Self healing involves incorporating healthy and sustainable routines into your life that promote wellness and support healing. These routines should be ones that you enjoy and can stick to.
Nine experts and six older adults were interviewed about their experiences with self healing. Interview transcripts were analyzed and themes emerged. They focused on physiology, psychology, and interpersonal relations.
1. Exercise
Physical activity is a great way to keep your body healthy. It stimulates the circulation of blood and lymph, which helps to eliminate toxins from your body. It also boosts your metabolism and promotes relaxation. This is a necessary step to self healing.
Scientists are working on self-healing materials that mimic nature’s regenerative system. These materials can reorganize chemical bonding to repair damage, recover a system’s structure or open transport paths for healing agents to reach the damaged area.
Yoga is a holistic form of exercise that involves the mind, body and spirit. It strengthens a positive quality in you and helps you align with your divine potential. It also teaches you to notice your emotions and bodily sensations without reacting to them immediately, supporting healthier mental health.
2. Meditation
Meditation has roots in many world religions and ancient philosophies but you don’t need to be religious to meditate. It is a practice that can heal the mind, body and spirit.
Meditation helps regulate the heart rate, blood pressure and respiration which can prevent high blood pressure, strokes and heart disease. It can also reduce stress and anxiety, which contribute to mental illness such as depression. Meditation has been shown to increase compassion, which can help with emotional and spiritual healing.
The effects of meditation on different diseases should be studied further with a larger sample size. Be sure to tell your health care providers about any complementary and alternative practices you use to manage your health. They may be able to help coordinate your care.
3. Nutrition
Nutrition plays a key role in healing and is essential to a balanced life in recovery. It can improve your overall well-being, increase energy and support a healthy emotional state. It can also be used to manage the challenges that may arise during addiction treatment.
Self healing through nutrition is a powerful tool in recovery that is often overlooked. It can decrease the impact that substance use disorder (SUD) has on your psychological and physical health. This is because SUD and co-occurring disorders can have toxic effects on your body, including your digestive system. Increasing your knowledge of the relationship between mental health and physical health will help you understand the importance of healing with food as part of your recovery journey. This will allow you to better manage your challenges and create lasting change in your life.
4. Self-compassion
Self-compassion is a healthy attitude that promotes self-respect and kindness. It involves responding to personal failures with warmth and understanding, recognizing that suffering and imperfection are universal experiences of human life. Self-compassion is comprised of three elements: self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness (Neff, 2003).
When you face a challenging situation, think about what you would say to a good friend who was going through the same thing. Write a letter from that compassionate friend to the part of yourself that is hurting.
Research has found that people who practice self-compassion are less anxious, depressed, and lonely. They also have more energy for meeting the needs of others and are less likely to engage in self-destructive behaviors like addictions or overeating. They also tend to have healthier relationships.
5. Sleep
A good night’s sleep can significantly boost a person’s mood, energy levels and motivation to adopt healthier behaviors. Additionally, a good sleep allows the body to complete healing processes and consolidate memories.
While asleep, the brain reorganizes and catalogs learned information and memories, like a librarian sorting and shelving books at the end of the day. This makes recalling those memories and new information easier in the future.
Getting adequate rest promotes self-repair and restoration, helps control appetite and maintain a healthy weight, enhances cognitive function and supports muscle recovery. It can also improve mood, reduce pain sensitivity and enhance overall health and wellbeing. It’s important to develop a consistent sleep routine, such as going to bed at the same time each evening and avoiding screen activity just before sleep.
