Self-care is such a popular concept now, and I love it! Mental health awareness has been growing in recent years, and more people are talking about how important it is to take care of yourself and show yourself some love. But what really is self-care?
Well, self-care is different for everyone. For me, self-care means taking an extra step to do something that will benefit me, whether that be physically, mentally, or emotionally. Taking time to ask myself what I need and giving myself that is how I do self-care. I implement self-care practices into my daily routines to take time for myself and make myself a priority, even when life gets busy.
There are several self-care strategies that I implement into my daily life. Some of these I have been doing for years, and some only a few months. All of these have brought some benefit and a sense of self-love into my life!
Waking Up Early
Waking up early is one of my favorite self-care practices. Nothing beats the feeling of waking up early and actually feeling refreshed and having a slow morning routine to get your day started. Waking up early allows me the time to stretch, enjoy my breakfast, read a little, and get ready for the day without having to rush around. By waking up around 6:30 or 7:00, I feel like I can be productive for a large part of the day and still have time to go outside and enjoy the sunlight in the afternoon or evening.
Meditation
Meditation is a new self-care practice that I have implemented into my life. I have heard for years about how amazing meditation is for your mind and body, and I knew there was a lot of evidence showing that. I still just couldn’t convince myself to take five to ten minutes out of my day to do nothing. Seriously, there is so much to do in a day; how am I supposed to just do nothing!? However, I have found meditation to be an incredibly valuable part of my morning routine. It is one of the first things I will do in the morning after getting up.
I will find a place to be alone, close my eyes, and focus on my breathing for five to ten minutes. To start, I just sit against a wall with a hand on my stomach, feeling my breathing. I breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth and try to clear my mind. When thoughts came up, I let them pass as if they were flowing away down a river.
This doesn’t work every morning, though. Sometimes my thoughts are too loud and my mind too chaotic. On these days, I find guided meditation to be incredibly helpful. I have especially been enjoying the app “Insight Timer.” They have different guided meditations, and you can choose your time, from five to 30+ minutes. You can also save meditations that you enjoyed, and this has been helpful when I want to repeat a guided meditation.
Yoga
Yoga is a form of self-care that is a necessity in my life. I have mild scoliosis in my lower back which causes issues from my hips and all the way up to my neck. I experience headaches and dizziness, and all kinds of other side effects fairly frequently. Yoga has been really beneficial in helping me to minimize pain and gain some strength and flexibility.
I spend 15-30 minutes every morning doing yoga, whether it be some gentle stretches on my own or following along with a yoga class online. I always leave my yoga mat feeling better than I started, and it reminds me how important it is to move my body every day.
Journaling
My relationship with journaling was complex. For a few years, I would journal on and off, writing for a few days or weeks and then giving up for a few months. It wasn’t until 2020 that I began journaling consistently. I journaled probably every day during the summer of 2020, but I stopped writing when school started in the fall. I would write on and off if I was going through something particularly stressful or upsetting, but never consistently.
A few months ago I began journaling consistently again, and it has been going really well. I used to set time aside in my morning routine to journal, but now I do it all throughout the day, whenever I feel like it. I find that if I have my journal near me while I’m at my desk working or while I’m eating a meal, I am more likely to write in it.
If you’re curious about some awesome journal prompts that have been really beneficial for me, check out my post HERE.
Eating Good Food
This one probably seems obvious, but eating good food makes your body and mind feel good! When I eat chips and chocolate all day, I can definitely tell that my mind is slower, my body feels more tired, and I’m much more irritable. Eating lots of fruits and vegetables and food that makes you excited and happy is a wonderful way to practice self-care. That doesn’t mean never eating dessert or fried foods or any other fun food. It means eating what your body wants to eat. Not just eating the closest thing to you or the easiest thing to grab from your pantry.
Going for Walks
I cannot emphasize how important I think it is to get outside and be in nature. Nature has a significant impact on mental health, and I have seen its effects on my well-being. I like to go out every night after dinner and take a slow walk around my neighborhood or go to the nearby park. Luckily, I live in an area with walking trails and a big park nearby that I can explore. I grew up in a very rural area, and nature was a big part of my upbringing.
I want to end this post by emphasizing that self-care is for EVERYONE!
When you Google self-care, you get many pink and flowery results and marketed towards women, but this does not mean that self-care is just for women. Everyone needs self-care, no matter who you are.
What are some of your favorite self-care practices? I’d love to hear from you!