“Keep taking time for yourself until you are you again.” ~ Lalah Delia 

Do you feel Exhausted, uninspired, or unwell most of the time? If yes, then you need better self-care.

Mental health and Spiritual well-being affects how we think, feel, act, make choices, and relate to others. Mental health is more than the absence of a mental illness—it’s essential to your overall health and quality of life. Self-care plays a vital role in maintaining your mental health and spiritual well-being as it helps to support your treatment and recovery if you have a mental illness.

Understanding Self-Care

Self-care, as the name suggests, is all about caring for yourself to ensure that all your physical and emotional needs are met.

All the stress relief activities in the world won’t help if you aren’t taking care of yourself. Meditation won’t do you any good if you aren’t getting adequate sleep. In fact, when you try to meditate, you might doze off because you aren’t taking care of your body’s need for sleep. Similarly, going to the gym once in a while won’t help if you’re not regularly fueling your body with healthy, nutrient-rich food. You need to take care of your basic needs first if you want your stress relief activities to be effective.

Self-care has been defined as “a multidimensional, multifaceted process of purposeful engagement in strategies that promote healthy functioning and enhance well-being.”

Essentially, self-care means a conscious act people take in order to promote their own physical, mental, and emotional health.

It’s so important to make sure you take good care of your body, mind and soul every day, not just when you get sick. Learning how to eat right, reduce stress, exercise regularly, and take a time-out when you need it are touchstones of self-care and can help you stay healthy, happy, and resilient.

Why practicing Self-Care is not always easy?

Most of us are crazy busy and have stressful jobs, or are just too consumed with technology to make time for ourselves. Me-time is usually last on the agenda. Worse, we can sometimes feel guilty about taking the time required to take care of ourselves. So getting started with self-care can be challenging. I counsel souls daily on how to find time and make space for self-care. Here are some essential tips that will help to get you started with your self-care.

9 Essential Self-Care Tips to Take Better Care of Yourself

Where to begin your self care journey?

Fortunately, there are many things you can do to engage in self-care. You can read about self-care strategies, join self-care programs, or work with a coach or therapist who can help support your progress. No matter what you choose, the goal is to figure out which self-care strategies work best for you, learn how to use these strategies, and implement them in your regular routine so you can boost your well-being not only today but forever.

1} BETTER SLEEP CARE:

Making sleep the very first step of your self-care routine is essential. Sleep can have a huge effect on how you feel both emotionally and physically. Not getting enough can even cause major health issues. Stress and other triggers can wreak havoc on our sleep. Start by thinking about your night routine. Are you eating or drinking immediately before bed? If so, it’s especially important to stay away from caffeine and sugar, which tend to keep you awake. Are you watching or reading something that could be triggering you the wrong way? Identify your night time triggers and then replace them with breath work, meditation, prayer or journaling. Make sure you have room-darkening curtains to keep the sun from waking you up too early in the morning

2} BETTER GUT CARE:

You are what you eat, is what I’ve heard from my spiritual teachers time and again. Take care of yourself by taking care of your gut. Your gut health can have a significant impact on your health, well-being, and feelings of vitality. The types of foods you eat crucially impact the bacteria that live in your stomach, resulting in either positive or negative outcomes. Healing the gut can lead to a inner calm and completely shift your mental health towards the positive.

3} BETTER HEALTH CARE:

Add daily exercise as part of your self-care routine. You know exercise is good for you, but do you really know how good it is? Daily exercise can help to boosting your mood and reduce stress and anxiety, not to mention helping you shed extra weight. Going to the gym might not be your thing, and that is fine. Instead try to walking, yoga, swimming etc. which may be able to fit into your schedule more easily. The most important thing is to create an exercise routine that works for you.

4} BETTER BOUNDARIES CARE:

Start saying NO to others, and saying YES to your self-care. Learning to say NO is hard(especially for the habitual people pleasers). Many of us feel obligated to say yes when someone asks for our time or energy. When you’re already stressed or overworked, saying yes to loved ones or coworkers can lead to burnout, anxiety, and irritability. It may take a little practice, but once you learn how to politely say no and set better emotionals boundaries, you’ll start to feel more self-confident, and you’ll have more time for your own self-care.

5} BETTER TRIPS:

Taking a self-care trip can have a positive impact on your life. Even if you’re not feeling particularly stressed or burntout, getting away for a day or a weekend every now and then can help you relax, and feel rejuvenated. These self-care trips don’t have to be expensive. A long drive to another town to see the sights, or go camping can enrich your experience of life itself. The goal here is to step away from your normal schedule(which can feel boring and unexciting at times) and take the time to do something just for yourself. When I am in a desperate need for some self-care time, I simply walk into a movie theatre and watch the funniest movie they have on. Yes, I still can watch animated movies with full glee and come out happier.

6} BETTER BREAKS:

Take a self-care break by getting outside. This also ties in well with previous point. Spending time in nature helps you reduce stress, lower your blood pressure, and live in the moment. Numerous studies have even shown that being in nature can help reduce fatigue, making it a beautiful way to overcome symptoms of depression or burnout. Especially if you do some physical activity, like gardening, hiking, or walking while you are outside, it can also facilitate better sleep, going very well with point #1.

7} BETTER SPACE:

Take care of yourself by Decluttering. Decluttering and organizing is essential to becoming a healthier you because it allows you to figure out exactly what you need to do to take better care of yourself. Small changes, like maintaining a planner or calendar(even if its just on the fridge), can help you stay on track. You can also create a special organised area to keep the important stuff like keys, purses, backpacks, important paper work and coats, just to make them easy to grab when youre ready to go out. Creating space in your life for SPACE, is essential. Read: Decluttering for Spiritual Growth and Healing

8} BETTER NURTURING:

Know what you put in your mouth. Cooking for yourself is anothe form of self love. Many people don’t take the time to make thier meals thenselves, And instead preferring fast food or pre-made microwave meal. But these “fast” meals aren’t usually sufficient when it comes to feeding your body the right kinds of nutrients which are essential for your overall wellbeing. Even if it’s only once or twice a week, consider making a healthy meal for yourself and your whole family. Look into meal prep ideas on Youtube and Pinterest. There is something incredibly satisfying when you make food for yourself. You KNOW exactly what if going in your body, and you also know it was a meal prepared with love.

9} BETTER READING:

Today’s fast-paced world is full of gadgets that we turn to for entertainment or comfort. Scrolling mindlessly on social media contributes very very highly to our stress levels and worries rather than helping it. Instead, consider carrying a self-help book with you when you leave the house. Even better, carry books on self-love and healing, so that you can learn more about how to take care of yourself. You might be amazed at the difference it can make when you slow down instead of always reaching out for your phone. Not only can it help improve your mood, but it can also help you to stay more present and mindful.

Schedule your self-care time, and guard that time with everything you have. It can be hard for us all to find extra time. But it’s extremely important to plan regular self-care time. Moments alone can help you to self-reflect the best ways to move forward in your life and keep you grounded. Time with friends can help you feel more connected and relaxed.

In Conclusion

Self-care looks different for everyone, and it is important to find what you need and enjoy the process. It may take trial and error to discover what works best for you. In addition, although self-care is not a cure for mental illnesses, understanding what causes or triggers your mild symptoms and what coping techniques work for you can help manage your mental health.

Look for small ways you can incorporate it into everyday life; for example, you might wake up 15 minutes earlier to sit with a cup of tea and practice deep breathing before the chaos of the day begins, or you might take a walk around the block on your lunch break.

The more you can work self-care time into your schedule, the better you’ll be able to grow, enjoy your life, and thrive fully.

❓💭 What is your favorite way to take care of yourself? Share in the comments ❤️

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