A Guide to Self-care and Well-being

We can’t give from an empty cup. Devoting time and focus to self-care enables us to embrace life wholeheartedly and be the best we can be – for ourselves and others. After all, the better we feel and function, the more we can do for the people and endeavours we value most.

Self-care involves routinely nurturing yourself with attention, energy, and compassion. Creating time for self-care can generate better performance and deeper satisfaction, leading to mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. As we juggle multiple priorities, the self-care ball is usually the one we drop, but it doesn’t have to be.

A recent survey conducted by The Harris Poll found nearly half of Americans (44 per cent) say they wish they had more guidance and support for practicing self-care during the pandemic. Selfcare strategies include lifestyle changes, healthy diet, regular exercise, stress management, and other behaviors that allow us to be well enough to function optimally and enjoy life.

At OPTY.NC we believe self-care is vital to your overall wellbeing. Not only do we incorporate the 4 pillars of gut and skin health into our Ultimate Elixirs, but also these 4 pillars of self-care in our daily routines. OPTY.NC co-founder Karissa Mather recently discussed her self-care routine and favorite tips for making ones well-being a priority.

Pillar 1: Prioritize You & Become Aware

Self-care means different things to different people. Start by exploring your self-care identity. What do you value most? What makes you feel happy, calm and fulfilled? Conversely, what leaves you feeling distressed, depressed, or depleted? Create space for quiet, reflective moments and record your thoughts in a journal. Next, determine ways to incorporate more of those things that enhance your wellbeing, while setting boundaries to or avoiding those that don’t.  

+ Health benefits:

1. Reduce chronic stress, burnout, and depression
2. Avoid fatigue, stress, anxiety, and worry

 What Works for Karissa:

• Talking to family and friends and seeing them as much as possible.
• Regular random acts of kindness. (This really helps with mood boosting and makes me feel grateful for what I have.) It could include buying water on a hot day and giving it to the elderly, donating money, buying strangers a coffee, ensuring I’m kind and respectful to everyone around me.
• Surprising family and friends with gestures that make them feel loved and special. For example, I recently sent care packs to friends isolating with Covid.

Pillar 2: Productive & Embracing Slow

Our minds often run faster than our bodies. With speeding thoughts, we dash madly through our day, never quite present, always thinking one step ahead. Slow down and become aware of your environment, body, and emotions. Take time to enjoy the meal you’re eating, actively listen or embrace silence, gaze at your surroundings and prioritize sleep.

+ Health benefits:

1. Eating slower can lead to feeling more satiated
2. Lower blood pressure
3. Less stress and anxiety

 How Karissa embraces slow:

• Daily guided mediation – I love the Insight Timer app.
• A daily walk around my local park.

Pillar 3: Positivity

Self-care involves being kind and compassionate to yourself. Take notice of your internal voice. How are you speaking to yourself? Are you kind and encouraging or deprecating and doubting? Another important way to be positive is to practice gratitude. Each day, take note of a few things for which you’re grateful. Gratitude helps us reframe negative thoughts into positive, more constructive ones, making our world a happier place.    

+ Health benefits:

1. Internal mood boosting, strengthening of self-esteem and confidence
2. External interactions that are uplifting, encouraging and demonstrate empathy

 How Karissa stays positive:

• Being kind to myself with positive self-talk.
• Allowing myself to let go and indulge a little every now and then. It’s all a balance!  

Pillar 4: Physical Activity & Nurturing

A substantial part of self-care is nurturing your physical wellbeing. Exercise, even a short walk, increases cardiovascular activity, burns calories, and releases endorphins, which have a role in reducing stress as well as decreasing stress hormones like cortisol.

 Exercise is also a great outlet for releasing tension and negative thoughts and giving you that much needed emotional lift.

+ Health benefits:

1. Reduces stress resulting in better sleep, having more energy for the day & is directly linked to reduction of gut and digestion issues
2. Mental clarity
3. Speeds up metabolism, improves blood pressure, blood sugars and good cholesterol

 How Karissa nurtures their body:

• Regular, weekly weights training. 
• Drinking plenty of water.
• A daily smoothie made from green veggies and our Ultimate Elixirs.
• Getting plenty of sleep. As I’m approaching menopause, sleep is not always easy for me. On nights when I struggle, I use CBD oil.

Incorporating these self-care habits in addition to giving your body the nutrients it needs is a small investment for immense physical, mental, and emotional benefits that make your life a happier, healthier, and more productive one.

So go on, make time up for yourself and leave it to Opty.NC to provide the foundation for complete gut and skin health with pre and probiotics, gut and skin-loving nutrients, marine collagen peptides, and antioxidants in one simple, self-care daily dose!