Self-care is incredibly important for everyone, and most people forget about it. Self-care is a pretty simple concept but it varies from person to person, which makes it hard to generalize activities to help with self-care. If you’re like me, the typical self-care activities aren’t really helpful to you, and while you want to practice self-care, it’s hard for you to figure out what you can do to make yourself feel better. Here are some methods I use to take time for myself and practice self-care, these may not work for you, it takes time to figure out what your own methods of self-care need to be.
Essential Oils
I use an essential oil diffuser in my room to make my room A) smell better and B) stimulate certain emotions. Different essential oils are used to make the user feel different ways, for example, lavender is used for relaxation and peppermint is used for focus. Diffusers and oils range in price and methods of dispersal. I’ve used a water diffuser in the past and right now I’m using a fan diffuser, both work about the same.
Comfort Food
There’s a fine line between self-care and binging when it comes to comfort food, seeing as most comfort foods are unhealthy options. I have a lot of unhealthy comfort foods like Doritos and Lofthouse Cookies, but I also balance that out with some healthier options that I find bring me the same happiness. Like a nice warm mug of tea, trail mix (yes with M&M’s because then it’s not trail mix its peanuts and sadness) or a piece of fresh fruit. Remember, moderation is key. Nothing is truly unhealthy until you eat too much of it.
Friendship
Surrounding yourself with real, loving friends is amazing for you. Don’t make friends just for yourself, you can’t be selfish about friendship. A good friend network will be there with you in good times and bad and you’re able to trust them with your life and know that they will be there for you when you need them. I encourage expanding your circle as much as you can, including people from different areas of your life so that you always have friends no matter where you are. Don’t forget your friends when you’re away from them either. Lots of friendships will fade away quickly with distance between them.
Creativity
I find that letting my creativity shine when I feel down is super beneficial. Plus there are so many ways for you to express your creativity. You can cook, draw, write, organize, design, doodle or even go on Pinterest for an hour and create a board about plants (I’ve done that before it was great). I found bullet journaling a year ago and I’ve been doing it off and on since then and I love it so much. I’ve been really getting back into it and I find it’s a really good way to channel my creativity into something useful. Everyone deserves to have a hobby like this, experiment to find what hobby makes you happy!
Relaxation
In order to maintain good mental and physical health, relaxation is important. Stop running around and do something to relax. Take a nap, shower, create, listen to music, watch TV, hang with friends or even exercise if that’s relaxing for you. There are so many benefits to relaxing, which I’m sure you’ve already read about anyways. Please do yourself a favor and relax.
Body Positivity
This is a big one. I struggle with body positivity frequently myself. It sucks to be in a body you don’t like sometimes. However, there are ways to cope with this. Something I started doing was taking pictures when I felt really cute and sharing them on my Instagram story and then making it a highlight on my profile. That way, when I feel like crap about myself, I look back at the cute photos when I felt good about myself and it makes me feel better. Something you need to remember is that even if you don’t look like all the Instagram models you’re still beautiful and amazing.
Social Media Break
If you’re really feeling the sting of body hate and spiraling down because of that, taking a social media break is a great option. Set a time limit for social media on your phone, or even delete the apps for a little while, you can always log back in later. Going on social media frequently and basing your worth on your follower count and amount of likes you get is super unhealthy. Plus, there are tons of accounts on social media (especially Instagram) that are of these super tiny girls who are healthy when skinny. That creates this unhealthy image that you need to be super skinny in order to be healthy and beautiful, and that is not at all the case. There’s nothing wrong with being chubby or a little overweight, especially if that’s how your body is when you’re healthy. Being healthy is the most important part. Always make sure you’re giving your body enough energy to keep it going. If you struggle with an eating disorder, please seek help. You are the most beautiful when your body is healthy.