Physical Self Care
Physical Self Care
Physical self care—what is that? It is you taking care of the physical body that God gave to you. Only you (unless you are an invalid) can take proper care of your own body. No one else can do it for you.
Why practice physical self care?
To the extreme, if you don’t practice physical self care you will eventually wear yourself out and get physically ill. Our bodies can handle only so much abuse or neglect. Lack of self care will always catch up with you at some point.
No matter what kind of job you have, as a housewife, work at home mom, office worker, teacher, nurse, counselor or anything in between, you have many “hats” to wear. Some of you literally “do it all”. If you get sick, who will take care of your family or who will go to work and bring in the money? Exactly! No one!
Is God concerned about how we take care of our physical bodies?
Yes! Our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost. God Himself actually resides within our physical bodies and He wants us to glorify Him in our bodies. (Would it be “glorifying” to God if we abused our bodies? if we neglected our bodies? if we overworked our bodies to the point of ill health?)
“What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, KJV)What is necessary for the welfare of your body?
- Fresh air and sunshine
- • Water-drinking approximately half of your body weight in ounces of water per day
- • Healthy food including plenty of protein, vegetables and healthy fats (and avoiding too much junk food)
- • 7-9 hours of sleep each night (more is just as unhealthy as not enough)
- • Exercise (aerobic, strength and flexibility)
- • Weight management (staying obese or highly overweight is physically unhealthy in the long-term)
- • Good digestion/elimination—having regular bowel movements daily
- • Bathing and oral care
Depending on the habits you have right now, you may need to write an appointment in your calendar for exercise. You may need to write down the foods you will be eating, write down mealtimes in your daily time schedule, or set a regular bed time and wake time.
Whatever needs improvement, I encourage you to not delay or make excuses. Your body will thank you for it, and in the long term, you will be more productive in your life.