Self-care plays a huge role in an individual’s wellbeing.
“The Bindu Institute is passionate about mental health and my focus as a mental health coach at The Bindu Institute is self-care,” Wallace said. “I focus on eight separate categories of self-care and when I meet with a client, we work together to figure out which category is throwing their balance off. It is a very rewarding process when the client is able to strike a balance.”
The eight categories of self-care are physical, emotional, social, spiritual, space as in your home, personal, financial and professional. Wallace says sometimes the client just needs a little boost to balance out their self-care. Then, there are the clients that are so low across the self-care board that they need to get to the fundamental level, which is physical self-care, Wallace explained.
“When a client is really off-balanced, I get them to focus on three things: food, exercise, and sleep. But if they are struggling with all of those, we work on just sleep,” she said. “In my experience, sleep is the most basic element of self-care that needs to be emphasized across the population – especially because we basically spend one-third of our life sleeping!”
There is backed science that proves how beneficial sleep is for the body and the mind. But, interestingly enough, many scientists are not as well-versed on sleep as one would think, so additional research is vital. “But the fact is, we all need it. So, the question is how do we get it,” Wallace stated.
There are some practical things we should all do to make sure we get the sleep we need.
Having good sleep hygiene begins several hours before it’s time to go to bed. So, to prepare, the first step is setting a specific bedtime.
Additionally, other ways to improve sleep quality include stopping caffeine 6 hours before your bedtime, turning off electronics one hour before bedtime and NO liquids two hours before bed.
A general rule of thumb is to refrain from alcohol on most days, but if you do drink, stop four hours before you go to bed.
Another interesting tip Wallace suggests is to set the lighting in the whole house to more of an evening lighting.
“Because back in the day, before we had electricity, we just went by the sun. We woke up when the sun rose and went to sleep when the sun set,” she said. “Now we have electricity, but you can trick your body using your lights to prepare for bed by dimming them versus having them on full force.”
One final tip is to invest in some blue light style glasses.
“If you watch TV or look at electronics at night, the blue light glasses will help your eyes calm down before you lay down to sleep.”
A good 7-9 hours of sleep each night is crucial for your well-being. It’s time to prioritize your health and get some good rest.
For more information on sleep and self-care, call Dr. Wallace at The Bindu Institute at 850-816-8122.
The Bindu Institute
1913 Highway 87, Navarre, FL 32566
850-816-8122
www.thebinduinstitute.com
Open Mon-Fri 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.