You might think that the word self love sounds a bit weird. Standing in front of the mirror saying how much you love yourself and how grateful you are for being amazing can be a bit uncomfortable. But you are amazing and self love is a great opportunity to slow down, take care of yourself during stressful times, and helps you feel refreshed and better equipped to handle whatever life throws at you.
Luckily, self love doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. As a matter of fact, some of the best ways to take care of yourself are completely free and it won’t feel weird….honest.
Connect to how you’re feeling.
If you’re feeling disconnected or stressed out, stop, and spend a minute or two (that’s all it takes) to focus on your five basic senses: sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste. Stop, breathe deeply, hear what’s going on around you, see what’s in front of you, feel your feet on the ground, notice the taste in your mouth and smell the air.
Talk to a friend
Human connection is so essential for health and well being. It’s not easy, other people are busy, sometimes you don’t want to bother them or maybe they’re not nearby. Forget all those excuses. Message them - meet them on video, call them, just for 5 minutes let them know you’re thinking about them. And if your friends are too busy, join forums with likeminded people, there’s always someone around. I’ll soon be opening my very own forum called the Eat Play Love for just that reason, so people can stop by and chat whenever they want about whatever they want. If you’d like an invite when it’s up and running just drop me your email address and I’ll gladly invite you.
Rest
Sleep is one of the most basic and important forms of self-care, everything becomes more difficult when you don’t sleep. If you’re not getting the between 7 and 9 hours sleep you need to change some habits to make sure you do.
You can try waking up and going to bed at the same time every day, avoid caffeine in the evening, turn off electronics up to an hour before bed, and limit the amount of time you spend in bed without sleeping. I also use pre and probiotics, which have made a huge difference to my sleep. If you want to know more just ask!
Flagging during the day, take a quick nap; sometimes just closing your eyes for 15 minutes will make all the difference.
Practice gratitude
This might sound a bit flowery and blah, but it doesn’t have to be, it could be something like I’m really grateful for getting through today without eating chocolate or I’m grateful that there weren’t too many people in the supermarket this morning so I could get in and out quickly.
It doesn’t have to be anything major.
Also try writing a journal, write down what you’re grateful for but you can also write down how you were feeling and what went well or not so well during your day. All this will help if you look back to see what kind of patterns you are making for yourself each day, or if something triggers feelings for you.
Get out and about
Go outside, wherever you are. Have a quick walk, even if it’s just up the street, better if it’s somewhere green. Not only that you might meet someone on your travels even if its just to smile at. Go out into the garden, pull up a few weeds or just take it in.
This is a big one for me ….. de-clutter
I feel the stress when there’s ‘stuff’ all over the house, make it look nice and you mood greatly increases, you also find it’s easier to relax and unwind when you’re not surrounded by piles of ‘stuff’
And talking about unwinding…..Making clear boundaries between work and relaxation time. I work from home and this is one of my biggest challenges. Do yourself a favour, stay away from your emails and don’t use your phone for anything work-related. Do nothing. It may feel weird at first, but pressing ‘pause’ on your crazed to-do list and packed day could be exactly what your mind and body need right now. Take a bath, read, do something you really enjoy.
And finally just a reminder.....you are amazing, remember that
If you'd like to join my Eat, Play Love Facebook Group please feel free, here's the link!