Welcome to the ninth Health Tip Wednesday recap where we review the weekly feature's social media posts for February 2024. With these posts, we try to leave no topic unexamined. These particular posts focus on healthy teas, some practices for being kind to our bodies and to ourselves.

Tea-rrific Teas!

Ginger Tea
This type of tea has been known to aid in offsetting nausea and offers digestion support.

Peppermint Tea
This tea may encourage nasal congestion relief, relax a sore throat and overall, help strengthen your immune system.

Chamomile Tea
Chamomile tea is popular for its potential to reduce stress and in some cases, help people achieve better sleep.

Black Tea
Black tea can offer multiple benefits including assistance with weight loss, lowering cholesterol, lowering blood pressure and more.

Green Tea
This tea is made from leaves that have aged and oxidized. It also holds some of the same possible benefits as black tea.

Practicing Good Self-Esteem

1. Recognize various situations may influence self-esteem. These situations might include:
- A work or school presentation
- A challenge with a spouse, loved one, or close contact
- A change in roles or life events, such as a new job or a child leaving home

2. Become aware of intrusive thoughts and beliefs.
- Your thoughts and beliefs about yourself might be positive, negative, or neutral. They might be rational, based on reason or facts, or they could be irrational, based on false ideas.
- Ask yourself if these thoughts and beliefs are true. Would you say such things to a friend? If you wouldn't say them to someone you care about, then why say them to yourself?

3. Challenge negative thinking.
Certain thought patterns may diminish your self-esteem. These thought patterns include all-or-
nothing thinking, mental filtering, mistaking feelings for facts, and negative self-talk.
4. Forgive yourself. Everyone makes mistakes. But mistakes aren't permanent reflections on you as an individual. They're merely moments in time and don’t completely define your character.

5. Use hopeful statements. 

Be kind and encouraging to yourself. Instead of thinking a situation won't go well, adopt more optimism and trust that you can handle whatever transpires.

Prioritizing Posture

Phone Holding – Looking down at your smartphone often can cause you to flex your neck and strain your cervical spine. If you’re standing and looking at your phone, maintain good posture by holding your phone close to eye level. When sitting and looking at your phone, sit fully upright and use armrests or a desk to support your arms.

Standing Right – When standing, keep these tips in mind: Stand straight and tall with your shoulders back. Keep your head level and in line with your body. Pull in your abdomen. Keep your feet shoulder-width apart. Additionally, avoid locking your knees. Bear your weight primarily on the balls of your feet and let your hands hang naturally at your sides.

Wearing a Bag Correctly – Carrying a shoulder bag, suitcase or briefcase can impact your posture and bones. Even an empty bag will cause you to contract your shoulder muscles and raise your shoulder to keep the bag from sliding down your arm. A good practice is, when you use a bag with a shoulder strap, place the strap over your opposite shoulder.

Stretch for Flexibility

1. Cross shoulder stretch

Sit or stand up straight. Keep shoulders even. Extend right arm across chest. Place left hand on the right elbow to gently support your arm. Feel the stretch in your right arm and shoulder. Breathe in through your nose, and breathe out through your mouth. Hold stretch for a count of 15. Repeat this stretch on opposite side, using right hand to stretch left arm and shoulder.

2. Triceps stretch
Stand up straight, with knees slightly bent, toes facing forward. Place feet hip distance apart. Keep shoulders even. Bend right arm at elbow, with elbow pointing to the sky. Lift arm next to your head. Position right fingers so they touch the shoulder blade area. Place left arm across top of head, and place left hand on the right elbow to gently support the arm during this stretch. You should feel a stretch in the back of your right arm. Breathe in through your nose, and breathe out through your mouth. Hold stretch for a count of 15. Repeat this stretch on the opposite side, using right hand to stretch left triceps.

3. Chest stretch
Stand up straight, with knees slightly bent, toes facing forward. Place feet hip distance apart. Keep shoulders even. Place arms behind your back. Clasp your hands together, lifting your arms behind your back. Squeeze your shoulder blades together. Feel the stretch in your chest. Breathe in through your nose, and breathe out through your mouth. Hold stretch for count of 15.

4. Quadriceps stretch
You're going to be standing on one leg, so you may want help staying steady. If so, stand facing a wall or other surface, about 1 foot away from it. Put your right hand against the wall. Raise your left leg behind you and gently grab your foot with your left hand. Relax your left foot in your hand. Press your right hip forward to stretch the muscles in the front of your left thigh. Keep your knees close together. Hold stretch for a count of 15. Repeat the stretch with your right leg.

If this article left you feeling a little limber and light, then we'll consider it a success. We have many other months' worth of health tips you can read through and gain something from. Check out the Health Tip Recaps for December 2023 and January 2024.