You don’t need a five-hour routine to look after your mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. The trick is to develop simple self-care practices and bring those habits into your daily routine.
For most of us, our lives in society today have become overburdened, full of stress, and packed with responsibilities. Over-working can lead to exhaustion, less time with loved ones, and lack of self-care. We then risk having a crash, which I’m sure we’ve all experienced before.
Self-care is taking the time to care for and rejuvenate yourself. It’s about taking care of your internal and external well-being: physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and mental health.
When your energy is restored, you’ll feel good, more focused, and you’ll gain more inner strength and confidence. This focus on your well-being will help you better understand your strengths and weaknesses and help you control anxiety, restlessness and regain an optimistic life view. Self-care, above all else, should be focused on achieving a calm and composed mental state.
Here are some small acts of self-care to add to your routine:
• Meditate.
Identify aspects of life that upset you and note which are most significant for you, address them, and take time to meditate on them. This will help you get rid of problems and boost your confidence.
• Declutter your surrounding. Create a clean space around you.
Donate and recycle things you have not used in the last year. It will give you more physical as well as mental space to relax and focus.
• Eating healthy and drinking water.
This is the #1 way to care for your physical being. Home cooked, preservative free food is the best for our health. Many health issues can be controlled with clean eating habits.
• Take time to work on new skills.
Work on an old skill or pick up a new one to add to your portfolio. Skills vary for each person depending on career, personality, and hobbies, but examples might be social or writing skills.
• Get into a habit of good sleep hygiene.
Everyone’s body is different but a rule of thumb would be at least 7 hours of undisturbed sleep. If it's difficult for you to fall asleep, instead of being on the computer, phone, or watching tv; read, do some light stretching, or enjoy a cup of tea right before bed.
• Spend less time on the phone.
Use the built-in app timer on your smart phone to limit your social media usage. Use the rest of the time to create real interactions or do some productive work (reading, taking up a new hobby, going outside, etc.)
• Take walks.
Even if you're not a fitness enthusiast, taking a walk for 15 minutes every day is very beneficial for health. If you walk in silence, with your own thought in mind, then you get some quiet time to understand the inner self.
Today, January 3rd, International Mind-Body Wellness Day, a great opportunity to celebrate how a balanced mind, body, and soul are integral for our health. Happy New Year, 2022 will be one of health, growth, and abundance.