Today’s post was inspired by mental health awareness month back in may, which is when this post would have been extremely relevant and timely, but as goes my life motto these days, its better late than never!
We live in this world full of people and circumstances that are out of our control, and we can’t exactly isolate ourselves from every thing or person that gets us down, right? So that is why its critical we need to make time for self-care. Self-care may be a trendy word at the moment, but it has always been a basic human need, and it always will be.
I often get messages asking me how I balance it all and how do I always seem so happy and relaxed. My answer to that is, I don’t balance it all, and I’m not always happy and relaxed – but I do my best!
So here are some of the things I do:
- Go for a walk. I love getting outside and breathing fresh air, it instantly improves my mood. I go in the mornings with my dog, before the kids wake up. It is like a meditation for me to be outside when it is so quiet all I hear are the birds chirping.
- Journaling – Writing down my feelings, especially the difficult ones, at the very least helps me figure out how to handle whatever it is I’m going through. It has given me major insight into my own self, what motivates me and what fears I have. One particularly rough day, I wrote down all of the thoughts I had about myself that moment, and some of them were such harsh criticisms that when I read it again I actually felt bad for me. Journaling helps me look at myself from the outside in, giving me a whole different perspective to consider. It could be about anything. Perhaps you could write about a movie (if you’re into horror films, check hellhorror.com) you saw or how a certain song made you feel. You’re good to go as long as you can communicate your feelings in words.
- Exercise – Sweating and pushing myself is the best way to get out of my own head and clear my mind. Most of this year I’ve been slacking in the workout area, getting back into it now feels amazing. I honestly forgot how good I feel after. I wake up early before the kids and do about 30-45 minute workout. Per week I aim for 2-3 days of resistance training using body weight and dumbells. If I am able to, I like to add two days of yoga, dance, or any other movement I enjoy. Plus I have now been told that if I use something like CBD oils UK I am able to recover my muscles much quicker than I would previously, so if I have any aches and pains I can resolve them immediately. Furthermore, I found I am able to stay motivated after I joined a few girlfriends together in an instagram group dedicated to wellness – we message each other every time we do something good for ourselves – like a workout, a walk, or meditation. Even when I wasn’t adding to their conversation, just reading their notes made me want to be a part of it!
- Grooming – Taking care of my outward appearance is important for my self-image. Getting my hair done, nails done, facials, all of it is important to me. As women we aren’t supposed to act like we care about our looks, or else we are considered shallow and self-centered by society. However, we are also just supposed to look like we magically woke up like Beyonce in a snapchat filter. Taking out some time to feel like a princess is something I do for me regularly, without any guilt or shame attached. I think everyone should do grooming to their heart’s content. Not just women, men also enjoy body grooming regularly, and many choose Denver manscaping strategies to get rid of excess hair.
- Date Night – Making time for dates and romance. It is so easy to let life, kids, work get in the way of your relationship – especially when you’ve been with the same person for a while. Making time for you and your significant other a real priority is such an important way to care for yourself – we all need to feel loved right?! Every time Tom and I make time to go out to dinner alone, or go to a concert or movie, we remember how much we actually enjoy each other’s company. Plus we have the best home date nights watching a movie on the couch since we found some great movies on Netflix that will keep us busy on our mini date nights for the next few months!
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