Mind, Body and Soul Health
There are many things that make us human but essentially it all comes down to 3 important aspects: Mind, Body and Soul.
As growing individuals, it is important to ensure that we nurture all the aspects that make us human. "Self-care" – a term that is quickly making itself into weekly schedules and is a very pleasing social media caption. Self-care does not only involve putting on a mask on a Sunday morning, drinking a green smoothie or drinking 3 litres of water. While all of these can be important, self-care is more than that – and the deeper aspects of self-care are best kept off of social media.
A great, wholesome definition of self-care is from the Oxford dictionary: "The practice of taking action to preserve or improve one's own health."1 We are going to take this a step further and broaden the term "health." In order to achieve holistic healthy, one needs to ensure that they take care of their mind, body and soul. Let us dive deeper.
What are the ways one can take care of their body?
You can start small. Drink 2-3 litres of water a day, broil your favourite tea, brush your teeth twice a day or even do a 10-minute stretch, and make your way up. Perhaps start looking at your exercise and how often you move your body. Exercise does not only involve lengthy dreadful hours at the gym doing countless repetitive moves. Exercise is just moving your body. It is important to find a method of moving your body and getting your heart rate up that works for you. This can involve playing soccer, playing street games with your friends and family, dancing and learning your favourite TikToks or even taking a nice calming walk around your neighbourhood. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends children and adolescents (aged 5-17 years) should do at least an average of 60 minutes per day of moderate to high intensity physical activity every week and adults (aged 18-54) should do at least 150 – 300 minutes of physical activity across the week. This may sound like a lot, but this is about 30 minutes a day of exercise. According to WHO, the benefits of physical activity include improved physical fitness, bone health, mental health, and reduced adiposity (or fat cells)2. Finding a form of exercise that works best for you is the best way to ensure that you do not get tired of exercise and end up giving up. Imagine giving up dancing!
Taking care of your body also involves what you put into your body. Other than hydrating your body with healthy fluids, other really important things needed to maintain optimum health in your body include eating a balanced diet that includes fruits and vegetables, adequate amounts of protein and healthy starches. Eating a takeout every now and then from your favourite fast-food restaurant will not immediately make you unhealthy, however try to limit the fast food to at least once a week. However, there some things that are toxic to your body– such as illicit substances. These can involve alcohol, cigarettes and drugs. These are not good for your body and often leave your body feeling less than okay. You also have to be old enough to use these substances so that your body can develop fully and well.
What are they ways to keep your mind healthy?
We are sure you have heard someone describe self-care as curling up with your favourite book, or even finally listening to that one album that was released by your favourite artist that you just never got around to. All of these involve calming yourself down, reducing your stress and eliciting positive emotions. This falls under taking care of your mind. It is important to feel good on the inside in order to deal with the outside world – and, let's admit, the outside world can be quite overwhelming! Feeling good about yourself and with yourself will also help you to avoid and fight peer pressure. Peer pressure can land you in situations where you are stressed and are partaking in activities that may please your peers but not you. Remember – you are the most important person to you! Ensure that you do more of the activities that give you peace and happiness. Exercise is also a great way to keep your mind healthy, even though it is mentioned under body. When you exercise your body releases chemicals called endorphins that help with dealing with pain and keeping calm.
Finally, how do you keep your soul happy?
What exactly is the soul? How do we take care of it if we don't have a clear understanding of it? Well, let's try and not make it complicated. The soul lives in your mind, and your mind lives in your body, so all of these are interconnected to make sure that your body works like well-oiled machine. It would make sense for your soul to drive you towards achieving certain things in life and setting goals that will make you happy. So, in order to take care of your soul, you have to nurture your passions. What do you want to achieve? How are you going to achieve this? What gives you that burning feeling inside to do something that makes you really happy? If you cannot answer these – that's not a problem. That means you still need to discover what make your soul happy and remember never to limit yourself!
Landile Nxumalo
Thato Radebe
Samantha Murphy
Paige Sanderson
Destiny Van Rooyen
Aaliah Hoosen
Tebogo Ramatsobane
References
1. Stevenson A, editor. Oxford dictionary of English. Oxford University Press, USA; 2010 Aug 19.
2. World Health Organization. Guidelines on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for children under 5 years of age. World Health Organization; 2019.
