Practising self care is more important than you may realise for your health and mental wellbeing. When we constantly get caught up in our weekly routines, we face a tendency to neglect taking care of one very important person in our lives – ourselves. These days, the need and strive to be constantly busy with something, constantly doing things that improve ourselves, add to our financial wellbeing and advance our social statuses can be extremely draining, both mentally and physically.
Self care is important for many reasons. It allows us to stop moving at a million miles per minute and evaluate the things that are truly making us happy. It allows us to develop an understanding of what is truly valuable and important to us within our weekly routines and every day life patterns, and most importantly, it allows us to stop for one moment and focus on ourselves and nothing else.
The value of self care means that we first have to forgive and love ourselves for who we are. When we admit that we make mistakes, when we admit that it’s okay to not be okay, to not be feeling 100%, we accept that we are human and we also need a lot of care and love that stems from within ourselves. At times, we seek this kind of happiness and care from other people, but I am here to tell you that the most liberating thing you can do for yourself is to practice self care by yourself, to turn the world off and focus on yourself, by yourself.
If you’d like to practice self care but you’re not really sure what measures and methods may be the most fruitful and purposeful for you, then look to these methods for an idea of what might be right for you. And with these measures, you may just find the best way to relax, wind down, and most importantly, just breathe.
Yes, work, uni, college, friends, relationships, exercise and socialising activities are very important. But they can also be draining if you do not find the time to wind down from them. Do you feel like you’ve over-committed yourself to one too many things in your weekly schedule? Do you feel as though some things in your life aren’t adding as much value to you as you thought?
Take a moment to sit down, perhaps with a journal or a diary, and analyse the things that are truly making you happy. If you find something that is not adding value to your life, it is time to either cut the ties or limit the amount of time and effort you put towards them.
Sometimes when we are all completely wrapped up in our weekly routines and schedules, we get home from a long day, take a quick shower and go straight to sleep. But taking the time to use all different types of bath and shower products and really cleansing every inch of your face and body can easily feel like an act of self care.
So hop in the bath, use some bath bombs, use your favourite scented soaps and shower gels, light a few candles and take some time to exfoliate and cleanse. This not only does wonders for your skin, but allows you to destress, detoxify and rejuvenate.
Exercising has wonderful benefits, and it’s often a routine that we neglect when we get wrapped up in our lives and schedules. Taking some dedicated time to either go to the gym, go for a thirty minute walk, or practice some yoga at home can really do wonders for your mental health and physical wellbeing.
When you exercise, your body releases tension and your mind pauses other stresses and concerns because you are so focused on the physical activity at hand. Practice this and watch yourself feel relaxed and accomplished straight after.
Being creative poses endless possibilities. From writing poetry, painting, gardening or cooking, being creative allows you to use your imagination and use parts of your brain that may feel dormant when you get caught in the weekly grind.
This derives from the feeling of being ‘burnt out’, or rather, taking on so much that you don’t understand what’s going on in your life anymore. So, find a creative activity that you enjoy, schedule some time to advance this creativity and allow yourself that time with your imagination.
Jotting down negative thoughts, positive thoughts and everything in between allow you to hold emotions within your hands. This encourages your thoughts to be released from your mind, which can be extremely draining, tiresome and destructive for you.
By practicing this at least once a week, you are able to log and track the way you feel, notice patterns and make constructive improvements that might be able to help you process your feelings, reassess your choices, detoxify and let these thoughts free.
I know you’re probably rolling your eyes right now, but hear me out. Mindfulness is actually a very useful tool that brings yourself back to the current moment you are living in. Take the normal hustle and bustle of your everyday, weekly routine and assess it. How many times do you sit down and actually debunk what you are doing?
So, when you are feeling stressed, just stop. Stop everything that you are doing. Take a deep breath, in through the mouth, feel it in the pit of your stomach, and release. If you have closed your eyes, open them and assess what is happening around you. Use your five senses to name something you can see, you can hear, can touch, can feel, something you wish to do. Try telling yourself “I’m not going to let this task stress me, I can do this properly and with ease”. You will be surprised how handy and helpful this can be in your self care routine.
Spending quality time with quality people is an absolute must when it comes to self care. Be it with your family, your best friends, your pets or your partner. Make sure that whoever you spend time with is equally interested in spending time with you and you can do quality things together. Take a walk, go on a hike or get a coffee with them!
If you need to vent or chat to a friend about a certain topic, ensure this person is the right person you can do that with. This will help you to feel better and declutter your mind, get all of your thoughts out there in the open so you can talk about them together. If you have a long distance friend, give them a call and send them some love. You’ll always feel better after spending time with your loved ones.
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