In honour of May being Mental Health Awareness Month, here is some advice from experts in the industry on how to prioritise our mental wellbeing and self-care
More often than not, we are preoccupied with things like work, maintaining our friendships and other relationships, and checking in with our families. And as much as we enjoy taking care of others, it’s also important to check-in with yourself. Making time for you is key to your physical and mental health.
The worst of the Covid-19 pandemic may be behind us, but many of us are still dealing with the aftermath of the virus, as well as the mental health toll sustained through dealing with the many pandemic measures and restrictions we lived through. In fact, over the last few years there was a rise in reported cases of anxiety and depression in Hong Kong, and a spike in the purchasing of self-care goods and products to alleviate stress and anxiety.
To help each of us understand our wellbeing better, we speak to holistic e-commerce platform OMSA’s co-founder Valerie Ho and Odile Thiang from Mind HK on the art of self-care.
See also: How To Cope With Stress And Anxiety During Covid-19 According To Hong Kong Mental Health Experts
What is self-care?
Self-care is the engagement in activities that take care of our physical and mental health. Valerie explains, “it involves turning to our bodies, understanding our own needs and responding appropriately to those needs”. Living in a world where we are constantly exposed to an abundance of information, both offline and online, it’s easy to lose sight of doing the things that will care for our emotional, physical and spiritual needs.
We are all regularly exposed to stress––at school, at work, in our lifestyles and in our personal lives. But practicing “self-care helps us manage the stresses in our daily lives and helps us recharge” says Odile. And unfortunately, in our modern world, it is something that still seems indulgent or is seen as a luxury rather than a necessity. Especially during times when we really do need to prioritise our own well-being, the first things we tend to give up on are our fitness, our sleep and our diets.
See also: Forest Bathing: How To Unwind And De-Stress In Nature