Hannah Simpson wrote to Max a couple of Months Ago With An Article and Today we wanted to share that Article With You.
The Self-Care Guide for Youth with Disabilities
Self-care is the practice of maintaining your physical, mental, emotional, and other health. It involves learning to identify your needs, following a healthy lifestyle, and pursuing activities that keep you healthy. Your disability may make self-care somewhat more challenging, but (it’s) far from impossible! Today, Max J Green offers self-care advice and guidance to youth with disabilities, as well as their caretakers.
Self-care begins with self-love
You won’t feel comfortable taking care of yourself if you don’t love yourself. As such, before you begin following a self-care-focused lifestyle, make some mindset changes. Focus on accepting yourself and loving yourself. You don’t have to like your disability, but you should try to make peace with it. No one is perfect, everyone has problems, and your needs deserve to be addressed.
Create a self-care schedule
Self-care is easier if you have a routine to follow – you’ll have an easier time both meeting your goals as well as sticking to them long-term. To create a self-care routine, just add some self-care activities to your day and week. Make sure to balance everything out to address all your needs – including mental, emotional, and physical. Also, eat more nutritious food – it’s a part of self-care.
Pick enjoyable self-care activities
Self-care doesn’t have to be dull and dreary. It can be fun if you pick activities you can enjoy. Some examples are below:
Listening to music: Listening to music is not just fun but surprisingly good for your health. According to an Insider report, it boosts your mood, lowers your blood pressure, benefits your immune health, and can help you bust stress and relax.
Going outside in nature: Visiting a nearby park, garden, mountain, or similar natural vista can be both entertaining and healing. Nature has many health properties – it grounds you, reduces your stress, and makes you happier.
Dancing: Dancing is one of the best forms of exercise there is. It makes you more flexible, strengthens your body, improves blood circulation, and so much more. Also, needless to say, it can be very fun.
Meditation: Mindfulness can be incredibly helpful to people with disabilities. It reduces the impact of mental and physical problems, not to mention can help you make peace with your disability.
Create a healthy and peaceful home environment
Your home environment has a big influence on your well-being. When it’s peaceful, loving, and healthy, it automatically makes you healthier and supports your self-care efforts. Some ways to make your house healthier are reducing all the clutter, adding houseplants, installing an oil diffuser, and letting in more natural light.
For parents: Teaching self-care
If your child has a disability, they may not “get” self-care like other kids. You may have to utilise special techniques to get self-care to stick. Verywell Family offers three techniques: task analysis, visual guide, and prompting and fading. Task analysis is breaking down a task into small easy-to-follow steps; a visual guide is representing a self-care task visually; and prompting and fading is helping begin a task and handing the reins over to the child part way.
For parents: Prioritising your child’s self-care
Actively prioritising your child’s self-care will teach them to do the same. It can help their self-esteem and teach them self-love. You can prioritise their self-care by having a plan of action ready. It will help you spend quality time with your child even during busy seasons and help reduce the pressure. A good plan can include being available for bedtime every night, having your child do simple chores with you while you’re working in the kitchen, and planning experiences together periodically so you have something to look forward to.
Conclusion
Picking up solid self-care habits early will make you happier and healthier. It can help you find inner peace and be more independent. Make sure you follow a well-rounded self-care plan that meets all your needs. If you need help, you can get advice from qualified experts like health professionals and therapists.
Thanks to Hannah for All These Tips!
Comments