What Self Care Means To Me

I often talk about laying in my dressing gown with a fresh face mask, doing my Self Care Saturdays or Sundays. At this point of Corona season, it’s becoming a rotation of several days during the week also, but self care is certainly not limited to face masks. Self care is about taking deliberate and active steps to put yourself at the front and centre making sure that you are meeting your needs and uplifting your wellbeing. Most importantly self care is about taking the time to love and prioritise yourself.

Things like taking time out and turning off your phone for 24 hours, taking 15 minutes to slowly moisturise your body with coconut oil, and dancing in front of the mirror to your favourite album are all acts of self care. Pinpointing things that you enjoy and making time for them regularly in your schedule are acts of self care.

Relaxation is often the type of self care I’ve always found beneficial and in all honesty easier. Quick and straight forward feel good activities have always boosted me up. Now I really try to put more of an emphasis into a mental capacity, focusing on mindfulness and reflection. I still love relaxation but I’m also exploring different elements of self care. Recently I’ve been sitting down with flipchart paper and writing out things like my boundaries in relationships. I also make time to check in with myself and explore how I’m feeling in my current state and one of the biggest acts of self care I’ve found is giving myself cry time. Have you ever brushed off your emotions because you’ve got a lot to do and find yourself just functioning like a robot? When I get there consistently it’s cry time. I wish I’d learned sooner that crying is such a good relief. I’m definitely an ugly crier. But, once I’m finished I feel so rejuvenated. And if I don’t I take a swift nap.

What do you do as self care? And do you exercise self care enough?