Has your body ever "made" you stop and sit down and rest? Well, mine is doing that to me right now.
This week, I developed a foot issue that is causing me to literally sit/lay down to allow myself to heal. đ
I've been on a journey of boosting my compassionate self-care skills by listening to my body and giving her what she needs to take care of Me. Because I'm still developing these skills, I needed to reframe the negative thoughts that started to creep in around not being able to teach my ZumbaÂŽ classes or be at the gym as often during our second week of our reopening.
So before I let myself get down about having to sit down, I decided to refresh my memory on why resting is an essential aspect of healing.
As I was reviewing my resources, I was reminded of some other tips for healing from an injury that I'd like to share with you. While we can do our best to avoid injuries, sometimes they happen, and it helps to be informed about why we need to listen to our body and do the things (i.e., take care of ourselves) that facilitate healing.
So here they are:
6 TIPS FOR HELPING YOUR BODY HEAL FROM INJURY
âđ˝ STOP IMMEDIATELY. Once you feel the first twinges of pain (sharp or shooting pains), it's time to stop and investigate what's going on. You may need to call on a doc or other specialist to correctly identify what's going on so you can properly nurse yourself back to health.
đ BOOST YOUR IMMUNITY. Your immune response triggers tissue repair so eat nourishing foods (not cheese puffs, Marissa đ) such as dark leafy green veggies and berries to help boost your immunity. The key here is to do this BEFORE you're injured...another great reason to regularly make healthier food choices.
đ¤ SLEEP. Your body's repair processes are triggered when you sleep, so the more sleep you get, the more repairing your body can do.
đ§đžââď¸ MOVE YOUR BODY. Even with an injury, you can still move your body. Choose activities that are comfortable, pain-free, and safe for you to do in your injured state. Gentle movements stretching, and yoga are great for healing and recovering from injury; this is called active recovery.
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đ˝ââď¸ MINIMIZE STRESS. Chemicals released when you're stressed make it harder for your immune system to do its job and can also directly affect your pain levels, increasing your sensitivity. So reach out to your support system to take some of the things off your plate so you can focus on resting and healing.
đ EAT FOR HEALING. Fuel your healing body with lean meats, oily fish, nuts & seeds, root veggies, fruits, and leafy greens. These foods provide the protein for tissue repair, the omega-3 for anti-inflammatory benefits, zinc, vitamin A, and vitamin C for the immune-boosting nutrients your body needs to support your body's repair and healing processes.
Compassionate self-care starts first with a mindset of taking a positive and proactive approach to your health and wellbeing. It is not easy to slow down and give your body what she's asking for, and I hope that these tips will help you should you ever have an injury that takes you out for a bit. Trust your body to heal and get you back to 100%; she'll tell you exactly what she needs if you listen.
âď¸ Don't do what Twyla did and "work through" the pain... (anyone else a fan of Schitt's Creek??)