7 Simple Ideas for Daily Self-Care

They make your life better.

Self-care earns a tremendous spotlight these days.

Beauty companies smartly take advantage of the buzz and promote the latest trends to keep up with the Joneses. According to Google Trends, the number of searches for “self-care” has more than doubled since 2015.

How many times have you splurged on new shoes, thinking: I deserve to pamper myself?

How many times have you binged on a TV show and a bucket of ice cream, doing hardly anything else throughout the rest of the day? How many times have you justified it as a form of self-care?

Did it make you feel any better in the long run? Has your happiness set-point levelled up?

I am not referring to short-lived confidence or satisfaction. I am talking about long-lasting soul nourishment.

What self-care is not?

People confuse self-care with expensive outfits, bubble baths, sheet masks, a glass of champagne in the tub, extravagant getaways as an excuse to overindulge.

While all those additions are nice to have, we take them as ‘must haves’ for our happiness.

They provide instant gratification without a long-lasting impact — a backward approach.

Your intention behind your actions drives your happiness.

Life balance is not the accumulation of material stuff but their subtraction. The less you chase, the less you worry, the more energy you have for taking care of yourself.

Material possessions are not evil. They are natural. It is our thinking that messes up the concept of them.

Whenever you mistake material pursuits for self-indulgent, it also implies that self-care is a means to escape from your daily life. Isn’t it twisted somehow?

Self-care comes with self-discipline.

Instead of chasing another fancy purchase, let’s give self-care a new form.

Self-care should not be expensive.

A 2009 research article notes that self-care is not an indulgence. There are endless forms of self-care that are free and take very little time or energy at all. The best solutions are the simplest ones.

Many people started perceiving self-care as another trend worth promoting throughout social media. It became another reason to show off.

As a result, many people perceive personal wellbeing as time-consuming and expensive, even self-centred.

Self-care is not selfish.

Self-love can be mistaken for vanity. However, there is nothing narcissistic or shallow when you genuinely want to take care of yourself and for yourself.

Needless to say, many people are caught up in the everyday hustle and regard self-care as a waste of time.

Self-care is not only a wellness skill but a survival skill. Once you start seeing self-care as essential rather than indulgent, it becomes easier to care for yourself and therefore to also care for others.

— Naomi Torres-Mackie, PhD, the head of research at the Mental Health Coalition

Sometimes your best form of self-care is the ability to say ‘no’.

Self-care is not always pleasant.

Yes, you may have mistaken taking care of yourself as eating that cheesecake in bed. However, many times self-care is actually forcing yourself to get out of bed and face whatever you have been running from. It is not always beautiful.

Self-care is breaking that toxic pattern of overindulging in the drink after work, or breaking up with a toxic partner. It can also stand for admitting that you feel lost and having the courage to talk to a therapist about it.

What self-care is about?

1. Mental diet.

Your internal dialogue determines your action.

Are you aware of your self-talk?

Have you noticed how many times you glance in the mirror to criticize yourself?

How about complimenting your body?

Mental diet is watching what thoughts you feed your mind with.

Whenever you criticize the reflection in the mirror, you are perpetuating destructive self-talk. As a result, you engage in behaviours to make you feel better, like splurging on designer clothes, getting a new haircut.

The reflection may change. Yet, the inside remains the same.

You didn’t fix the internal issue. You changed the external representation, only to discover that a shift in appearance is not enough. You continue talking down to yourself and need another booster to elevate your mood. The circle continues.

What if you change the way you treat yourself? What if you start being nicer to yourself, more accepting towards your body?

Once you change your internal energy, external opportunities align as well.

2. Take pauses throughout your day.

Whether you have a business to run, kids to take care of, laundry to do, breaks to recharge your energy and slow down the pace of your life are crucial.

Nowadays, too many distractions are fighting for our attention. You have every right to feel depleted.

Scrolling through Instagram feed is not an outlet for your mind. Checking up on the lives of others is a deadly trap, consuming too much of your precious energy.

When you feel overwhelmed:

• eat lunch by yourself, away from the desk or desktop,
• go for a walk,
• sit alone for 10 minutes and observe your ‘monkey mind’. You will be surprised what creative thoughts spring to your mind,
• do breathwork,
• do short exercises, moving your body causes energy to flow, let those endorphins kick in.

Bonus: Feeling comfortable alone improves your life.

3. Take days off social media.

It seems so irrelevant, almost clichéd. However, social media detox proved essential for boosting my confidence and bettering the quality of my life. Selfies are a powerful drag on your mental health.

No more comparing. No more relying on external validation to make myself feel better. You will be surprised how many people you wish to unfollow after the cleanse.

It is just you and your life for no else’s eyes to pry. You don’t need to know how much is going on outside your zone.

Your life is not a mean to show off, but a sacred space for your enjoyment only.

4. Prepare your food and mindfully eat it.

Self-care is simple. Just like your food should be.

Keep meals simple. Make them from scratch and use as little processed food as you can. Quit the habit of eating while watching TV. Enjoy your food in silence, cherishing every bite and being thankful for the meal you get to eat.

Research shows that people, who frequently cook meals at home, eat healthier and consume fewer calories than those who cook less.

What is more, preparing food requires us to invest time and effort. This investment and a sense of having earned something make it more pleasurable.

Meal prep isn’t a chore. Carve out some extra time to make slight shifts in your busy schedule.

Food is a celebration of your life and body. It also connects you to people you share it with.

5. Meditate.

This one is my favourite. Once you discover the surprising benefits of the practice, you will come back for more.

Incorporating meditation into your daily life is a great way to calm the nervous system and improve overall health.

Try following your breath for a few minutes, close your eyes, observe thoughts as they come and go. Do not judge them, though. Learn how to peacefully coexist with your inner critic.

Whenever you hear the voice in the back of your head rushing you to jump on the next task, do not react but question who are you competing with?

Meditate in the morning and in the evening. Start with 5 minutes a day.

6. Find your niche.

For me, it is writing or experimenting with makeup. Both are creative. Both are fun.

I am not doing it to impress anybody but to express.

I write about things that move me, serve me or work in my life so that I can help others. I play with makeup because it makes me relaxed and invites more creativity into my life.

Find an activity that, when performing, you lose care in the world. That, my friend, is the highest level of self-care. You do it solely for yourself and nobody else.

7. Give thanks for what you already have.

With gratitude, you train your brain to see positive things.

Appreciating what you already have changes your perspective on what is really important: spending time with a loved one, sharing a meal, having fun while preparing a meal, slowly enjoying your favourite beverage alone, having nature at your fingertips, appreciating the comfort of your bed.

Gratitude makes you feel more optimistic about life. And how you feel you attract. It is how you look at things, not the things themselves, that shape your life.

Practice it early to set your day for the good in your life. Start small. Keep it simple.

Gratitude literally rewires your brain to be happier. Isn’t it the best form of self-care?

Self-care promotes your happiness.

You are in charge of creating happiness. It is not waiting for you at your next job, relationship, or by the pool and drinks during the next holiday.

Happiness is the state of mind: the appreciation of the present moment. If you are chasing happiness, you are bound to miss it every time.

Happiness cannot be travelled to, owner, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.

— Denis Waitley

Thank you for reading, — Katarzyna

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