During these stressful and unpredictable days, taking time to care for yourself, is crucial. Self-care is the time you spend on and for you. It is any activity that makes you feel happy, relaxed and whole; like you’re living your best life, even our current circumstances. It’s a unique experience or activity for everyone. It can be exercising (of course I would say that, I think exercise is the cure for everything!), meditation, soaking in the bathtub, listening to music, or sitting in the sauna, which is an activity I love.
Self-care is critical to mental and physical health. Many of you have children at home that you’re caring for during this social distancing timeframe. If you’re in this position, spending time on yourself is even more important to you so that you’re able to remain strong and healthy enough to care for your loved ones. The more we take care of ourselves, the brighter and happier our days will be.
3 Self-Care Tips
- It only takes minutes a day. You don’t need to spend more than a few minutes a day practicing your self-care activities. Performing a brief ritual each and every day is more important and impactful for your health, versus carving out one or two long activities in a week. Do it regularly, and you’ll see and feel the changes.
- Build a routine. Similar to a lot of healthy habits, the hardest part is getting started. I find it easiest to build a few minutes of self-care into my mornings, before the day gets away from me. If you’re big on time management like I am, try blocking time off in your daily calendar to perform your self-care rituals.
- Treat this time as a gift to yourself. If you view self-care as a chore, it’s going to be a lot harder to practice. Self-care actions should make you happier, relaxed and feeling whole. These activities should be viewed as special time for you. Time that you look forward to.
To Sum it up…Self-Care is Critical to Your Health
Self-care is finally being seen as a necessary component of healthy living, rather than a nice-to-have concept. It only takes minutes a day to complete. Be consistent with your self-care ritual and build it into your regular routine. You will experience the biggest benefits this way. Remember, this special time is a gift, not a chore, for yourself. It will help improve both your mental and physical health.