Self-care and self-love have become two trending phrases over the last year or two. For some reason, during times of stress, it seems that we let things we would normally do fall to the wayside, or at least I do. Ironically, some times, stressful times are when we need to do things for ourselves the most in order to reduce stress. I feel like living in a stress and anxiety-inducing society has become the norm {which can really be unhealthy}. I can’t believe we are approaching a year of living in a worldwide pandemic. Honestly, just that thought alone makes me feel a little antsy.
I feel like now it is more important than ever to practice self-care, make sure we are staying safe, keeping our families safe, and living a healthy life. That said, like everything else during these times, it is a little bit of a challenge. For me personally, I feel a little paralyzed at time just because things are so drastically different than they were a year ago; even though there is so much going on in the world, on a personally level it has made the day-to-day of everyday living a little mundane. I definitely fall off the bandwagon every now and then, but for the most part here are a few things to take care of myself/indulge in a little self-pampering. I would also love to hear what you all do to practice self-care.
Workout// per usual, I feel out of the habit of working around the holiday season. I have am trying to get back into the swing of working out, and it really does make such a difference mentally and on the days I do workout I sleep so much at night
Devotionals// Before last year I was not the type of person who was in the practice of doing devotionals. I had broken up with someone, and after being with someone for a period of time you kind of become anchored to that person, and as odd as it sounds I was trying to anchor myself to myself. To do that I was trying to improve certain aspects of my life and this was one of them. Believe or not, I have found that reading through devotionals really decreases anxiety. I know some people prefer to them in the morning, but I do them at night just to get my mind going in a different direction. This is the one I am reading through right now.
Unplug// Social media, news alerts, text messages, emails, etc. can be a little overwhelming at times. Unpluging for an hour or two to read a book, have a little quite time, go for a walk, can really lower stress and anxiety level and it seems to aide in gaining perspective on different things you may be thinking about
Get the Right Amount of Sleep// Just the decline in daily activity {i.e. in-person work, meeting friends for dinner, going to the gym, etc.} can make it a little hard to sleep sometimes just because I’m not excreting as much energy in a naturally organic way as I was last year. I have found that it helps to make a few plans with people who are in your covid circle {I really think social interaction is just a stress reliever}, exercise, reading before bed, and sleeping on nice sheets and pillowcase really helps. This is my current favorite pillowcase, and as an added bonus, it’s anti-aging
Eat Right// At the start of Covid {aka quarantine} I feel like we were all so guilty of overeating and cooking to pass the time. I mean, bread making became a big trend in 2020 – I feel like that says a lot. I had already gained some weight from just being so stressed out at the end of 2019/start of 2020, and then, of course I gained some weight during quarantine… I have really been making the effort to eat healthier food and exercise, and I can tell you from personal experience, eating healthy makes a huge difference in your energy level, ability to process information, and it is a lot kinder to the waistline.
Take Time to Relax// Sometimes we all just need to put on something comfortable {shop my favorite lounge pants here}, watching a favorite movie, and just let the stress of the day melt away
Journal// Taking the time to write down what is on your mind, reflect on a few things, and basically do a mental brain dump is a great way to work things out, let go of things, and release whatever it is you might be carrying around
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