Self Care
Self-care is an important part of a healthy and harmonious routine. If you have an autoimmune condition, however, it forms part of your non-negotiable health management. It’s widely known how stress can impact your wellbeing, and with autoimmune conditions, it can often be a trigger for flares.
By implementing a self-care routine every day, it helps the body switch from our “fight and flight” also known as the sympathetic nervous system to our “rest and digest” or parasympathetic nervous system. In our “rest and digest” our body has the ability to heal and repair rather than to fight or run away from our dinosaurs. When we are constantly in “fight or flight”, our nervous system is constantly triggered, sending messages to our body to run, signaling cortisol to help us “run”. Whilst this is a normal and necessary acute, short term response, in the long term this cortisol can become inflammatory, our adrenals can become tired and our immune system can become ‘over-activated’ – cue the rogue cells to attack, you guessed it, ourselves.
Why it’ Is not just massages and bubble baths
Self-care is so much more than taking a bubble bath or going for that sometimes-expensive massage.
True self-care means nourishing your body every day. Choosing nutrient-rich foods that will nourish our immune system, provide our bodies with those nutrients required for energy production, the proteins to support our nervous system, our immune system, and assist with healing. It means getting sunlight for Vitamin D – which we know is commonly deficient in autoimmune conditions and has been associated with higher autoimmune activity (remember to be sun safe with exposure and of course, avoid this if you are sensitive to the sunlight).
Meditation, mindfulness, and gratitude are often responded to with rolled eyes yet have been shown to assist with so much more than a positive attitude. It can help reduce insomnia, boost mood, and of course, induce our parasympathetic nervous system. Which is a massive winner!
True self-care is choosing the things that will help rather than the things we “want” in the moment.
Self-care when you’re good vs a flare state
Self-care needs to be different for every person, but especially different between a remission and flare state.
Whilst in a period of remission or a “good” period of health, (person dependant) moderate exercise can form part of your self-care routine. Helping build muscle, supporting joint health, encouraging healthy bone density, and giving a great boost of endorphins. This isn’t going to happen overnight. Finding a qualified exercise physiologist who understands your condition is important. They can assist you to gain muscles where needed for support and rehabilitation and advise gentle stretches to help with flexibility and mobility.
This goes for food, baths, mindfulness, and even meditations. Food when in a good state can be more involved, more cooking or experimenting to make it exciting. When you are in a flare, the last thing you have the energy for is making some elaborate dinner or using all your energy to cook breakfast in the morning. My advice utilise smoothies, slow-cooked or pressure-cooked meals, soups, and batch cooking during flare states. These are all easily digestible options that are quick and easy to prepare, taking less energy to make and digest your food!
Smoothies are a quick and easy way to cram a bunch of nutritious food into a small meal.
Start with a base of nut milk, organic milk, or organic soy milk
Add a delicious fruit such as pear, banana, and/or berries
Include a healthy protein – a healthy protein powder, organic hydrolyzed collagen powder, quinoa, oats, organic silken tofu, nut butter
Include some veggies – wilted spinach, cucumber, carrots, zucchini
Add some healthy fats with – tahini, avocado, ground flaxseed
And for an added boost – cacao powder, beetroot powder, parsley, turmeric, ginger, ground pumpkin/sunflower seeds
For baths: a warmer bath can be utilised whilst in a good state of health (as long as there isn’t underlying high blood pressure), whereas in a flare state, a more tepid temperature would be beneficial.
Quick self-care tips that take less than 5 minutes and make the most impact
Ensure adequate hydration – at least 2L of filtered water consumed over the day
Move regularly – during flares utilise gentle stretches to mobilise joints and muscles without creating inflammation, otherwise, gentle walks in nature stimulate lymphatic flow and allow exposure to fresh air
Do something you love at least 3 times a week – just for you! Find a quick 5 or 10-minute activity you love and do it regularly. Take 5 minutes to yourself to drink a cup of tea, read a book, colour in, dance, sing, laugh – as long as it is for yourself.
Practice Grounding or Earthing daily – if you haven’t tried it before, check out the Grounding blog to unleash your inner Grounding superpower.
Ensure you are getting adequate rest and optimal sleep to improve your recovery and energy throughout the day. If you haven’t heard about how having a sleep hygiene routine can improve your sleep quality – check out the sleep hygiene blog here.
Yours in harmony and health,
Rachael xx
