In this pandemic a lot of people, including myself, have found themselves in a place where they’re consumed in negative thoughts. Losing hope, feeling tired and scared… But now that this situation has become the “new normal,” I realized that life is too short to be dwelling on the negatives and on things we have no control over.
We, humans, live on this planet, on this continuously evolving blue sphere. As obvious as it sounds, we can’t control everything that happens on Earth despite the many efforts we make. We can’t control the weather, we can’t control whether earthquakes occur or not… As long as we live on Earth, you can always expect the unexpected. This led me into a new mindset that I am going to embrace the twists and turns in my life and learn to have fun with what life throws at me. I’m responsible for improving and making my life beautiful whatever the circumstances.
Despite all of the things that I’ve said, I know that you can still find yourself worrying and stressing and feeling exhausted. After all, this is one of the hardest times that humans have had to go through in decades. It’s okay to have bad and unproductive days. If you haven’t been already, please be kind and gentle with yourself. Take a deep breath and slow down your mind because it’s time to heal your mind and body for all the hard work that it’s been through.
Here are 5 self-care practices that I want to share with you.
- Relax and Recharge
-
Engaging in self-care practices for just 10 minutes or for a section of the day is completely up to you. Take a good shower or bath, use some nice soap, play some music, wash your hair, shave if that’s your thing, and just relax. Put out a nice fluffy towel for when you get out, and put on some clean, comfortable clothes. Putting a hot towel on your eyes really helps too. All you need to do is get a damp towel (make sure that you wring all the excess water out), wrap that towel with a plastic wrap, and heat it up in the microwave for 30 seconds, and voila! The towel stays heated longer when I heat it up in the microwave instead of putting the towel under hot water. With online classes, my eyes can get pretty tired from staring at screens all day, so this really helps to relax my eyes.
- Social Media Detox
-
Spend less time watching other people live their lives and spend more time enjoying your own. While social media can be a great way to connect with others, it’s also important to unplug every now and then to reconnect with yourself. I like to turn off all notifications and turn on my relaxing playlist. This allows me to not be influenced by anyone else’s energy and just focus on myself and my inner peace.
- Clean and Declutter your Space
-
We all deserve to work and live in a clean space. Whenever my space is reset, I feel like my mind resets too. I like to set a timer for 5 minutes and clean and organize my room until the timer goes off. I have a habit of cleaning whenever I’m stressed out or in between study breaks, so my room isn’t usually that messy but I’ll organize and clean whatever I can. If it’s not raining outside, I like to open my windows and let in some fresh air while I’m tidying up my space. Make the bed, vacuum or sweep your floor, and pick up whatever you’ve left on your dresser. Organized space, organized mind.
- Go to Sleep Early
-
This may be difficult for night owls but sleeping early can help take all the exhaustion out of your body and you’ll feel refreshed when you wake up. I feel like nowadays there are so many obstacles to sleeping early but on my “self-care day,” I’ll read a book before going to bed and this helps me get to sleep. Sleep does wonders for mental, physical, and emotional health. There is almost nothing that a good nap can’t solve.
- Start a Self-Care Journal
-
Journaling is a great way to pour out all your feelings. I like to write in my journal in the evening and write about how I’m feeling, what’s making me feel that way and the good things that happened that day. Even if I’ve done nothing but stay at home or even if I had a not so great day, I’ll try to think of at least one thing that made my day better, whether it be food, family, the weather, sleep, the news, location, health, anything. It’s such an emotional release and I like to look back at it and see what made each day great. I’ve noticed how my mom and playing my guitar are my main sources of happiness nowadays. There are absolutely no rules to journaling, so write about anything you’d like. Your favorite moments, people you’ve met, what the sky looked like at 5 pm, new songs you’ve discovered, or places you want to go.
I like writing so it’s not a burden for me to write in my journal but I know that the act of writing can be tiresome after a long day. There are lots of free journaling apps that lets you document your daily thoughts on your phone so be sure to check them out!
The key to self-care is to do something that you enjoy and avoid what’s “trendy” or “popular”. These are some of the things I like to do but it’s important to listen to yourself and engage in self-care practices that actually help you feel restored, rested, and recharged.