Self Care

Do you ever forget to take care of yourself?

I know. You’re busy, and finding the time to take proper care of yourself can be hard. But if you don’t, it won’t be long before you’re battered from exhaustion and operating in a mental fog where it’s hard to care about anything or anyone.

I should know.

A few years ago, I had a corporate job , working a regular sixty-hour week. I enjoyed working with my clients and colleagues, and I wanted to do well.

But I had no life.

I rarely took care of myself, and I was always focused on goals, achievements, and meeting the excessive expectations I had of myself. My high tolerance for discomfort meant I juggled all the balls I had in the air—but at the expense of being a well-rounded human being.

So, after suffering an emotional breakdown, I left my job and took a gap year.

I began to take care of myself better, scheduling in time alone, for exercise and for fun.

I got to know myself better and know what I needed—not just to function, but to flourish.

Self-Care Isn’t a One-Time Deal

It’s the constant repetition of many tiny habits, which together soothe you and make sure you’re at your optimum—emotionally, physically, and mentally.

The best way to do this is to implement tiny self-care habits every day. To regularly include in your life a little bit of love and attention for your own body, mind, and soul.

The following ideas are tiny self-care activities you can fit into a short amount of time, usually with little cost.

1. Start a compliments file. Document the great things people say about you to read later.

2. Scratch off a lurker on your to-do list, something that’s been there for ages and you’ll never do.

3. Change up the way you make decisions. Decide something with your heart if you usually use your head. Or if you tend to go with your heart, decide with your head.

4. Go cloud-watching. Lie on your back, relax, and watch the sky.

5. Take another route to work. Mixing up your routine in small ways creates new neural pathways in the brain to keep it healthy.

6. Pay complete attention to something you usually do on autopilot, perhaps brushing your teeth, driving, eating, or performing your morning routine.

7. Fix a small annoyance at home that’s been nagging you—a button lost, a drawer that’s stuck, a light bulb that’s gone.

8. Punctuate your day with a mini-meditation with one minute of awareness of your thoughts, feelings, and sensations; one minute of focused attention on breathing; and one minute of awareness of the body as a whole.

9. Be selfish. Do one thing today just because it makes you happy.

10. Unplug for an hour. Switch everything to airplane mode and free yourself from the constant bings of social media and email.

11. Make a small connection. Have a few sentences of conversation with someone in customer service such as a sales assistant or barista.

12. Splurge a little. Buy a small luxury as a way of valuing yourself.

13. Have a self-date. Spend an hour alone doing something that nourishes you (reading, your hobby, visiting a museum or gallery, etc.)

14. Take a home spa. Have a long bath or shower, sit around in your bathrobe, and read magazines.

15. Plan a two-day holiday for next weekend. Turn off your phone, tell people you’ll be away, and then do something new in your own town.

Little and Often Wins the Day

With a little bit of attention to your own self-care, the fog will lift.

  You’ll feel more connected to yourself and the world around you.

You’ll delight in small pleasures, and nothing will seem quite as difficult as it did before.

  Like that car, you must keep yourself tuned up to make sure that you don’t need a complete overhaul.

Incorporating a few of these tiny self-care ideas in your day will help keep you in tune.

 Which one will you try first?

Take time for some self care today !

Carole x

Self care and mindfulness teacher