Hey, friends! This week on the Sugar’d blog: the importance of self-care. Do you practice it? If not, you should consider it. Here are 5 reasons why self-care leads to a happier life:

You Can Better Care for Others When You Care for Yourself

Truth, guys. Honestly, it’s like the flight attendants say: you need to place the oxygen mask over your own face first, otherwise you won’t be helping anybody.

When we take the time to care for ourselves, we’re in a better mental and emotional position to care for others.

You’ll Set a Good Example

By giving yourself a few moments to meditate in the afternoon, or take a long bath before bed, or make yourself a healthy meal, you convey care and kindness—and your friends and family will take note.

We give our children time outs when they are stressed; why not forgo the wine and give yourself one? When they’re tired, we make them nap. Why not skip the coffee and lay down for awhile?

By helping ourselves the way we help our children, they’ll notice and become more open to practicing self-care for themselves.

Your Mind and Body Will Benefit

Obviously, our minds and bodies need some love. They can’t be expected to be run ragged all the time—that’s not fair, and eventually, those practices catch up to us in the form of chronic stress, panic attacks, ill health, and more.

Curb those illnesses and diseases by allowing yourself to mindfully notice what you need, and then give it to yourself—because honestly? No one else will.

We Don’t Slow Down Enough

During this major time of technological advancement that includes constant access to anything we could ever want all the time, we forget to slow down and unplug. Practicing self-care can include limiting screen time, setting your iPhone down and walking away, making a conscious choice to turn the television off, and power down our brains.

Your brain needs a rest! Hook it up!

C’mon—You Deserve It

Bottom line is that you deserve to be cared for, and no one will do it better than yourself. Why? Because you know what you need without having to try and figure it out. And you should be your own number one priority! After all, if you didn’t exist, nothing else would for you, either. Staying well and happy is imperative to living a long, healthy life.

The choice is yours, and it begins with self-care.

And if self-care includes a monthly trip to Sugar’d, we’d be more than happy to help you with that! Contact us to book and appointment, and if you need other ideas to help you with your new quest for self-care, just ask.