4 Ways to Self-Care & Treat Your Body (and Mind)
Self-care is a necessary component to achieve both physical and mental wellbeing. Prioritizing and investing in yourself is not selfish or self-centred. On the contrary, self-care builds inward strength and fosters resiliency. By building yourself up, you increase your capacity to care for those around you.
How often do you find yourself mindlessly scanning your Facebook newsfeed until your eyes dry out? Do you manage your work email outside of operational hours? Are you losing sleep and stressing over the forthcoming impact on your day ahead? If you answer, “yes”, don’t beat yourself up. It’s easy to fall into these kinds of habits. Unfortunately, they’ve become acceptable cultural norms, enabling their persistence. They’re clear signals you need to take more time to practice self-care. Here are 4 ways you can practice self-care in your life:
Get Away
Take the time to book a weekend away at a retreat. Retreats are a great way to nurture the connection between your body and mind. They can also be opportunities to enhance social bonds with those we care about or like-minded people.
Don’t be afraid to go by yourself or be too embarrassed to invite others. Should you bring friends, be mindful of who you select. Surround yourself with people who are optimistic and relaxing. The point of getting away is to inspire rejuvenation and feed positive energy back into your being. So be picky!
When booking, make sure the retreat correlates to your self-care objectives. If you enjoy yoga and meditation, ensure those classes are available. Invest in activities that bring you joy and fill your cup back up. A retreat should leave you feeling able to turn around and give back to others without feeling depleted.
Update Your Look
Sometimes, we get bored of the way we look and dress. Changing your appearance doesn’t always correlate to lack of self-esteem or frivolity. Rather, it’s a means to express your creativity and personality. It’s also a practice of playful experimentation with the fortunate choices available to us.
Taking time to enhance your appearance is a form of self-care. Go shopping. Try on clothes and colors you’d typically never consider. By expanding your horizons, you may, in fact, find something else you love. Who knows, perhaps you were wrong about red lipstick? Maybe it looks great on you, and is a fun change-up on a night out!
Clothing, accessories and makeup can be used as tools to perk up your self-image. They can be ways to symbolize and exude your character to the rest of the world, while uplifting your sense of pride and joy.
Quality Over Quantity
Purchase effective, high-quality products for your skin and hair. Some may run on the pricier side; however, they’ll merit the investment. Avoid formulations that have been diluted or substituted with synthetic elements. Their lack of potency takes longer to work and may never provide the same level of results. For example, a single powerhouse serum can take the place of three discounted ointments.
While you may not be able to afford luxury hair and body products every month, you can still treat yourself where you need it most. Research products prior to purchase, speak to sales associates, request personal consultations, and get samples (lots of them!). Look after your skin and hair so you can continue feeling great for years to come.
Optimize Your Bedroom
Your bedroom is where you go to unwind, revive and achieve the restorative sleep needed to take on the next day. Make sure your bedroom is a soothing domain that delivers quality slumber and a peaceful aura.
Start with the cornerstone of comfort, your bed. Give yourself the gift of slipping into something you look forward to. For a better night’s sleep, swap out your old and tired mattress with an air mattress, for optimal comfort and support. Not only will you be able to customize the firmness suited perfectly to you, but you’ll do the body good by enhancing your spine’s alignment. Choose bedding that’ll keep you cool and activate sleep-inducing body-temperature descent. Silk, bamboo and high thread count cotton sheets are great bedding options. They’re light and breathable, preventing your from waking up in a hot sweat.
Nurturing your sleep is the pinnacle of self-care practicality. All the effort you put into self-care: minimizing stress, achieving fitness and professional goals, remaining socially active and engaged…they can only be achieved by having the wherewithal to do so.
Habitual practice of self-care prepares you to deliver on, and conquer, life’s demands. Not only do you feel better, but the help you provide to others, and the work you do, improves as a result. Self-care truly comes full circle, which is why it’s important to prioritize it like any other significant responsibility in your life.
