6 Ways to Prioritize your Mind, Body, and Spirit

By Melanie Santos

Self-care is a term that has been tossed around a lot in the past few years. Through its capitalist initiation into mainstream culture — making it synonymous with things like face masks and fragranced candles on Sundays (I know you’ve seen your fair share of #SelfCareSunday social media posts) — it’s lost much of its true meaning.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a facial and scented candle as much as the next person, and taking care of our bodies in these ways can be productive for us from time to time, but it steers problematic when we’re led to believe that these are the only forms of self-care.

Actual self-care has little to do with the instant gratification you get from something like a spa treatment. At its core, self-care is about caring for your whole self. It means realizing, contrary to what we’ve been conditioned to believe, that the relationship we have with ourselves is the most important relationship we will ever have. It means intentionally making decisions to prioritize our mental and emotional health, our bodies, and our spirits. 

One of the most ridiculous notions attached to self-care is that it always costs money, or worse, that the more money you spend on a product or activity, the better the care.

Needless to say, this isn’t true. In fact, there are certain acts of self-preservation that we should be centering daily that are absolutely free.

Let’s take it back to basics. Here are six ways you can (and should) prioritize your mind, body, and spirit daily.

Get quiet and be still. 

Caring for our whole selves means recognizing our needs from the perspective of souls having a human experience, and giving ourselves quiet time in order to connect with our mind, body, and what our spirit needs. Oftentimes we get so wrapped up in the rhythm of going and doing that we forget to make time to just be. A few minutes of mindful meditation every day is the remedy.

If you’re already thinking about how you don’t have time to spare to sit and do nothing, then it’s exactly why you need to prioritize it. Let’s say your quiet time is defined as 10 minutes of meditation in the morning. Not only is it starting off your day by checking in with your core and centering your mind, but studies say that a regular meditation practice can help reduce stress and anxiety, improve sleep, and even decrease blood pressure. 

Search for free guided meditations on YouTube or your favorite music streaming service to get started. One of my favorite ways to get still is by taking deep breaths in a warm bath with magnesium flakes and essential oils in it. I think of it as “batching self-care.”

Journal your thoughts.

The benefits of taking our hands off a device and onto pen and paper for a few minutes a day speak for themselves, but expressive writing has literally been proven to reduce stress, improve immune function, boost your mood, and strengthen emotional health.

Maybe it’s not an issue of making time to journal, but instead finding yourself staring at a blank page every time you try. There are SO many ways to journal that some people (like me) keep more than one set of pages for different types of entries.

You can write down what you’re doing, wearing, eating or drinking, how you’re feeling, and what you’re thinking about; things you’re grateful for; three things that have happened and three things you’re looking forward to; or a combo of the three like I do.

Eat whole foods and drink water.

Why is healthy food making this list? Because more people than you think still don’t understand what eating healthy really is. You may love a good “low carb” frozen meal or a diet whatever, but I can promise you that your body wants more. Our bodies aren’t just what we see on the outside, they are the entire Universe manifesting as cells, a nervous system, organs, blood, bones, and skin. Our bodies aren’t just a part of nature, they are nature, so they need earth and an adequate amount of water to thrive physically, but also mentally and spiritually. 

Does that mean you have to close that cake recipe tab and start researching veganism? Not at all. (Something being vegan doesn’t mean it’s healthy anyway, but that’s for another blog post.) Focus on incorporating unprocessed foods that grow from the earth and can be eaten in their natural state.

And of course, drink water, the elixir of life. One of my favorite hacks to find out just how much water we should be getting depending on our body is to drink half of your weight in ounces of water every day.

Move your body.

Whether you choose to lift weights, take daily walks, take a virtual class, or dance ecstatically in your living room to your favorite tunes, you’re moving your body — a decision that is invaluable to your health and overall well-being. Coupled with a balanced diet, daily movement of at least 30 minutes a day can help you lose and maintain weight, increase energy levels and brain health, and helps lower your risk of chronic illness.

Making it a priority to create movement is also a free and natural way to connect with your core, strengthening the source of our power to create and manifest our visions and desires. Creating momentum of the body also leads to the creation of momentum in our overall lives. 

Set healthy boundaries. 

Often buried beneath sparkly bath bombs and smoothies, setting boundaries is actually the ultimate form of self-care. It’s what allows for the prioritization of self because it is, by definition, prioritizing what matters most to us, and making decisions to make space for what we need.

Societal norms have conditioned us to believe that saying no is rude, and that being of service to others at all times shows kindness. It’s great to be kind, however, there is nothing honorable about appeasing everyone at the expense of your well-being. Saying yes when you really want to say no is physically and mentally exhausting. It denies your authenticity and creates blockages in your soul.

Boundaries are not only healthy but necessary. Think about what you value and want more of in your life. How can you limit your attention to the things that take you away from what you really want and need?

Rest.

Rest is in a self-care category all it’s own. Not just because of its importance to the basic functioning of the human body, but because it’s still sort of taboo. As much we as a society are starting to embrace self-care, we love being #BookedAndBusy more. For many people, not feeling worthy of rest is an ancestral barrier that continues to ripple through as generational trauma. 

Packing our schedules with more things to do whether we’re working or at home leaves little time to reset and regenerate. Eventually, a lack of rest can manifest as mental health disorders, physical illness, and a lack of spiritual will.

Rest is productive. It is a boundary we need to set so that we can return to ourselves, allow our cells to turn over, and be refreshed, even when we’re not busy; not being busy doesn’t mean available. Being intentional about when and how we rest can literally change our lives.

Self-care is unique to each person’s needs and preferences, but making it a priority is a necessity unified by the need to care for ourselves, period. 

Actually prioritizing it is as simple as scheduling the activities and reminders as appointments in your calendar. It’s like being a different kind of #BookedAndBusy – the kind that includes bath bombs and boundaries.

Melanie Santos is a wellness leader, intuitive healer, creator, speaker, and writer. She’s committed to shifting the culture of wellness, empowering people to connect and heal on a soul level, and guiding them towards intentionality, holistic self-care, and alignment with their highest possible existence. Visit her at MelanieSantos.co.