5 ways to take better care of yourself
Self-care is something that gets way too easily forgotten or ignored. We are always too busy to pause for a moment and do something to refuel our body and mind. We might get caught up taking care of others only, whilst neglecting our own needs. And yes, even though I am a strong believer of for example “the body achieves what the mind believes”, it is crucial to honour the body you have.
It is crucial to honour yourself, appreciate yourself and to take care of yourself.
I can only repeat myself from previous posts, there is only one of you, it is your life, your life only, you want to make the most out of it and enjoy it as much as possible. And Self-care plays a big part in this.
2020 has shown me as well, I need to get my sh** together and change a couple of things. Implementing guardrails for my own good in order not to be so close to burn out again. It is not a nice place to be if you are run down. Not only is your body screaming at you with signals like constant headache, dizziness or digestion issues but also your mood is absolutely down under. Constantly being sad and down, really drains all the energy. 2020 made me realise I have to take care of myself if I want to be productive and get a normal work-life balance back. So I went and took a week off (it was at the time time allowed to travel a little) and off I went to Cornwall. During that one week, I just did all the things I know I like and that give me energy back. A couple days full of focusing only on myself and what I want. I absolutely loved every second of it, so here I am sharing some of the things I did during that week but also kept as regular practices ever since!
Read
You can read what you want, I personally have really enjoyed both non-fiction and fiction. In the morning I like to take a couple minutes and read something I am fascinated about and want to learn. In the evening I prefer to let the right half of my brain dwell in unknown worlds and get lost my head-cinema. It is a perfect way to stimulate different areas of your brain, calm down and reset your vibration and energy level.
Have spa days
Who does not like the feeling of being super pampered and comfy? Even though at the moment everything might be closed you can still have your very own spa days at home. Light some candles, have a long bubble bath, put a face mask on or try one of those hand or foot masks (personally not a fan, but cool experience) and listen to some calming music. Treat yourself like the queen/king you are. Comfort the shit out of yourself basically.
Any form of exercise
Whatever form of exercise it is that you like (and can do in current times): do it. Exercising releases lots of endorphins into your body and even if you might hate it in the first minutes, the feeling after is incredible. You feel great because you did something good for your body, because you took time out of the day to focus on yourself and you are contributing to a healthy future self of you.
Be creative (draw, try coffee art, knit etc)
Most of the time we use our left half of the brain, we love logic and analysing things and have a little voice inside of our head reminding us of all the stuff we have to do. The right side of the brain is responsible for the creating part (in whatever shape or form). It is less logical and prefers other stimuli than calculating 1+1=2. Don’t get me wrong, we need both parts equally, but it can be of great benefits to actively stimulate the right side. It is a great opportunity to silence the thinking brain for a while and getting lost in the process of creation. And that can literally be anything, you can draw (it doesn’t need to be another Mona Lisa), cook, make music, write a story or taking pictures. Whatever it is that sparks joy in you!
Go for a walk (-ing meditation)
The probably easiest form of self-care. Going outside and breathing in that fresh air has incredibly grounding and energising capabilities. You don’t even need anything, just yourself. If you like you can pair it with listening to an audio book of course, music or a walking meditation. There are great guided walking meditations on headspace, calm or on Spotify. Alternatively you can do your own walking meditation by just listening to your surroundings and trying to be present in the exact moment. Feeling the wind on your skin and tuning into how it feels to take one step and another, listening to the birds singing, the cars rushing by, smelling different home cooked meals from your neighbourhood and taking in nature’s energy with every breath.
These are just some of my personal favourite ways of how I try to look after myself, so therefore this list is not exhaustive and also heavily based on own experience, but maybe it sparked some ideas in you for your next me-time to try out something you haven’t done before.
What are your favourite self-care practices? How much time of the day do you take out to focus just on yourself?
With love,
JD
Self-care is also knowing where you are holding yourself back and are playing small, take the free quiz to find out your self-sabotage type!
