Self-Care Tips and Tricks

The role and idea of self-care is so important to have within our lifestyles, even in our daily lives. There are many ways to help improve lifestyle and promote happiness, and self–care plays a crucial part in these. 

Self-care practices don’t necessarily need to be anything huge, however, the positive effects they can have on oneself are significant. For myself, I’ve found that they can improve my mood, emotions and health (both physical and mental). It’s important to remember that self-care practices aren’t just physical things to do, they can be mental things too, like thought and self-reflection. 

Okay, let’s have a look at some ideas of self-care! 

1. Prioritising down-time: 

Life can be extremely busy and tiring, and for most of us we feel this on a daily basis. The idea of prioritising time for yourself, is where you set aside a bit of time, can be fifteen minutes, can be an hour, and this period of time is for doing something that makes you feel good, something that relaxes you and something that makes you happy.  It can be something you enjoy doing like watching an episode of a TV series, reading a chapter of a book or playing a video game. Alternatively, it can be something like taking a bath with your favourite pamper products or baking your favourite cookies. 

There are a number of ways with how setting aside some ‘down time’ can make us feel happier. For example, each day it gives us something to look forward to – knowing that this period of time is just for you and to do something you love doing. It can also help relieve stress and it can also massively improve your mood, which can help to improve your mindset.  

Life is difficult and there’s always a lot going on, but remember it is your life and you deserve to do things that make you happy EVERYDAY. 

1. Making sure to rest and recharge: 

You are probably well aware and have heard people talk about how important it is for you to rest your body and prioritise sleep. This is because it is sooooo important.  

Try think of your body as a machine. If it isn’t recharged and doesn’t have a power supply, how is it supposed to keep functioning properly? Your body is exactly the same. Sleeping and resting allows your body to recharge and re-energise. I know it may feel hard to do, especially when life gets busy or there is a lot going on in a day. However, it is so important to try and prioritise your sleep as much as you can.  

Naps are one of my favourite things, and they’re a perfect recharge opportunity if I’ve not slept well the night before or if I feel run down. Remember though, napping can interrupt our night’s sleep so try not to rely too much on the daytime napping. Having said that, naps are fantastic! 

1. Practising Self-compassion: 

It is easy when you’re feeling stressed or low, to keep have negative thoughts that seem reoccurring and overwhelming. Many of these thoughts can be related to seeing yourself in a negative light and having negative thoughts about things in your life. 

How you feel and the type of mood you’re in can greatly impact your thoughts. This can also be reversed – the thoughts you have, can then impact how you feel and the type of mood you’re in. I often say that ‘I am my own worst enemy’, and unfortunately for many other people this is true. So, there’s a little tip that I’ve been trying to practice myself, that I think could help you too! 

This practice involves taking a negative thought I’m having, recognising that this thought is present and then trying to counteract it with a positive thought instead. I understand that at first glance of reading this, it may seem easier said than done, but have a go and see how you get on.  It may be worth trying the idea of pretending you’re talking to a friend, when they’re having a negative thought. How would you comfort them and help them put things into a more positive perspective? 

An example of a negative thought could be: 

I can’t deal with how difficult things are at the moment ⏩ Things are difficult currently, but things get better with time, and I will get through this! 

This may feel odd to do at first, or difficult to see how it can help, but keeping practising! It can help train you into thinking more positively and helping put things into perspective more. 

Lastly, I hope these ideas and tips can help you – give them a go and see how you get on. Remember that these are just things that I have found that help me practise self-care. Not all of these will work for everyone but hopefully they can help you!  

You’ve got this! Remember, try and be kind to yourself, because you deserve kindness, and you deserve to be happy!