Life can get busy. We spend time at work, taking care of our families and homes. There are dishes to be washed and laundry to be done. A lot of our time is spent on taking care of others. We keep pouring out of ourselves and sometimes forget to spend time filling ourselves back up. Self-care can become part of your life by making a few adjustments. You can take time daily, weekly or monthly to improve your own well-being. Check out these ten ideas for adding self-care to your life.
1. Improve health habits – You can establish healthy habits as a way to take care of increasing your self-care. This can include working out at your favorite gym or taking your dog for a walk. Other healthy habits would include getting enough sleep and balanced eating. You could spend time trying new recipes that are good for you or drinking more water.
2. Spend time in the community – Spend time connecting with friends or family for fun. As you spend time laughing and enjoying yourself with your community, you can feel recharged. You could also join a group to make new friends and increase your sense of community. 3. Enjoy or start a hobby – Have a hobby you enjoy that you haven’t done in a while? Pick it back up for a few hours. Don’t have a hobby? Try something new such as hiking, painting or journaling.
4. Take a day off – Plan a day to rest. Decide something you enjoy and spend a day recharging. It can be spending time with family, reading a book, taking a walk in the woods or playing video games with your children. Instead of feeling the pressure of doing, just enjoy being. 5. Be grateful – Spend some time being grateful for the good things in your life. It can be as simple as you have people in your life that love you or that you can enjoy your favorite
dessert. You could make a list when having a good day and review the list when things are stressful.
6. Eat your favorite meal and or dessert – Enjoy your favorite meal as a way to reward yourself for all that you do. Haven’t made it for yourself before? Ask a family member or friend for the recipe if it’s something they have made before. You could also find and try a new recipe.
7. Watch your favorite show – Do you have a favorite movie or television program you haven’t seen in a while? Take a few hours to relax and watch it. Don’t have a favorite? Try something you haven’t seen before but received recommendations about. 8. Organize something – If you like to organize, pick a drawer or shelf and spend time organizing it. Sometimes purging unneeded items and getting them out of the house will reduce stress. You’ll also feel good about donating things to someone who needs them.
9. Take a class – Has there been something you wanted to learn but couldn’t fit into your schedule? Check out the local community center or community college. You could spend some time learning a new skill. 10. Journal – We often have a lot going on inside our heads. It can help to pour it out on
paper. At times, just freewriting can help us clear our thoughts and we may figure out something that we didn’t even know was bothering us.
There are many different ways to practice self-care. If nothing on this list makes sense for you, try an internet search for self-care ideas. It’s not important what you do. The most important part of self-care is that you are actively doing things that add to your health and well-being. Take some time on a regular basis and practice self-care.