Self-care has become a huge trend over the past few years, to the point that there are now entire books, blogs, courses, and whole businesses about self-care. And you know what? I’m here for it! Taking care of yourself is so important for your wellbeing, for the mental and physical health.
You need to practice self-care and fill your cup first in order to show up for the world and serve others in the best way possible. And this doesn’t just mean serving your audience in your business, it’s as simple as serving your loved ones and the people that are closest to you. So in today’s blog post, I’m going to go through what self-care means, why it’s important, and how to create your own self-care routine. Read all the way until the end to find out about a freebie for you!
I’ll start by saying that I didn’t really know what self-care was until a few years ago, and I guess I had probably never practiced it before. The funny thing about this is that I discovered it only once I had reached a burnout point. It was in my first year of university, where everything was feeling so overwhelming and I was letting the daily hustle run me instead of me running my days. I also often got unwell and was always feeling tired, stressed, and nervous. After a few dramatic things happened in my life, I was also contemplating dropping out of university, but then I found my faith and my life changed.
I started by seeking help and going to see a therapist that my university provided for free; I have no shame in saying that I used to (and still do now) go to therapy. It’s so beneficial and it helped me understand some reasons why I was so stressed and to really reassess the priorities in my life. I quickly realized that I was my priority and I needed to take care of myself fully. So then I changed my eating habits, the way I spoke to myself, I started exercising more and doing other things that made me feel good and avoid another burnout.
I then fell in love so much with practicing self-care, that I decided to make it a monthly habit, then a weekly habit and the great thing is that I’m in control of what I want to do and I can change it up depending on the season. If you’ve never planned a self-care routine before, I really encourage you to do so, and if you don’t know where to start, then keep reading to find some helpful advice.
I tend to divide my self-care time into 3 main areas: mind, body, soul, and I’ll share a few ideas on things that I practice in each area.
3 ways to practice self-care
Table of Contents
1. EMOTIONAL SELF-CARE
Here I usually practice anything that feeds my mind and emotions. I love treating myself to some good books (I probably own hundreds of £ worth of books!), so that is a form of self-care for me, and I’m a huge fan of personal development books. I also had a cinema membership for just over a year, and I used to go to the movies once a week, sometimes even twice, and that was a great me time that I used to look forward to every week (plus, the fact that the cinema was only a 10-minute walk from my house was a huge bonus). So for this area of self-care, I suggest you try out anything that will help you grow and will stimulate your mind. Another example I have is to go to exhibitions and live events, and if you’re in a place like London, there will probably always be something on.
2. PHYSICAL SELF-CARE
I feel like I have so much to say about this area, but I’ll try not to go on for too long. My idea of self-care for the body is to do with anything that can help me to take care of my physical health. So since I started this journey, I became a pro at meal planning, because I really want to eat healthily and nourish my food with some amazing, nutritious food. I don’t see eating healthy as a chore anymore, I see it as a self-care habit that will improve the quality of my life. That doesn’t mean I never eat junk food, but that’s an occasional treat when I’m craving something, and I learned to treat myself every now and then and not live a life of deprivation. I’m also slightly obsessed with my skincare routine, and there is nothing that I love more about my morning and evening skincare routines. I also do a weekly body-scrub, I do my nails monthly-ish, and I occasionally will have a bubbly bath. Finally, an important part of this section is to exercise. I will be very honest and will say that I’m not a huge fan of working out, BUT I do want to grow old and enjoy a long, healthy life. Although this is not the assurance that I will never get sick, I know that the benefits of exercise are so many, and for me, this is also a form of self-care.
3. SPIRITUAL SELF-CARE
This is the part that can be often neglected because it’s a bit more abstract than the other two, but it’s by no means less important. In this section, I set time aside daily & weekly to pray, meditate, journal, and unwind. Life can be very stressful and it’s so important to understand that we have a bigger purpose than running a rat-race and that it’s important to slow down and take time to reflect on our lives and examine how we are feeling. I would highly encourage you to find a routine that works for you in this area because what’s inside of you will also come out.
After guiding you through my 3 main areas of self-care, I just want to share a few more ideas on things that I do to take care of myself:
- Take yourself out on a date. It might feel awkward at first, but I actually started to love this activity. The thing is that we always wait for someone else to take us out on dates, but why do we need to wait for someone? If we don’t take care of ourselves first, what makes us think someone else will? So just try it out and go to your favorite restaurant, go to the movies, go out for brunch, or simply get a coffee somewhere.
- Go on a solo trip. There is so much freedom that comes from traveling solo! I only did it once (I was supposed to go to New York in 2020 but it definitely did not happen anymore thanks to auntie Rona), but I loved every moment of it. You get to spend so much time with yourself, to do whatever you like without having to compromise, and it’s truly a wonderful experience.
- Go for a walk in nature. This is one of my favorite things to do, and I’m blessed to be surrounded by wonderful green spaces in London, and the most amazing beaches in Italy. So no matter where I go, I always go out for a walk to truly embrace the beauty of nature, connect with it and disconnect from the world.
- Practice positive affirmations. I’m definitely going to write a blog post about this, but just know that affirmations can be life-changing. Because the truth is, all the amazing activities that I spoke about above, won’t truly be effective if they are not matched with self-love talks that you give to yourself. Only when you believe that you are worthy, you are more than enough, you are unique and special, then will all other tips truly become effective.
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Conclusion of 3 ways to practice self-care
I would love to know what you do to plan your own self-care time, and I hope this post was helpful for you! Don’t forget to download your FREE self-care checklist! Friend, I want to encourage you by saying that taking care of yourself IS productive, even when some people think it might be laziness; take care of yourself first, and everything else will align to it.
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