Y’all probably know by now how much I love my self-care. I believe it is an indispensable part of every day, and without it we would not be able to perform our best. Doing things for yourself is not selfish – it actually allows you to help more people and help them better than you could have without self-care. Practicing self-care is like recharging your battery so that you can keep going without burning out.
One of my favorite metaphors: self-care is like putting on your own oxygen mask first. You know when you get on an airplane and the flight attendant tells you to put on your oxygen mask first before helping anyone else with theirs? If you’re a giving person, you may want to start helping others right away, but in reality, you’ll only be able to help a limited number of people get their masks on before you run out of oxygen. But if you put on your own mask first, you’ll be able to help many, many more people with theirs.
Self-care has become quite a buzzword in the health and wellness community lately, but to some people the concept is so vague. That’s why I thought I’d share some of favorite self-care rituals to give you a more concrete look at this ambiguous concept.
1. Go for a walk
Going for walks is like a double whammy of self-care because it gets you out in nature (fresh air = clear lungs + energy & sunlight = vitamin D!) AND it releases endorphins (your body’s happy chemicals).
Going for a walk is also a great opportunity to listen to a podcast or some music.
2. Do yoga (or another form of fitness/stretching)
Movement is an awesome way to practice self-care. Once again, it will release endorphins, and just moving around all that stagnant energy in your body is always a good thing. Yoga is an especially powerful form of self-care for me because it involves deepening the breath and connecting with my spiritual side.
(Wearing Altar Ego Apparel in all photos above – use code “mollyyogi” for 15% off total purchase of this Boston-made athletic ware!)
3. Read a book
I’ve joked with my family that I read only two genres of books – cheesy romance novels and self-help books. It’s 25% a joke and 75% true. What can I say? Cheesy romance novels make a a great distraction and they’re light enough to read right before bed, and self-help books feed my mind and soul. Per usual, it’s all about balance. 😉
Find recommendations of some of my favorite reads here!
4. Take a bath/shower
Bubble baths are one of the only surefire ways to relax me completely. After I was first diagnosed with Sjogren’s, I spent a lot of the day alone and resting, and by the evening I would be going a little out of my mind with anxiety and boredom. A nice warm bath never failed to relax and refresh me!
I like to do my baths up big with bubbles, epsom salts, essential oils (safely diluted in castile soap or a carrier oil), candles, and music or a book. If you prefer showers to a bath, you can still make it luxurious! A nice smelling body wash, an exfoliating scrub (recipe for a DIY coffee scrub here & a lemon lavender scrub here) and some good music can take your shower from 0 to 100.
5. Do a face mask
I consider my skincare routine to be a vital part of my self-care. Every time I mask, wash, tone, moisturize, or put on my non-toxic make-up I just feel like I’m taking super good care of myself! Face masks, though, are a particularly special treat that I indulge in a few times a week.
My mask routine & tips:
- Apply mask at night – you don’t want to be putting make-up on soon after masking (it will just clog up the newly cleaned out pores)
- Apply after a bath or a shower – the warm water and steam opens up your pores so the mask can clean deeply
- Apply to clean skin – so wash your face first!
- After removal:
- Follow up with a toner to remove any last traces of the mask and help close up those pores! (I like to use hydrosols/floral waters as toners – my faves are lavender hydrosol & rose hydrosol)
- Follow that with a moisturizer/facial serum – Plant Therapy has some great facial oils like Clear Complex, DermiSoothe, Younger Glo, and Near Perfection
- Mask 1-2 times a week – any more than this and you could actually be doing more damage to your skin by drying it out too much
My current favorite mask is 100% Pure‘s Herbal Detox Mask (pictured above) – buy here!
6. Take a nap
As a person with a chronic illness that causes fatigue, I usually nap at least a handful of times a week. Most people (other than babies) don’t need that many naps, but once in a while a nap is just what one needs to revitalize! Not only does a nap help relieve fatigue (which, let’s face it, we all have issues with from time to time whether it’s because we’re sick or working a lot), but naps also allow you to wake up in a new headspace. You know that saying “things will look better in the morning?” Well you don’t always need a full night’s sleep to wake up with a new perspective. Sometimes a quick nap can do the trick!
7. Declutter your space
Sometimes when everything seems to be going wrong or life is crazy, sitting down and organizing one small space, like your pantry, your desk, or even a single drawer can help you get back a sense of control and organization. I promise you’ll feel great when it’s done!
Besides, it can be really harmful to your mood to exist in a cluttered space all the time. Life gets busy and we don’t always have time to clean up after ourselves, so it’s easy for junk to start to accumulate. I’ve often fallen into the trap of wanting to clean my messy room, but being unsure how to begin to tackle such a big task. Starting with just one small space is far less overwhelming!
8. Go to acupuncture/get a massage/facial
I LOVE going to acupuncture (you can learn more about the treatments here). Not only does it help with some of the many symptoms of chronic illnesses, but the treatments themselves are just SO relaxing. After they get the needles in they turn on suuuuper calming music, put a heat lamp on my feet, and sometimes even heat the whole table I’m laying on!
I totally realize that not everyone is into acupuncture, but any other treatment (like a massage or a facial) will also do the trick. I think one of the best things about these types of treatments is that you have to schedule a time to go to them, so you are literally dedicating a specific portion of your day to self-care. It’s like a dat with yourself that you can’t break!
I hope this gave you guys a good glimpse at what self-care looks like for me! To get myself in the mood for this post, I took a nice bubble bath last night, did a face mask, woke up this morning and went for a walk while listening to a podcast, and then did some yoga…so you can see that all of the activities above are truly ingrained into my everyday life!
Obviously life is super busy for most people, and you might be thinking “when will I find the time to go for a walk or take a bath?” But the truth is, you have to make time for these things or you risk getting burnt out. Once you’re totally burnt out, it will take a lot of heavy duty self-care to get back to equilibrium.
When I was diagnosed with Sjogren’s, I had been trying for so many months to live at my normal pace that I found myself COMPLETELY depleted. It took me three or four months to even begin getting back into a life with a semblance of normalcy. But an illness isn’t the only thing that will burn you out – so will working too hard for too long, putting other’s needs before your own for too long, etc.
There’s a proverb about meditation that goes: “you should sit in meditation for twenty minutes every day – unless you’re too busy. Then you should sit for an hour.” It sounds a bit silly, but the intention works for self-care too. Self-care routines look different for everyone, but basically if you think you’re too busy to do any, then you’re probably the type of person that needs even more!
