3 Self Care Activities To Improve Your Health

Emotional and physical wellness is incredibly important — it allows you to handle your life with less stress and a positive outlook.

One way to track wellness is to practice self-care. In Christianity, self-care can often be misconstrued as being selfish. However, nothing in the Bible says we shouldn’t take care of ourselves and our well-being. Scripture makes this clear when you truly study its meaning.

In this article, we’ll talk about three self-care activities that can improve your health.

What are self-care activities?

People typically picture mood disorders such as schizophrenia, OCD, or bipolar disorder when thinking about mental health. 

Many people are unaware that common symptoms like anxiety and stress can also reflect mental health that harms our physical health. In Christian circles, these emotions are often dismissed as personal failings. But this cannot be further from the truth. Every year, approximately one in five Americans suffer from a mental health crisis. As with physical maladies, such health problems shouldn't go untreated.

A great way to keep ourselves in good health is to practice self-care physically as well as mentally. However, practicing any form of self-care can be extremely difficult for Christians. Mental health benefits can seem indulgent or selfish, so we avoid them due to guilt and misplaced shame. In addition to affecting how we think, feel, and act daily, our mental health also affects our physical health. 

If we're not careful, it can even affect our spiritual lives. It’s important to remember that God doesn't want his children to suffer unduly. We cannot be faithful disciples if we avoid taking care of ourselves, leading to burnout.

Is self-care Christian?

The practice of self-care might initially seem a little selfish and self-centered. 

Self-care typically emanates from the belief that you're deserving of it or deserve to treat yourself. So, does that really represent Christian practice? 

Self-care has a very strong Biblical foundation. However, the Christian concept of self-care isn't the same as what is perceived as self-care around the world today. 

Self-care is usually associated with pampering, taking a bubble bath, putting on a face mask, buying expensive clothes, etc. 

However, the Christian approach to self-care places much more emphasis on soul-care than on buying expensive things. This isn’t to say that you can’t achieve physical self-care or that buying these items makes you selfish. Rather, soul-care supplements us physically and mentally.‍

John 15:4 says, "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me."

Several things can be gleaned from this passage. The first principle is that we cannot bear fruit if we're cut off from Jesus, whom we need for life.

Secondly, the scriptures contain the word abide. Abide means to rest, and the only way to achieve peace is to rest in Jesus. In John 15, the vine is used as a visual descriptor. There are natural periods of productivity and rest in nature. We cannot produce energy indefinitely, just as the grapevine doesn’t produce fruit indefinitely.

For our lives to be fruitful, we must rest. Learning to rest without feeling guilty may take some time. Nevertheless, rest assured that God is at work in you to make you more productive and more fruitful as you learn to relax.

Ideas for self-care activities

There are a lot of different ways that people practice self-care routines. One way to successfully practice self-care is to figure out what works best for you and your family. Here are three of the best self-care practices. 

Self-care activities for families

As a parent, self-care is one of the most important things you can do for yourself. 

Consider doing it together as a family. By bringing you together in this unique way, you can strengthen your bonds and build deep, meaningful relationships with your loved ones. This can be something small that you do in your daily life or something more spiritually meaningful. 

It can be fun for kids to get involved in the kitchen because it relieves you of having to cook everything yourself. Choose an easy crowd-pleaser that allows for creativity, such as pizza. 

Consider taking turns choosing a meal, so everyone in the family gets a chance to participate. You can even do something physical like a family bike ride. Exercise not only improves your health but also allows you to focus on your loved ones and the outdoors instead of potentially damaging or upsetting things like social media.

Taking care of each other's needs, as well as creative processes, can improve mental health. Doing a family check-in every now and then can help improve your family's self-esteem and self-love. To make sure this happens, devote more time to family prayer. In addition to strengthening your family's relationship with God, prayer strengthens family bonds as well.

Self-care activities for kids

Self-care isn't something that only busy parents should be dedicating time to. 

As kids get older and more burdened with school and work responsibilities, they also need time to refresh and recharge mentally and physically. Kids can engage in many activities that can help them take a breather and feel less tired and stressed, whether individually or in a family setting.

The most important thing you can teach your children is how to take care of themselves. It could be as simple as reading a book to relax, taking a break from schoolwork when they feel stressed, or even taking time to declutter their rooms. It's important to let your child reflect on their feelings so they can develop a loving attitude toward themselves.

By practicing self-care, one can integrate positive habits into their daily routine so that they can reach their full potential.

Spiritual self-care activities

Spiritual activities are often associated with religion. There are, however, sometimes exceptions to this rule. People sometimes perform spiritual activities as a form of self-care to improve their mental and physical health.

Spirituality, regarding a non-religious concept, refers to the harmony between the mind, body, and spirit. Usually, this involves holistic activities like yoga, meditation, or mindfulness practices.

Taking advantage of time in nature can be one of the best ways to practice self-care for optimal health. Go for hikes or spend time on a beach by the ocean or a lake. It can be a wonderful way to rejuvenate yourself. 

The Bible is one spiritual activity that will help us get closer to our souls regarding religious spirituality. Praying is one of the most important ways we practice spirituality. In worship, we seek to communicate with God.

Prayers are very powerful. Prayer is a natural resource we can all use today, at any time. It’s an effective medicine for maintaining spiritual health. A great daily practice is creating a gratitude journal or even a prayer journal to pray for your friends and family.

Take time for self-care

Self-care is incredibly important for your mental and physical health, so if you ignore it, things can quickly spiral out of control.

It can be something as small as daily positive affirmations or a full-blown morning routine of journaling. 

If you don’t take care of yourself, you lose your ability to take the time you need to heal, emotionally and physically. There’s nothing God wants more than for us to take care of ourselves and others. 

For more about self-care, download the pray.com app in the iOS App Store or Google Play.