7 simple things you can do to take better care of yourself

Life’s hustling and bustling have caused us to put self-care on the back burner. We don’t hesitate to put off, or even ignore our good self-care routines. Only until the consequences of not taking care of yourself strike you in the face do you understand how important they are. Your general well-being suffers as a result of your hectic lifestyle.

People associate self-care with being affluent or fancy. Self-care, on the other hand, literally means “taking care of oneself.” It might be as easy as getting a good night’s sleep or as extravagant as going on a 5-star trip. Simply said, self-care is any activity you do to preserve and improve your health, happiness, well-being, and joy.

Self-Care Is Not a One-Time Event

The strep throat served as a brutal reminder that self-care isn’t something you do once and then check off the list. It’s the regular repeating of numerous small routines that, when combined, comfort you and ensure you’re at your best—emotionally, physically, and cognitively. The easiest approach to accomplish this is to incorporate small acts of self-care into your daily routine. To incorporate a small amount of love and attention for your own body, mind, and spirit on a daily basis in your life. After the previous self-care blog, we want to add some more little self-care practices that may be completed in a short amount of time and at a modest cost. Choose one from each area and incorporate it into your life this week.

Declutter your life

Examine each aspect of your life and make a list of all your commitments. Seeing it all written out may be an eye-opening and overwhelming experience. Analyze each one and evaluate whether it truly provides you joy and value and whether it is worth the effort you put into it.

Another way to decrease your responsibilities is to find a handful of things you actually enjoy and discard the others. Learn how to deny offers and say no. You’ll have more time for the things you enjoy if you get rid of the items that don’t provide you joy or value. Examine each aspect of your life and make a list of everything. 

Taking some time to let go of anything that no longer serves you emotionally, spiritually, or physically is a great way to nurture your soul. What remains are the people and things that make you the happiest, loved, and supported.

Decluttering goes beyond the tangible, but starting with your surroundings is a good place to start. Clutter on the exterior equals clutter on the inside for some. Organizing your house is an excellent place to start when attempting to simplify your life.

Just take a deep breath

“When you’re tense or concerned, your breathing tends to be erratic and shallow,” explains Kristoffer Rhoads, a clinical neuropsychologist at the UW Medicine Memory & Brain Wellness Center at Harborview Medical Center. “Your chest cavity can only expand and contract so much, making it difficult to get extra air in.”

Breathing is something we do whether we realize it or not. But in this case, I’m talking about intentionally breathing as a method to gain a slew of physical and mental advantages. Deep breathing (also known as diaphragmatic breathing) is a technique that allows more air to enter your body and can help soothe your nerves, lowering tension and anxiety. It can also help you increase your attention span and reduce discomfort.

Deep breathing and breathing exercises deliver oxygen to your brain and muscles. This causes an increase in energy levels, making you feel fantastic. It also enhances the health of organs, muscles, and tissues. Deep breathing can also help you refocus and manage your emotions when you are feeling overwhelmed. Breathing eliminates pollutants, builds muscle, and boosts your immune system. Conscious breathing also improves focus, reduces tension, and relaxes your muscles. 

Spend Time Emerging in Nature

Immersion in nature may be one of the most powerful and effective self-care and healing practices, restoring and creating a stronger connection between ourselves and the natural world. And there have been a lot of intriguing and convincing studies done in recent years regarding the good influence of being in nature on our health and physical well-being.

Trees, flowers, grass, animals, and sunlight all help you relax, de-stress, and feel fed all the way down to your soul. Nature also has a great appearance and scent. What’s wonderful is that you can find nature no matter where you are.

Whether you enjoy the sun in your garden, via your bedroom window, or at the beach, the act of sunbathing may help you relax and let your worries go. Even 5-20 minutes of sunshine every day might make you feel better. It also increases your vitamin levels. Some people like the feeling of being one with nature by digging in the soil. Plant a garden or begin with keeping a houseplant. When you glance at it, you’ll immediately feel less worried. Hike, swim, ski, canoe, horseback ride, play soccer, do tai chi, or go for a walk. Do all you can outside to get the blessings of nature.

Be Aware of Your Posture

According to the Cleveland Clinic, posture encompasses not just how you sit and stand, but also how you move and hold your body during every activity, including sleep. Nowadays, our culture is so technologically oriented that we’re always slumped over our laptops and desktops, straining our necks to glance down at our cell phones. Imagine sitting sedentarily like that for hours on end (particularly if you work a 9 to 5 desk job), and you can probably imagine how much damage that can do to our bodies.
 
The majority of us are guilty of slouching. You may have noticed that you are doing it more frequently recently and are wondering how to enhance your posture. Good posture is especially crucial now that many of us are spending more time at home. You probably don’t consider if you’re sitting upright every second of the day. It’s also all too simple to sag over your computer when working or viewing movies.
 
You should strive to put your body in a powerful stance. When the human movement system is properly aligned, stress on the tissues is reduced, muscles can create force efficiently, and respiration and physiological fluid circulation is ideal. Simply put, the body can work optimally! The desirable posture that we all strive for is referred to as ‘neutral.’ It is our joints’ natural resting harmony. It is critical to understand how the body gets to rest. Posture can assist us to interpret movement and is important in nonverbal communication.

Keep a Creative Journal

Writing down your emotions is an excellent approach to nurturing your spirit! It’s like free therapy, and you can write for as long as you can bear it. Writing down your sentiments, desires, aspirations, and dreams will help them to become more real.

Journaling is a fantastic self-care activity that not only improves emotions of happiness, but also decreases stress, clarifies ideas and feelings, and ultimately helps you come to know yourself better. Licensed Mental Health Counselor Jasmin Terrany says it best: “By writing, you pause your life from all other pursuits and take the opportunity to examine within. It has the potential to be a really effective tool for helping you comprehend what is going on inside you.”

At times, we may be our harshest critics. That voice at the back of your skull can take you down like no one else. Regular journaling might help you gain perspective. It increases confidence and inventiveness, enhances self-discipline, and helps to control emotions more effectively.

If your thoughts are becoming too much for you, journaling might help. And everyone feels this way from time to time! It’s a beneficial activity that allows you to examine your emotions and build new beliefs. Consider it a creative and beneficial release.

Read “Just for Fun” and Nurturing Books

Think back to when you were a child going to bed at night. You had been tucked in and told a bedtime tale before falling asleep. You probably fell asleep so fast because you felt comfortable and contented. The great children’s books may reconnect us to something primal, the most strong instincts, hunger, and justice, learning, and adventure. And there is a tragedy of maturity, it is that we grow up and become free in the world and strong in ways that every child wishes to be. Then we realize we live in a world that appears to be absolutely flat.

Your brain sometimes just wants to escape from reality, and a book was still a wonderful way to do that. A trip to a different time period or location through a book can sometimes be just what a person needs to return to reality with a new perspective.

Watching movies or reading books will help you escape your own mind and immerse yourself in a thrilling adventure or inspirational story starring someone else. Reading or seeing someone else’s struggles and tribulations, even if they are fictitious, might help encourage anybody who is stuck or down on their luck.

Choose who to spend time with

The individuals you associate with have a strong influence on your self-care standards. You’ve probably heard the expression “We become who we surround ourselves with.” That is how important it is to choose your friends wisely. When you are continually surrounded by individuals who criticize you or attempt to draw you down into their troubles, it may be incredibly exhausting both physically and emotionally.

We often simply want to know that we are heard and that we are loved, no matter what. So hold on to the people in your life who can help you with that. They are priceless and will always remind you of why you are such a wonderful person. People that encourage you to be the person you always knew you could be are the appropriate people for you. Please keep this in mind. Anyone who helps you turn your half-hearted efforts into full-hearted efforts via kindness, dedication, and collaboration is a keeper.

However, sometimes you have to realize that there are people in your life who will just keep knocking you down. Setting appropriate boundaries is one method to keep the peace in these situations. “Boundaries define what we are and are not comfortable with in a relationship. Boundaries are vital in that they play an important part in building safety and trust in a relationship “Janet Park, MS, LMFT, a therapist at Healing Phoenix Therapy, concurs.