When life is hectic and you can barely find the time to eat and sleep, the last thing you’re thinking about is taking care of yourself!
If you’re having a tough time, too often your well-being is put on the back burner. Sometimes there’s too much junk food and not enough nutrition, other times it’s too much caffeine and not enough sleep, or maybe the last thing you want to do is move partake in physical activity after a long day.
It’s easy to make excuses but your health must be a priority. How can we do our best, in important areas of our life like school, work or relationships if we do not take care of ourselves first? Self care is the epitome of a good life. Why? It starts with self respect, knowing you are worth investing the time in, knowing that self love is not selfish and making yourself feel good from the inside out boosts self esteem and confidence. Who doesn’t want that?!
It’s important to make daily efforts to practice self care. I’m not talking about a candle lit bubble baths, they certainly are one way to unwind (hello Lush bath bombs…) There are so many ways to look after yourself. It doesn’t need to be expensive or time consuming, if anything two minutes of “me time” will take some intensity off and make stressful moments a little easier to handle. Whether it’s gathering your thoughts or completely emptying your mind, having a cup of coffee in garden before work or locking yourself in the bathroom to catch a breath away from screaming children.
I like to breakdown my self care into categories and give TLC to the areas that need the most attention!
Mental Health (emotions, feelings, thoughts) :
- Write down your thoughts and feelings, on paper or a computer. Get them out of your head! (Too often we just feel the feelings and don’t evaluate why we are feeling that way)
- Keep a positive affirmation list to remind yourself who you really are and who you aspire to be
- Talk about things that mean something to you with someone you love
- Learn – research, explore aspects of yourself and your relationships with others in our life
- Understand and acknowledge difficult times, don’t attach to an outcome
- Turn the TV, phone and external distractions off and sit with your thoughts
- Light a candle and read a book if you’re having trouble dwelling on negative thoughts
- Seek a therapists help if you need more guidance with your thought process. Sometimes we can get too tunnel visioned staring at one problem for too long.
Physical Health (activity, nutrition, hygiene)
- Stretch or foam roll – stretch your limbs, release tight muscles and loosen up
- Unwind with activities like walking, swimming or yoga
- Energize with high intensity cardio or get empowered by lifting weights
- Food is either the most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison – so which do you choose? Prepare meals ahead of time, make enough dinner to eat for lunch the next day. Make smoothies / juices and keep them in the fridge.
- Nourish your immune system and nervous system – (eg. probiotics and magnesium)
- Find out what vitamins you are lacking by inputting what you eat into Cronometer
- Take time for grooming like a weekly pamper evening
- Keep up with your hygiene
- Have an annual check up, smear test or relevant health examination
- Keep your space clean – grime, pollutants and dust don’t make for clean air
Spiritual Health
- Get outside in the fresh air and practice mindfulness
- Meditate or at least empty your mind and focus on breathing only
- Plant flowers or try growing herbs in a window box
Relationships
- Set aside time for the people you love and don’t reschedule
- Disconnect from distractions and have quality one-on -one time, this could be a walk / hike, conversations over a coffee, an indoor picnic
- Uphold boundaries you have, saying no when you need to
I hope this list gave you some inspiration for ways to prioritize your well being. Of course, you don’t need to do everything in one day. Just remember to take a moment every day to care for you.
Leave your self care tips in the comments section! 🙂
CLOUDED IDEAS 