Do you dream of living a life not struggling to feel positive and upbeat even when through those tough days? Do you want to be more proactive in finding ways of practising self-care?
I know life can get on the busy and overwhelming side, and the last thing on your mind is to find time to practice self-care.
Anyone who knows me knows I live to be productive. I am like a lost soul aimlessly wandering the earth when I do not have a goal to focus my energy on. I have, however, over the years learned the importance of practising self-care often.
Self-care is essential for overall well-being. Giving us time to clear our minds, reassess our goals and to just let our minds relax.
What is Self-Care, and why is it important?
So what is self-care? According to Psychology Today “Self-care, in essence, is the mindful taking of time to pay attention to you, not in a narcissistic way, but in a way that ensures that you are being cared for by you. “
With how ‘crazy busy’ life is, it can take many of us getting sick from burnout and neglecting to practise regular self-care.
It does not matter if it is only 5 minutes or as long as 5 hours. Make the time regularly to do something for you. Recharge your drained batteries.
Self-care can also go a long way in managing your stress and help you live your best life.
I have listed below a few simple self-care practices to enhance your overall well-being.
Take a walk outside
Walking is excellent for several reasons. You get in 30 minutes of exercise, you get out of the house, it helps calm your mind, and it is free!
Take a warm bath
Deck your bathroom with scented candles, put some relaxing music on, add bath salts, pour yourself a glass of wine and enjoy as long as you need.
Read your favourite book
For an hour or so, read your favourite book while sipping on some hot coffee or tea and forget about life’s responsibilities.
Write in your journal
Writing about your day or what you are grateful or any thoughts for that matter. Sometimes it can be beneficial to write what is on one’s mind.
Unplug from technology for time to time
It is all too easy to become distracted from being present in the moment when we spend so much of our time mindlessly scrolling on our phones, iPad’s, or computer. You lose precious hours spending so much time using technology.
Express your creativity
It could be dancing, writing, drawing, painting or even signing. Get lost in creating something that brings you joy.
Eating colourful foods
Self-care includes all aspects of well-being. That means eating foods that fuel your body. Colourful and nutritious food that heals your body from the inside out.
Drink enough water
We all know how important this one is, and yet we still do not hit the mark of drinking enough water each day.
Nourished Life, wrote an article explaining why drinking more water is so important for our health and overall well-being.
Getting enough sleep and resting well
Getting adequate sleep is vital to our well-being and therefore, an essential practice of self-care. While we sleep many important functions take place that helps the body in physical recovery and repair. It supports brain development, cardiac function and body metabolism. Can support learning, improving your memory and even your mood.
Without enough sleep, we suffer problems with thinking, concentration, memory, reaction times and mood. Making it harder to perform our daily tasks and increase the risks of mistakes and accidents. Regular insufficient or inadequate sleep has even been linked to contributing to obesity.
Stretch
Stretch out any tension in you in the body.
Do something that energises the body
This could be swimming, going for a run, or performing yoga.
Try something new
Considered learning a new skill or hobby? What are you waiting for?
Practice meditation
Begin or end your day with a minute of deep breathing and focused awareness of your body, thoughts, and feelings.
Laugh
Find a Youtube clip or a comedy show on Netflix and spend time just laughing.
Develop a new habit
Maybe you want to be able to get more sleep. Start by trying to go to bed 30 minutes early and increase the time every several days.
Practice regular self-care for a healthy mind, body & soul.
Practising self-care is merely doing something you enjoy that helps you relax and wind-down. Priorities self-care and let practising self-care become a daily habit, so you do not burn out and become overwhelmed. When you take care of yourself, you not only benefit but those around you benefit.
I would love to know what self-care practices you perform for a healthy mind, body & soul. Please comment below!
The Wellness Blogger x
