TTaking care of ourselves is very important. Sometimes the week can be very busy and hectic for us in different ways.
So, what better way to look after ourselves then making use or creating some free time for ourselves and, looking after our body, mind, soul and life.
What comes to mind for you when you think of the term ‘self-care’? Write those meanings down and then reflect upon them, see what you think you need in order to take care of yourself wholesomely. It’s really important for us to pay attention to our needs and how we perceive certain things, as it shows us the way we think and the ideas we have of how to better look after ourselves.
Now that you’ve written down your definition of the term ‘self-care’, I’m going to share my definition of self-care with you. Ultimately, self-care can be whatever you want it to be, there is no wrong or right way of self-care, as it’s individualistic to us and for us, based on our wants and needs from our own life.
So long our techniques, routines and ideas of self-care serve and benefit us in a positive way, that’s the most important thing, us gaining any form of positivity from what we are doing for ourselves. How you chose to create the idea of self-care is completely up to you and your needs of self.
Self-care doesn’t need to always be pretty or aesthetic, in fact it can be the complete opposite, it can be challenging, hands on and not pleasing to the eye. It is what you can do to take care of yourself in any aspect of life, whether it’s mentally, physically, financially or anything else.
What do we gain from self-care?
There are a number of benefits of self-care, such as:
– Boosting physical health
– Improving emotional health
– Gives us the space to breathe and take time out for ourselves
– Generates soothing feelings and leaves us in a better position to be able to carry out what we need more effectively
– Gives us the time to find out who we really are and what we really need
– Helps with our resilience
– Increases our feelings of worthiness
– Helps to increase our confidence with self
– Helps us improve our quality of sleep and digestive system
– Helps to boost our immune system
– Help us in reducing stress and anxiety
Why should self-care be a priority?
Think of it this way, imagine you’re a well of energy and there’s just constant withdrawal and deposit in your well.
You’re putting things out in the world that requires your energy and you’re receiving things back from the world that fills your energy.
However, there is often an imbalance in the output and input of our energy. We tend to give a lot and not replenish our energy levels back.
How does this then impact us? We feel burnt-out, exhausted, crankiness, fatigue, depressed, anxious, frustrated, apathy, overwhelmed and stressed.
Therefore, looking after ourselves means that we can give what requires our attention and energy and we can also replenish our energy levels back so that we can feel good within our body, mind, soul and life.
Tips for self-care
Below are some ideas which can be used in planning for your self-care routine! However, only you can decide what the best self-care routine for you is, what makes you feel most comfortable and what you feel you need at this present moment in time!
B O D Y
| Consider eating healthy, perhaps introduce some healthy snacks
| Play some of your favourite music and dance it out, release some of that energy which may be weighing heavy on you
| Have a relaxing bath or shower
| Drink plenty of water
| Practise some yoga
| Pay attention to your body and learn what your body wants and needs
| Exercise, go on a walk, jog or whatever you find pleasure in doing
M I N D
| Journal your inner thoughts and feelings
| Practise gratitude take some time out to see how far you’ve come and apricate all your achievements.
| Start your weekend off with some morning affirmations
| Write down any aspirations and goals that you have
| Look up some books or articles which inspire, motivate and interest you
| Practise meditation and mindfulness
S O U L
| Reflect and see if there’s been anything toxic which you may perhaps want to remove from your life
| Listen to some calming music, sit with it, allow it to circulate through your body
| Relax with a film or something you enjoy watching or relaxing too
| Spend some time with nature and take in that fresh air
| Reach out to people that you want to connect with
L I F E
| Clear away any pending clutter
| Look at your financial outgoings and see if there is anything you need to sort out
| Look up some tasty recipes and try them out
| Clean your space
| Create a to-do list for the week ahead
| Take a trip, change of scenery- it doesn’t have to be far just something different perhaps that you think you’d enjoy
Whatever you do decide to do, remember it doesn’t have to cost you anything. It doesn’t have to feel super, it’s all self-indulgent, it doesn’t have to be appointment based, it can be whatever you want it to be, so long that you feel it is going to contribute to you in a positive way and you can keep it going!
Have a lovely weekend, from the U Matter Team 🙂