Lately, I’ve been having a lot of conversations with patients about making sure there’s “enough left in their cup”. So what do I mean by this? Well, imagine that we all have a cup and in that cup holds everything your body needs to maintain itself – whether it’s to keep you healthy, recover from a nasty injury or keep you feeling good!
But there’s things that empty your cup, like:
- Physical overexertion
- Stress
- Poor rest and sleep
- Genetic predispositions
- Complex medical conditions
- Poor diet
- Lack of movement
- Previous injuries
- A weak immune system
On the flip side, there’s things that refill your cup, such as:
- Healthy eating
- Relaxation
- Adequate hydration
- Managing stress
- Good endorphins from exercise, socialising and enjoyment
- Early treatment of injuries
- Good amounts of rest
- Keeping a strong immune system
Note : Everyone’s cup is different. Your cup might be a different size than mine, than your spouse’s, than the guy across the road. We all have different sized cups and different capacities.But you need to make sure there’s enough in your cup!
As an OT, part of my role is to help you work out how to balance your cup so you can stay healthy – so if you feel like you need help with that, just ask me next time you’re in.