Wellness Corner

Multiple Paths to Self-Care for Life Balance

By Francesca Gazelle Wellness Program Intern

Self-care is a conscious act to take care and tune in to what your body needs. Your overall health is a combination of physical, mental, social, spiritual, and emotional health. These divisions of health are all interrelated, and it’s important to take care of each so that no one gets too much or too little attention. There are many ways that your body needs to be taken care of. Health is not just the absence of disease or illness; balance is key.

Physical Health

Improving your physical health includes exercising and being active as well as eating nutritious foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Getting enough sleep and water is also important to allow your body the rest and recovery it needs.

Social Health

Interacting with your friends and family is important to your social health. Get involved in your community by volunteering or joining a new club. Creating new relationships and working on old ones will help to improve your social health.

Mental Health

Mental health is the relationship we have with ourselves. To de-stress and relax your mind, practice positive self-talk. Do things that excite you, like watching a new TV show or movie, or reading books that are inspiring, or getting outdoors.

Spiritual Health

Spiritual health does not always involve religion. Spiritual health is finding inner, deeper meaning and understanding of yourself. Strong spiritual health can increase your appreciation for life.

Emotional Health

Emotional health is how we deal with our emotions, the good and the bad. Check in with yourself and see how you deal with them. Telling others how you feel can help us with tough emotions that are hard to understand. Also, understand what you need to feel good and recharge your energy: Maybe you do something by yourself, or maybe you want to socialize with others.

When looking to understand your overall health, it is important to look at each spectrum of health, to determine where the balance is low. Start small in your daily routine to improve your overall health.

Cranberr y Oat Bars

2 cups old-fashioned oats 1 cup our ¾ cup coconut sugar 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. cinnamon ½ tsp. salt ½ cup coconut oil ¼ cup almond butter ¼- ½ cup milk 2 cups cranberry sauce Powdered sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 375℉. Line a 9 x 9 pan with parchment paper.

Mix oats, our, coconut sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Add coconut oil and almond butter

to mixture. Using clean hands, mix to form a crumble. If mixture does not stick together, add milk until it does.

Set aside ½ cup of mixture, put the rest in the pan, and press down evenly. Then spread the cranberry sauce on top. Finish with sprinkling the remaining crumble on top.

Bake for 35-40 minutes until the edges and top turn golden brown. Let cool for 20 minutes and serve.

Nutrition per 1 square: Calories: 189; Carbohydrates: 24g; Protein: 3g; Fat: 10g; Fiber: 3g; Sugar: 12g