changes or activities to get you back on track.

Belief and Beyond

In different cultures, spirituality means different things, thus making it hard to precisely define what spiritual health is exactly. A study published in the Journal of Medical Ethics and History of Medicine revealed that spiritual health often included one or more of the following indicators: a positive connection with God, oneself, others, and/or nature. Several scientific reviews on the subject suggest that spiritual health has a strong relationship with physical, mental, and social well-being and quality of life.

Dr. Deepak Chopra, a friend of Oprah, book author, medical doctor, and self-help celebrity, offers some self-care tips to promote spiritual health:

• Practice yoga
• Meditate
• Clear your space
• Connect with your community
• Journal
• Read inspiring material
• Unplug from technology
• Practice forgiveness

For those not religiously or spiritually inclined, inner well-being may be more palatable. Sam Harris, a neuroscientist and well-known atheist, rejects religion in favor of his definition of spirituality: to become aware that our sense of self is illusory, and that this realization brings both happiness and insight into the nature of consciousness.

Both Harris and Chopra recommend practicing meditation or mindfulness to experience a sense of inner peace.

Whether you implement some or all of these suggestions, the main point is to care for your whole self to achieve your wellness goals.