5 ways to create a powerful habit of self care
Self care isn’t selfish, it’s savvy. That’s my motto. When it comes to bringing more self care into your day to day life it doesn’t have to be anything big, anything costly in terms of time or money. It needs to be what is right for you in the moment, what you need and something that enables you to build a habit of self care. Today I’m sharing with you a few ways to help you create a powerful habit of self care.
Right now we are needing to improve our well-being and meet our essential needs more than ever. The world we live in is challenging and we need to make sure that we take time to nourish our body, mind and soul to survive this journey.
Self care isn’t something you do once and tick off the list; The key to success is consistency and repetition of many beneficial tiny habits, which together soothe you and make sure you are working to your optimum— emotionally, physically and mentally. This is where I come in as a self care coach. I’m here to help you gain inspiration as to how to bring self care into your day to day life and also to encourage you to build powerful new, positive habits. Trust me you will feel better for doing it.
Self Care Isn’t Selfish
How are your energy levels right now? Do you feel like you are giving from an empty cup, are your batteries at “low battery mode” of 20% or are you embracing each day as it comes and bursting with energy?
Some activities deplete your energy and others replenish it. It's all about knowing what works for you. Self care is a crucial activity to include in your life so that you are not running on empty so that you have something left to give to yourself and then to others. Think about the excuses you give yourself to stop spending time on self care.. can you hear them in your head right now? We need to change the rhetoric and think about how we can proactively address those excuses or obstacles.
People are confused about what “Self Care” actually means these days. Self care is any activity that we do with intention in order to take care of our mental, physical and emotional health. It doesn’t have to mean a spa day or meditation for an hour each day. It’s not about how much money you spend, how much time you take to do activities. It can be small adjustments to your routines to make sure you are living well and feeling great.
My favourite analogy when it comes to self care is the oxygen mask from the inflight safety demonstration… “please put on your own oxygen mask before helping others”. Why? Because if you’ve passed out, you are of no use to anyone else - so grab your oxygen mask (your self care strategies) and be ready to breathe in deep!
5 Ways to Create a Powerful Habit of Self Care
Make time
As I said before, self care doesn’t have to be anything huge. I’m not saying you need to meditate for an hour, do a yoga class for 20 minutes or even spend 10 minutes outside in nature. This is about fitting self care into your lifestyle so that tiny habits build up into a self care practice. You do still need to make time though, even if it is not an activity that takes a huge amount of time. At the start of the week, I look at my diary and plan out how my week is going to be. I put all of my appointments and meetings in my weekly planner, I work out what tasks and activities are on my to-do list and then I start looking at my non-negotiables.
These are the things that I need to do every day or every week to be feeling the best version of myself. Taking my B vitamins, drinking enough water, practising affirmations, journaling and getting in my barre and spin classes. I look at the week ahead and work out when I can make time for these activities. They don’t have to be every day and they don’t always have to be at the same time of day or the same day each week. By consciously planning out my self care I know that I can make time, it is starting the commitment to actually do the tasks. Often starting is the hardest part about maintaining a habit, so by making time and booking time into your schedule - you’re more likely to make this a success.
You do you
Often we go through life on autopilot and do the things for our wellbeing that we think we ‘should’. I’m all for banning the word ‘should’ from our vocabulary; it can lead us down the path of feeling guilty, insecure and fundamentally lacking compassion for ourselves. I want to share with you something that I have shared with people so often, that has become one of my mantras. “You do you”. Don't worry about anyone else, don't compare yourself to them. Focus on your own goals, for your health, fitness and lifestyle and self care choices. If you’re not a runner, don’t try to be. If you don’t fancy yoga, then don’t do it - do what works for you and do the things that you like in order to keep physically and mentally in shape.
Find your thing
Self care is so important to us and it is also SO personal. You need to enjoy the time you dedicate to your own well-being and you need to be able to want to make time and space for it. So I encourage you to "find your thing" or things... those things that lift you up, inspire you, calm you or energise you.
Make a list of all the things that you love to do and make space in your diary to do them! Think about the following questions to help you build some new self care habits
What are the things that soothe and recharge me
How can I incorporate them into my daily and weekly routines
It is so important to make the most of the time when we are not working, doing the school run, dealing with family commitments, getting stuff done. By prioritising self-care and the things you love to do; you will feel energised and recharged.
Tag self care onto another habit
One way to make sure you tap into boosting your mental and physical wellbeing is through habit building and to tag it onto something else you are already doing. For example, I love to read personal development books and have a stack of them on my desk, but the only way I could get myself to make sure I sat down to read them was firstly to limit it to just 10 pages at a time so I didn’t feel overwhelmed by reading a whole chapter. Secondly, I tagged it onto something else I was already doing - eating lunch. So now I sit and read my book whilst eating my lunch, stopping the phone scrolling habit and boosting my mental health. Other ideas include practising some mindful breathing whilst waiting for the kettle to boil. It’s amazing quickly it can add up… how many hot drinks do you make in one day - therefore how many minutes of mindful breathing you can bring into your day. How about practising your pelvic floor exercises whilst cleaning your teeth or listening to some calming music or an audio book whilst you cook dinner. Habit stacking can be a powerful way to bring more self care into your day to day life without really having to overthink it.
Buddy Up
One of the best ways to make sure you stick to a new habit is to tell someone else what you intend to do. Putting it out there has a great presence in showing your intention to both yourself and to others. One way to increase this, even more, is to buddy up with someone to make sure that you stick to your desired habits. Perhaps its having someone to have a lunchtime walk with during your working week, maybe it’s someone to go to the evening yoga class after work that you pick up on the way so you don’t just head home. By proclaiming what you want to do, you’re more likely to do it and stick to a routine and by having an accountability buddy you are more likely to stick to your plan, keep the habit up and feel the benefits. It’s great to be able to workout with someone else, to share the same hobby or passion and to have someone to keep you company when you feel like you just want to stop. Who can be your accountability buddy in the self care habit you want to build?
Consciously Curated Self Care Packages
With my passion for helping others create their own self care kit, I created a range of five self care packages within the Self Care Survival Kit Shop. Amid a growing rise in subscription boxes and gift packages I strive to be different with my carefully curated self care packages. The key difference is that I bring these packages together with intention and purpose and offer a support guide to talk you through how to best use the products and to help you boost your self care routine. These consciously curated self care packages take the work out of curating your own from the fine range of products I have brought to my online self care shop.
The Self Care Survival Kit shop is here to help you restart, refocus, re-energise and rejuvenate; in body mind and soul. Sharing everything you might need to build your own self care survival kit from journals and planners to eye masks, candles and bath scrubs. I wanted people to be able to add tools to their self care kit that they resonate with to help them live their best life. I believe self care is a necessity - not an indulgence.
