- Do a 6-hour digital detox.
- Write a review for a business you have enjoyed lately (such as a restaurant or product you have purchased).
- Start a journal.
- Set up daily reminders on your phone to remind you that you are awesome!
- Smile at yourself in the mirror!
- When feeling particularly stressed, take a mental health day and call in sick to work.
- Write a letter to your older self.
- Do something fun you used to do as a kid.
- Cook a meal you’ve never cooked before.
- Find a local therapist or counselor.
- thelawofattraction.com/self-care-tips/
- tinybuddha.com/blog/why-put-ourselveslast-why-self-care-priority
- psychologytoday.com/us/blog/click-here-happiness/201812/self-care-12-ways-take-better-care-yourself
- madinamerica.com/2018/10/we-need-to-talk-about-self-care/
Written by Crystal Blackwell Tyson on January 3, 2020.
As a human, parent, service member or even student, individuals tend to forget to take care of themselves. It's easy to fall into the hustle and bustle of life, yet so many are inclined to take care of others before themselves. How does one ever find time to work out, help with homework, run kids to their extracurricular activities, eat, work, sleep, volunteer, go to school and cook? It seems impossible; but people do it every day. There seems to be a correlation between how much people have on their plate and how "good" of a person society deems them to be; the more one does, the better of a person they are! How does all this effect the ability to self-care?
In a recent study, it shows Americans have a tendency to either be content with the bare minimum, overachieve or have a winning mentality. Although not surprising, it does seem as though we’ve been brainwashed to believe the only way to achieve goals and dreams is by working harder than others and stomping out the competition. Some believe self-care means being selfish. Believe it or not, these mentalities have led to a major lack of self-care within the United States.
Self-care can be summed up into anything one does to be good to themself. Now what’s really important to remember is just because something feels good, doesn’t always mean its good for you! Anyone can easily fall into unhealthy mechanisms like substance abuse and over-eating. So to measure good selfcare, be sure to look at long term benefits that ultimately are good for you - your body, mind and spirit.
What does self-care look like? Self-care comes in many forms ranging from person to person. Organizing, mini vacations or "staycations", napping, exercising daily, reading and even pampering yourself, are just a few ways to practice self-care. Being more productive, improving physical health and having a high self-esteem are just some results of self-care. Imagine how it'll feel mentally and the extra time you’d have to enjoy life if self-care is practiced.
Organization is often the first step to becoming healthy. Writing down a schedule in one space allows visual proof of what needs to be done and when! The beauty of this is, when looking at a day, hour by hour, write in time to sleep, eat, cook, appointments, work, etc. Don’t forget to add traveling time. An hourly calendar can visibly show there is not enough time in the day to realistically complete what is trying to be accomplished which proves you are trying to do too much in a small amount of time. How do you fix this? Trim down the things you have to do. Prioritize the tasks, spreading them out through the week, month and even the year. This heavily reduces stress.
Saying no can be difficult for someone wanting to see a goal achieved or someone feeling obligated to others. It also can give back an incredible amount of time and energy for those that learn to do it. When already stressed, being a "yes" person can lead to burnout, irritability and even anxiety. However, with practice and proper technique, saying no to a few things can lead to empowerment and opportunity for selfcare.
Other forms of self-care deal with sensory, emotional, spiritual and physical forms. Once you’ve learned what your form of self-care looks like – and there can be many – you begin to reap the benefits of taking care of yourself! You can’t fill another's cup if yours is empty. So all in all, give yourself permission to be happy. No matter what fills your cup... make sure you fill it a little every day because in order to help others you must first help yourself.
10 Self Care Ideas
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