Well hello to you my reader chums! When I picture self-care, I imagine luxury bath products, candles, and endless amounts of yoga, but self-care is more than a beauty regime and taking the time to meditate, it's something you should be putting in place to look after number one - yourself.
Self-care is all about taking care of yourself, and that includes your mind, body, and soul. It's all about not forgetting to put your needs first and doing everything you can to keep positive and live life to the full. Whether you've had a bit of a life blip lately or looking to practice self-care more, here are my top tips on how to do just that.
Listen to your body intuitively
This has to be my number one tip when it comes to self-care and something I've learnt and practiced more as I've got older. Naturally, I'm a busy person, I like to be doing something 24/7 and always have more than one task on the go as I feel like if I'm not productive with my day, then I'm a failure. However, over time, I realised that's not good for my mental health and it's bad for me to be that busy all the time. With lockdown, I've taken a huge step back and listened to my body more. What I mean by this is on the days I'm in a productive mood, I'll whizz through work, and on the days where work gets too much or I'm overwhelmed, I'll spend the evening sitting watching Netflix and doing nothing. Resting is just as important as being productive - listen to what your body needs. If you feel like you need to exercise, go for a walk, if you're hungry for a big meal, eat, if you're tired, have a nap; utilise your own intuition.
Setting boundaries
This tip can fall into lots of different life categories. But what I mean by this is setting boundaries for yourself and being okay with them. For instance, a lot of us feel the pressure of socialising or doing something we're not 100% into, just to fit in with the group or a certain person. But that's not what life is about and sometimes you have to be a little selfish. Learn to say no when you don't want to do something and being okay with that, put your energy into the things you enjoy, and stop when you need to stop. It's okay to have boundaries and sticking to them - and the people who don't respect that shouldn't be in your life.
Regular social media detoxes
Social media fills our days more than it probably should and it consumes our life in more ways than one. A lot of us share our lives online, whether that's on Instagram stories or updating your Facebook status, and we thrive from online attention and think it's the validation we need. But, it's not in any sense. Social media isn't real, it's a highlight reel of people's lives and a lot of us forget that, constantly comparing ourselves to the biggest influencers or celebrities. I'm an avid social media user and don't often take breaks but the days when I'm working lots or out with friends socialising, I tend to not look at my phone and I feel happier for it. Try and take breaks as much as possible and utilise that time you're spending scrolling by reading, calling a friend, or going for a walk - something that'll help your mental health.
Daily affirmations
Affirmations have become one of my favourite things and something I wish I knew more about in my younger years. Affirmations vary in so many ways but it's dependant on what's personal to you and what you need to boost yourself up about. They're something that you should say to yourself every morning as part of your routine to give you a pick me up for the day. If you're looking for affirmations, here are my top five affirmations.
Having 'you' time
Having time for yourself is so important. This could be having an evening to yourself to watch your favourite TV show, reading a book, or simply chilling with a podcast. It's good to sit with your thoughts and being on your own, and learning to love the time to yourself. We shouldn't have to rely on others to make us happy or give us reassurance in life, we have to be able to that ourselves before we rely on someone else. Always look after yourself first.
I hope you enjoyed this post. What are your tips for practicing self-care?
Thank you for reading <3
Yes yes yes to all of these! I've really focused on taking weekly social media detoxes this year and honestly, I can't cope without them now! x
ReplyDeleteGlad you agree, thank you for the lovely comment! That's amazing how you're keeping up with them x
DeleteThis is an awesome post
ReplyDeleteThank you lovely!
DeleteThis post is so great and all points are so true. I really need to start doing daily affirmations, I used to and it did really help so much. Also, giving yourself time to just rest - a therapist once said to me “doing nothing is still doing something” if I ever felt ‘lazy’ for giving myself a rest so we should all definitely listen to our bodies as you say! Lovely read xx - Shannon, alifewithambitions.co.uk
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Shannon, I really appreciate your lovely comment!! xx
DeleteGreat Post! We all need a bit more self care in these crazy times!
ReplyDeleteThank you! We definitely do x
DeleteGreat tips! I definitely need to take more social media breaks! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you lovely xx
DeleteI love this post! I definitely need to take more time out for self care as I have a habit of burning myself out x
ReplyDeleteThank you so much lovely xx
DeleteYES to all of this! So many self-care posts focus on things like painting your toenails while having a bubble bath (which is a nice thing to do, but not really at the core of your wellbeing!) Setting good boundaries and taking time to do the things you love is really important. Thank you for this brilliant post!
ReplyDeleteThat's so true, thank you so much lovely! xx
DeleteI love self care posts, it's funny, it's something I'm not very good at actually doing! I love taking some time to myself and doing some yoga, it means I get to just block out the world and be with my own thoughts and process everything! Thank you for sharing this!
ReplyDeleteRosie
loverosiee.co.uk
I think self-care is hard to master and that's why it's so important to practice it a lot. Glad you're able to take the time to do yoga xx
DeleteSelf care is so important and these are such great tips for sure!
ReplyDeleteThank you lovely! xx
DeleteGreat tips! Me time is very important to me.
ReplyDeletexoxo
Lovely
www.mynameislovely.com
Your post resonated with me. My word of the year is 'Metta' and I'm committed to self-care this year.
ReplyDeleteThank you!!
DeleteNice post. Yes to all these. Especially setting boundaries and having regular social media detoxes.
ReplyDeleteThank you lovely!
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