It may surprise you that our own personal self-care can sometimes be overlooked if work commitments overwhelm or if we ruminate over life challenges that can inevitably affect our wellbeing in the long run.
The good news is that in a research study led by Dr Eliseth Ribeiro Leão at the Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, Brazil, there are now ways that certain daily self-care activities can actually improve our wellbeing and help reduce stress.
Self-care may often be characterized as neglects such as inadequate hours of sleep, irregular physical activity, or inadequate nutrition. However sensory experiences from self-care activities have been studied in many clinical situations and they show a potential for promoting well-being and stress management.
I found it really fascinating that Dr Leão’s study examined the impact of self-care activities that involved senses such as touch & smell on personal stress levels, self-esteem and well-being. 93 female health professionals aged between 18 and 60 years of age participated in the study. They were group into three categories and performed one of these selfcare activities:
(1) Monosensory (touch)- daily body moisturizing with odorless cream;
(2) Bisensory (touch & smell)—daily moisturizing with scented cream;
(3) Multisensory (touch, smell, hearing and vision)—daily body moisturizing with scented cream while viewing photos of nature and listening to 3 minutes of relaxing music at the same time.
The daily body moisturizing activities involved light bodily self-massage for distribution and absorption of the moisturizer. Participants also tuned in to a relaxing Celtic Harp sound track during the multisensory selfcare activity.
During the 30 days research study period, participants' cortisol samples were collected and they also responded to surveys which assessed their individual stress, self-esteem and well-being at three time points: at the start of the study, on the 15th day and 30th day following self-care activities. Although the self-care activities concluded on the 30th day, a final forth survey of the participants and their cortisol samples was collected again at the 60-day follow up.
If you are wondering why Cortisol, the adrenal cortex of our brain produces cortisol and it is associated with our body’s stress response. It is thus an objective measure of stress. The concentration of cortisol can also be detected in our saliva as well and this is why the study measured participants’ saliva cortisol levels as a way of stress assessment.
The findings were pretty insightful. Participants who did daily monosensory and Bisensory self-care activities for 30 days showed a significant reduction in stress after 30 days of selfcare activities. But what's even more fascinating is that only participants who did Bisensory self-care activities (i.e. daily moisturizing with scented cream) had maintained stress reduction up till the 60 day. In other words, the benefits of stress reduction were maintained 30 days after the daily selfcare activities had concluded.
Now that you have uncovered this epic yet simple way to enhance your well-being, it's probably a good idea to pick up your favorite scent of moisturizer, reunite with your well-being and enjoy this relaxing self-care activity at any time of the day that suits your daily work-rest rhythm.
Besides moisturizing massages, self-care can take many forms. There are also other self-care activity ideas that we can try out. For example, Dr Austen El-Osta from Imperial College characterized self-care into seven amazing categories. In essence, we can choose to do our own preferred self-care activity within any of these categories so our well-being may soon be enhanced:
(1) Reading and learning about how to improve Health
(2) Mental well-being (e.g. Mindfulness Meditation, Yoga) , Self-awareness mindset (Journaling)
(3) Healthy eating
(4) Physical activities (e.g. Spending Time in the Nature)
(5) Risk avoidance
(6) Good hygiene
(7) Rational use of products and services
Apps are wonderful tools that can help us appreciate our self-care activities and marvel at our own progress over time. I hope the list of Apps below could in a twinkling become a useful resource that would help you on your personal journey of self-care and well-being.
You may also like to explore the next Wellness Chums blog post on “Hidden Wellness Powers in Your Hands Right Now” and discover the nascent power of your music playlist for improving wellness at work.
If you like to support Wellness Chums or cheer on our on-going efforts in sharing evidence based positive psychology research that could enhance wellbeing for you and also the society at large, do subscribe to our email mailing list by scrolling to the bottom part of this link, Subscribers would also receive complimentary latest email notifications of the newest Wellness Chums blog post. Best of luck, have a spectacular week! - Well wishes from our Wellness Chums team in Singapore. Wonderful Tools (Apps) and Resources for Your Self-care Journey
1. Calm
Calm App is for suitable for anyone who is seeking a mental break, a soothing sound, or a peaceful night’s rest. The app also offers guided meditations in lengths of 3 to 25 minutes, so you can choose the perfect length to fit your schedule of self-care activity.
2. Fabulous - Mental Well-being, Self-Awareness
This "Fabulous" (Noun) App helps people build healthy rituals into their lives by employing the same method that elite athletes and successful entrepreneurs use to rise to the top of their games. Based on behavioral science out of Duke University, this App helps people make changes and build healthy habits. After answering a simple 1 min survey in the App, it will automatically generate a customized plan for you. You decide how much you would like to pay (range from $1 to $16+) at check out. Cool!
3. Walkmeter - Physical Activities
Integratable with Apple’s Siri for voice activation, the Walkmeter App also lets you If you choose to share, you can post your workout online for your own analysis, or for sharing with your friends, family, and coaches.
4. Google Fit - Physical Activities
Google Fit collaborated with the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop Heart Points, an activity goal based on WHO’s global recommendations and shown to impact health. Activities that get your heart pumping harder have tremendous health benefits for your heart and mind. You’ll earn one heart point for each minute of moderately intense activity, such as picking up the pace when walking your dog, and double points for more intense activities such as running. It takes just 30-minutes of brisk walking five days a week to reach WHO’s recommended amount of physical activity shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, improve sleep and increase overall mental well-being.
Looking to cook up some wholesome goodness? Check out this mouth-watering selection of quick and easy recipes. Above all, they are healthier and tasty, perfect for preparing a nutritious meal for you and your family. My favorite healthy recipe is the yummy salmon fillet with honey spice sauce. You may not believe it until you try it!
Have a sensational week!
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