Self-care isn’t just for people who love long bubble baths and candles. And self-care is more than just practising yoga or writing in a reflection journal. Self-care is about putting yourself first and looking after yourself. Most importantly, self-care is for everyone.
Beyond the stereotyping of self-care as little more than a good pampering session, self-care is actually about doing things that you enjoy, making time for relaxation and proactively protecting your mental health. As such, self-care looks different for everyone.
The first step is to build your own self-care routine. This will help you stick to your resolution of looking after yourself and putting yourself first. To help inform your new self-care routine, here are 10 ways that you can practice self-care to benefit your health, mood and productivity.
#1 Deep sleep
Getting 8 hours of sleep each night is important for mind and bodily function. But the quality of your sleep matters too. An uninterrupted night’s sleep will help you to reach the most beneficial part of your sleep cycle - the deep sleep stage. Achieve this by removing bedtime distractions and establishing a relaxing pre-sleep routine.
#2 Prioritise health and hygiene
Always put your own health and hygiene first. Prepare nourishing meals for yourself which help you to maintain a balanced diet. Eat your required portions of fruit and vegetables every day and drink plenty of water. Look after your body on the outside too by practising good hygiene. If you do love a good bubble bath, here is your chance.
#3 Reading
Spend time feeding your imagination and stimulating your mind by reading. Read whatever you enjoy - long novels, comics, drama scripts, poetry, the day’s news, listicles and short-form writing. It doesn’t matter as long as you enjoy reading it and it helps you feel calm or inspired.
#4 Making time for your relationships
A healthy social life is important for self-care. Make time to work on your relationships with your friends, relatives and co-workers. Quality time in which honest and deep conversation can be had is especially nourishing for the soul.
#5 Cutting out toxic influences
Give your time to loved ones who enrich your life, but limit time spent with people who are overly negative, draining or even toxic. Bad relationships can be hard to leave, but the rewards of completing this difficult task will be more than worth it.
#6 Ending toxic habits
Take a look at your habits and bring an end to any that have a toxic effect on your life, health or mood. Negative self-talk, addiction, excessive worrying, and toxic ideas about perfection (whether they relate to your body, professional life or finances) are just some of the common bad habits many people suffer from. Breaking bad habits can be difficult, and may require professional help. But just like ending negative relationships, working hard to break your toxic habits will be well worth the effort.
#7 Breaks
Working through your breaks at work can be detrimental to your well-being and is certainly a bad habit that needs breaking. Take small breaks regularly in between tasks to refresh your mindset and maintain your long-term focus. Try to take your full lunch break every day and use the time to eat healthily, stretch your legs and relax your mind. You will feel infinitely more productive and positive afterwards.
#8 Deep relaxation
As well as sleeping well and taking regular breaks, schedule time in your busy life for deep relaxation. You might find ultimate relaxation at a spa, by going to a yoga class, getting out in nature, or while enjoying wild swimming. Whatever relaxes you, clears your mind and leaves you feeling revitalised will work.
Try using meditation to slow down your thoughts, rationalise your worries and find complete restfulness. There are many great guided meditations available online and on phone apps for beginners and experienced meditators alike.
#9 Immerse yourself in what you enjoy
Much of self-care revolves around making time to do the things that you enjoy. It doesn’t matter whether you choose to do something creative, like mindful crafts, or energetic, like a long run, as long as it brings you joy.
Learning to say no to things that you actually don’t want to do will make time for the things and people you do enjoy and help you put yourself first more often.
#10 Embrace slow living
Take the time to do things slowly, whether that’s cooking a hearty meal from scratch or even making a cup of tea using tea leaves. Slowing down helps you to appreciate the present, calms the mind and engages the senses. Deliberately slowing down the pace of your life every now and then will help to reduce stress.
Designing your life the way you want it is an important part of self-care. Practising self-care is not something that you can achieve overnight (or indeed will ever completely succeed at). Self-care is a process and a way to live your life according to what matters to you and what is good for you. Starting to put yourself first, even just sometimes, is the best way to really practice self-care and become a healthier and happier version of yourself.
