Self-care is so important for our health, every aspect of it. Self-care helps us properly care for our physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional health.
I know self-care is something that a lot of people talk about endlessly, but it’s all for good reason. There is an unseen connection between these four areas of our health and when one of them is out of balance, the others begin to teeter as well.
In order to prevent this from happening we need to make sure that we are doing our best to practice self-care daily.
Before we jump into some ways that you can practice self-care daily, let’s address the big elephant in the room. Why the hell do we need to be practicing self-care daily anyways? Besides the reason mentioned above here are a couple more reasons why:
- Self-care improves our mood
- Self-care reduces anxiety
- Promotes healthy relationships
- Invites positivity
- Improves our self-esteem
- Addresses your needs
- Helps maintain motivation
- Increases your awareness
Those are a lot of reasons to practice self-care daily and it’s not even the half of it!
Think about this list as individual activities. Can you see the way they directly impact your life? Everything on this list can have a huge impact on your career, family relationships, friendships, the goals you set, and so much more.
Essentially the way you practice self-care, and how often you practice it can directly impact the way you live your life. In order for you to live your happiest and most fulfilled life, self-care is something that you will need to practice daily to ensure you are taking care of yourself to the best of your ability.
So how we do practice self-care daily? I’ve got 5 ways you can. Check them out below!
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What is self-care?
First let’s talk a little bit about self-care. What is it? What does look like?
To be honest you can find a ton of information about what self-care is and what it’s not. I personally believe self-care is whatever makes you feel great. It’s whatever resets your mind, meets your emotional needs, and motivates you to be at your best physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Self-care is 100% personal and it looks different for every single person.
However, I can tell you what self-care is not. Self-care is not cuddling up in bed with a pint of your favorite ice cream, eating all of it while watching a depressing movie as the result of having a really bad day. This does absolutely nothing positive for you!
Actions like this only encourage for that negative mood to continue to grow. When you intentionally do things that you think will help you feel better, like eating ice cream or junk food, or even sleeping all day because you’ve had a bad day, you’re not engaging in self-care.
The only thing you are doing is giving that negative energy room to grow and expand into something potentially more harmful.
When we have days when we’re just not feeling our best, we don’t want to put forth any energy, or we just don’t want to face life head on, these are the days when we need to be practicing self-care the most.
Again, self-care is 100% personal and looks different for everyone.
However, all self-care involves participating in positive and energy boosting activities that effectively combat the negative thoughts and emotions you may be feeling.
So instead of choosing to sleep all day choose to meditate for 10 minutes. Or maybe instead of cuddling up in bed with a pint of ice cream, watch a funny movie while giving yourself an at home spa treatment.
The foundation of self-care is choosing to engage in activities that make you feel better from the inside out. Keep that in mind as we navigate through the 5 ways you can practice self-care daily.
1. Make it the first thing you do in the morning
The easiest way to start practicing self-care daily is by making it the first thing you do in the morning. For most of us, starting our day off may include basic hygiene, a cup of coffee, breakfast, and maybe a quick workout session.
What if I told you, you could change the whole dynamic of your day if instead of engaging in activities like these you began your day with self-care practices?
When we make engaging in self-care the first thing we do in the morning, we are training ourselves to be more aware of two things. One, how we feel when we wake up in the morning. Two, what our immediate needs may be.
When we wake up in the morning we just go-go-go. We rarely take the time to check in with ourselves, get a sense of our energy and mood, or recall our dreams. It’s so important to engage in these three things because they ultimately help set the tone for the day.
If we didn’t get a good night’s rest chances are we may feel cranky and rushed in the morning. This will trickle throughout the rest of our day. Whereas if we take time to acknowledge how we feel before starting our day, we improve our chances of having a much better one.
In addition to this, if we don’t acknowledge what our needs may be the moment we wake up, we put off acknowledging and meeting them until later in the day.
Instead of rolling out of bed and doing your normal routine consider taking 5 minutes to do something good for yourself. Whether you meditate, wash your face, journal, do some stretching, repeat affirmations, exercise, or engage in positive self-talk, take time for yourself.
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2. Plan it out in advance
Another easy way to practice self-care daily is by planning it out in advance. I will literally write out in my journal and planner self-care practices that I am planning on doing the following day, and what time specifically.
This helps me ensure that I am practicing self-care at some point and time during my day. Don’t try the mental reminder approach. While you may be able to keep up with it for a while, eventually you will begin to put it off, tell yourself you’ll do it later if you didn’t do it when you originally planned, and before you know it you just stop doing it at all.
You’re setting yourself up for failure before you even have the chance to work it.
To avoid this, invest in a small planner and just write out when you will practice self-care. Be clear and specific writing out what you will do for each day, what time you will engage in that activity, and for how long you will participate.
I know this seems tedious but it really works.
Eventually this habit will turn into a routine for you and there will be days when you can practice self-care without scheduling it into your day. Until that day comes, take advantage of the resources that you have to help you hold yourself accountable for practicing self-care.
3. Have a morning and nighttime routine
My best advice for practicing self-care daily is to engage in it in the morning and at night.
I have found that starting and ending my day with caring for myself does two things. It helps me start the day off knowing that I’m a priority, and it helps me end the day knowing I took care of myself in addition to everyone else around me.
This is so important because we often times put ourselves on the back burner as a means to make sure that everyone else is taken care of. While I do not believe this to be a bad or selfish act, I do believe that it encourages us to engage in the lack self-love.
I’m a big believer in the idea that we are only as good to someone as we are to ourselves. In other words, if we aren’t giving our all to ourselves, how can we give our all to others?
The highlights the importance of practicing self-care. Self-care allows us to be able to perform at our best daily. Self-care encourages us to take the time to dive deep into what’s happening with us in order to know what needs to be done to put ourselves in the best mood and mindset.
Sometimes that also means recognizing that we end our day in a much different manner than when we started it. So, the best and most effective way to start and end on a positive note is to practice self-care in the morning and at night.
That way we go to bed well rested and free of stress, and can wake up in the morning feeling motivated to meet our needs before meeting the needs of others.
4. Take little breaks throughout the day
If you’re a busy body like me it can be hard to find time to sit still and refocus. But it’s so important that we do.
When we go the whole day just moving from one task to the next, not giving ourselves time to refocus, we push ourselves towards burnout more quickly. This is because we are ignoring our need to take a break and instead are focused on completing all our responsibilities for the day as soon as possible.
All the while not realizing that we are doing more harm than we are good.
While you don’t have to take an hour long break it’s important to at least give yourself a 10 to 15-minute break every hour. During that time practice self-care.
Step outside to get some fresh air and clear your mind. Walk around to encourage blood flow. Do fun quick brain activities. Do a brain dump journal entry. Massage your temples. Take a power nap.
Do whatever you may need in that moment to reset and refocus. Don’t ignore your body or mind when it’s telling you that it needs something in the moment. Instead, acknowledge it and then set out to meet that need as soon as possible.
This takes away the pressure of having to wait until a specific time during the day to practice self-care and meet your needs, and instead gives you more room in the day to do so.
5. Don’t overwhelm yourself
Last but not least, practice your self-care routine in moderation. Sometimes engaging in self-care is the perfect distraction from a lot of things we’d rather not participate in, but like most things, too much of a good thing can be bad.
It’s so important to practice self-care daily as a means to meet our needs and care for all aspects of health. It’s also equally important to make sure that we aren’t over doing it. Self-care is meant to replenish us in moments when we need it most. It’s not meant to be used as a go-to activity just for the hell of it.
Avoid overwhelming yourself by practicing it when it is most appropriate for you.
Whether that’s in the morning when you first wake up, by taking little breaks every hour, or at night before going to bed. Acknowledge when it’s appropriate for you to engage in self-care practices outside of your daily self-care routine.
Whatever that may look like for you is fine. Remember self-care is 100% personal. The most important part about practicing self-care is to do it in moderation so that you don’t become bored or too heavily reliant on it.
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Conclusion
Self-care can help you create balance for your mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical health. Practicing it daily can help you not only develop a consistent routine for engaging it, but it can also discipline you in making yourself a priority.
We all have needs that need to be met. Self-care is a great way to identify what needs you may have in the current moment, and provide you with an opportunity to be able to meet those needs.
While self-care is something that you learn to define for yourself, it’s important to note that are clear boundaries as to what self-care is and what it’s not.
Self-care is not feeling sorry for yourself, bathing in your negative emotions, or encouraging for the growth and expansion of negative thoughts and feelings. Self-care is a replenishing activity that is meant to restore you at various moments during the day, and continuously set you up for success.
The daily practice of self-care looks different for everyone. Your version of practicing self-care daily may not look like my version of practicing self-care daily and that’s ok.
Don’t compare. Instead use these 5 tips as a way to help you develop a consistent daily routine. Do you practice self-care daily? If so, what helps you remain discipline in doing so?
-Xo
Kimora