5 WAYS OF SELF-CARE TO IMPROVE YOUR LIFE
Do you find it is difficult to make time for yourself?
There is one important word to improve your live and that is ‘self-care.’ I’m not talking about a shower or shaving. I refer to those things that support us at our core and rejuvenate us to do exciting things.
As a young adult, I ran from one commitment to another, filling every gap between work, family, or projects.
Few of those projects included ME as the object of my concern.
This was not the healthiest time of my life but that’s obvious. I didn’t know the first thing about self-care.
Age has gifted me with a bit of insight. Here are five tips for self-care that I use when I get overwhelmed.
Tips for self-care
1. Make yourself a priority
Now I use a written planner so I don’t forget about ME and where I am going.
When reviewing last year’s planner, I had skipped over self-care entirely as one of three daily priorities.
This brought a gain in weight, less exercising, and struggles with sleep. This year’s planner looks a lot different. Now I prioritize ME. My goals include:
Blocking off time, not only for writing blog posts, but also for people and things that nourish me, including exercise. I include
- Time for making salads.
- time for a bedtime routine.
- Time for planning what I will do for myself
The key is making a habit out of these things.
Cementing self-care in my routine establishes a repeatable pattern and reminds me that to care for myself is a gift I can give to those who love me.
2. Do what suits YOU.
I won’t suggest that everyone needs to do what I do, for we are all unique.
Some people enjoy catching up with friends while others prefer going for a hike. Some want to get lost in a good movie or book.
Feeling pressured by what others do has an easy fix. Do something that is yours alone.
I have a friend who has committed herself to walk ten miles a week – and she does this mostly on small mountains. Hiking is her form of self-care.
Mountain climbing isn’t for me, and neither is knitting. Knowing what truly suits me and not someone I am trying to please or resemble is nourishing to my soul.
Making it a daily habit is the challenge.
3. Gratitude as self-care
Every morning (or evening if you are an owl), take time to write down three things for which you are grateful.
After reviewing the day, try to recall small events that may have skipped your attention.
Getting a back scratch without asking. A stranger in the grocery line inviting you to go first.
It isn’t easy at first, but the more we practice gratitude, the easier it becomes.
Our brains get re-wired to take note of the positive. Gratitude relieves the pressure of focusing on things that aren’t going well.
This shift has brought me a steady, quiet joy from which I find the strength to pursue the remainder of the day.
4. Improve your life. Try something new.
Have you noticed a certain monotony that can creep into the day when you aren’t looking?
‘Brush teeth, make the bed, fix breakfast, read the paper, go to work.’ And eight hours later, reverse the whole process.
Learning a new skill, being open to new opportunities, and exploring an interest that I set aside for what was a good reason at the time is waiting for me to reach out.
This idea comes with a warning, however.
I am particularly susceptible to going down bunny trails of things to learn and do.
If you also have an overdeveloped response system to suggestions, it may be just as brave to say no and not get overwhelmed.
For me, it feels edgy to stop, take a break and do ‘nothing.’
Yet, that is where I connect with my source of strength. In either case, the mental health benefits of shifting from a daily routine to include something radically different is a beautiful form of self-care.
5. Self-care and social media
Many people use Facebook or Twitter to keep in touch with people and stay current with what is happening in their world.
These are all great reasons to check-in. However, it can quickly become overwhelming to gather the billions of data pieces flowing into the brain – and soul.
Some downsides of social media are when it leads to unhealthy comparisons, wrong information, and swallows acres of time.
Do you suffer from FOMO (The fear of missing out)? That’s when it quickly becomes an addiction. What begins as healthy curiosity and entertainment becomes a driving habit.
Self-care has called us to moderation – or even abstinence.
Some FaceBook ‘friends’ regularly announce a ‘holiday’ from social media for as long as they need to reset or reboot their lives.
Isn’t that the reason we take vacations anyway? When we return, rejuvenated and present, we are then able to engage with wisdom and joy.
Once I made all of these tips into habits, overwhlem became much quieter and I am moving towards sleeping better.
The key is making self-care a habit.
Just dabbling in gratitude or new adventures is not self-care. Inconsistent indulgences don’t change brains.
When we become intentional about blocking off time to nurture ourselves, filling it with gratitude and things that feed us, we build a habit.
Habits are building blocks.
Healthy, happy lives are built one block at a time.
[Photo Credits from Unsplash: Dancing from New YOrk City Library; Daily Planner by Sil; Gratitude Journal by Gabrielle Henderson; knitting hands by Les-Triconautes; Woman with cell phone by Vladimir Fedotov; men hiking by Toomas Tartes]
