Boost Your Wellbeing with Daily Self Care

Self care has become the biggest priority for me in this phase of my 20s.

Why?

In this digital age, it’s easy to be swept up in the cycle of our daily lives and forget to prioritise our wellbeing. If you want to find out about why it has become such an important part of my life and how you can incorporate it into your daily schedule, read on.

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What is Self Care?

Before I explain my views on this subject, I want to shed some light on what this topic entails. There is no rigid definition to this, instead it very much differs from individual to individual. For me, the act of self care is to spend time to recharge, reflect and nurture oneself. Any activity that you think could fit into these buckets is what could be considered as self care to you. For me this is watching a movie, reading a good book, listening to podcasts, exercising regularly and getting a good night’s sleep. I may not have the time to do all these activities every day (except for striving to get 8 hours of sleep) but I try my best to carve time out of my busy schedule to ensure I do at least one of these once a day. On a good day I may spend time doing 2 or more of these, but what you’ll soon notice is that is dependent on how much spare time you have. Or that is what you are led to believe…

Why is Self Care important?

It is true to say that most of us in this day and age are working extremely hard towards our goals. In this process, we often neglect our own well being and forget that we need to rest mentally and physically. This will ensure that we are ready to give our utmost best for any challenge we may face whilst also giving us a chance to reset.

Reflection is a great skill to develop and one of the best ways to put this into practice is to start journalling. Take 10 minutes out of your day to reflect on your achievements, challenges, improvements. Before I had done this exercise myself, I would often reach the end of the day and it would be one big blur. However, if you’re able to regularly practice self reflection, you will (more) easily be able to pinpoint wins and draw out problems. This in conjunction with other self care activities allows us to reconnect and focus on our priorities.

So why should you listen to me and many others who preach about Self Care?

Self care has numerous benefits and I’ll try not to bore you with them all. Personally, I have noticed that I’m in a significantly better mood when I’m intentionally practicing this on a regular basis. This not only benefits me as I’m more receptive and better engaged but also those around me. You may unknowingly affect someone else in a positive way and cause a ripple effect that fosters kindness and deeper relationships.

Another significant change I have noticed is a boost in self esteem, directly linked to more regular exercise. Initially this felt more like a chore and I felt like I could better spend that time watching another movie or reading a book. After a month, I noticed an uplift in my mood and I felt physically better. Another month passed and I started to see some changes, including people around me. This is not to say that we need external validation to feel good about ourselves, but I felt more confident and wore clothes that I previously would’ve thought twice about. I have never looked back since and to be completely honest, I can’t sit here and say that I workout 7x a week but it is definitely much better than 0 and I’m continuing to reap the benefits.

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How can I practice Self Care?

The most common reason you will find amongst people who do not practice self care is the lack of time. In truth you do not have to spend hours on these activities, it is actually more effective to practice them in smaller amounts more frequently. So this is something you could realistically incorporate into your daily schedule. Here are some self care ideas split into four categories:

(🌱- My favourite)

Physical

• Exercise 🌱
• Walk 🌱
• Dance 🌱
• Yoga
• Prioritise sleep 🌱
• Take a nap
• Take a warm bath 🌱
• Get a massage

Mental & Spiritual

• Meditate
• Mindfulness exercises 🌱
• Pray 🌱
• Digital detox
• Listen to podcasts 🌱

Creative

• Paint/Draw 🌱
• Knit
• Pottery
• Scrapbook
• Listen to music 🌱
• Bake/Cook 🌱
• Decorate room

This is not an exhaustive list and I want to give a special shout out to my favourite form of self care: TRAVEL. This is the number one activity that not only recharges me but allows me to reconnect and self reflect the most. I’m sure for some of you reading, this will also be the top of your list.

Hope this post helped you better understand why self care should be a vital practice in this digital age. I’m interested to know what self care activities you do that was not covered in the list above.

Challenge: Let’s all pick 2 activities from the above list and practice this for every day of October. Share your thoughts on how you faired on this challenge!

Love, D