From stressed out to grounded, focused, and balanced
Self-love and self-care doesn’t come easy for most of us. Between work, social obligations, and family life, the list of things to-do never seems to get shorter. It can be hard to justify spending a bit of “me-time.” There are, after all, only 24 hours in the day. How can we manage to squeeze self-care into an already jam-packed schedule?
The pressures of modern day life are certainly demanding – but that is all the more reason to give yourself some love and attention! As stressors continue to stack up in front of you, you need to establish practices that help you melt away anxieties and bring you to a state of being calm and focused.
Self-care isn’t just a frivolous luxury. It encompasses so much more than just taking a fancy bubble bath or treating yourself to a shopping trip. It is an essential practice for cultivating overall physical and mental wellbeing. It gets you in the frame of mind to take on your tasks and stressors with confidence and ease. Self-care is the practice that keeps you moving forward energetically – rather than spiraling into a ball of stress.
Why practicing self-care is so important for overall wellness.
In our society, we put a lot of emphasis on physical wellness. New fitness studios with innovative workouts practically pop up on a daily basis, and there is always a hot and trendy diet that seemingly everyone is trying out.
While physical health is undoubtedly important, our mind needs just as much rest and nourishment as our body. The average human has 60,000 thoughts per day, and 80% of those – almost 50,000 of them – are negative. And when you are dealing with a particularly difficult or stressful time in your life, that number is likely even higher.
Taking care of yourself encompasses so much more than making sure you get some physical movement in and are eating well-balanced, nutritious meals – although that certainly is a part of it. It’s about reprogramming your negative beliefs and cultivating a practice to help you know yourself better and what you need — not just to function, but to flourish.
Loving yourself means repeating many tiny positive habits, which together soothe you and make sure you’re performing at your best — emotionally, physically, and spiritually. When you’re feeling depleted by physical or emotional exhaustion, you’re more likely to get sick, make mistakes, and feel irritated, hopeless, and unhappy.
How to create a simple self-love and self-care practice.
People are often turned-off by the idea of a self-care practice because they think it takes up valuable and extremely precious time. While you certainly can treat yourself to luxurious self-care practices every now and then, the best way to consistently implement self-love into your life is to form small, simply habits. This helps you integrate little moments of love and attention for your own body, mind, and soul on a regular basis.
It might take some time for you to find and successfully implement self-care practices that work for you, and that is perfectly okay. Enjoy the process. Don’t get down on yourself when something doesn’t work or you neglect your self-care practice. Just keep moving forward. This is all in the name of bettering your overall well-being – the journey will be worth it!
This month, try implementing at least one self-love and self-care moment into your daily routine. Here are a few small ideas to get you started…
1. Put affirmational notes around your home.
Sometimes you need a little confidence boost to lift you up. Pick out a few affirmations that resonate with you, and then write them out on notecards or Post-it Notes. Place these in areas around your home where you typically look on a daily basis, such as your bathroom mirror, the refrigerator, or your nightstand drawer. You can even take it a step further and find other places outside of your home to put your messages – like your car, your wallet, or your desk drawers at work. Messages like “today I am focused and confident” or “I get better every day in every way” will help you experience bursts of self-love throughout your day. Be sure to also check out the bkty card sets at our shop!
2. Keep essential oils on hand.
Scents can have an incredibly powerful influence on your mood. You’ve probably heard that lavender oil is a great option when it comes to fighting stress, but there are a wealth of other options you can explore to help you uplift your mood. Frankincense, ylang-ylang, bergamot, and vetiver are all options that can provide much-needed relief, grounding energies, and mindfulness. Pick out a favorite scent or two, and keep them on hand for when you need to release some stress. You can put a few drops on your palms, rub them together, and then deeply breathe in. You can also invest in a diffuser to get a constant stream of beneficial aromatherapy in your home or workspace.
3. Create an energizing morning playlist.
When you feel like you can barely drag yourself out of bed in the morning, it can set a negative tone for the rest of the day. Sometimes we need an extra jolt (besides a cup of coffee, of course) to wake us up and get us ready for the day to come. A morning playlist is a great way to shake up your morning routine and put you in the right mindset to face your day with energy and excitement. Put together a playlist of your favorite pump-up songs so that you can dance your way through eating breakfast and getting ready for the day. Be sure to update the playlist every so often so that it always feels fresh and new!
4. Schedule small breaks into your work day.
It is easy to get so sucked into your work that you barely realize that hours have gone by without you even standing up or taking a sip of water. In order to stay on top of your wellness, set a reminder on your phone to take small breaks throughout your work day. We all need to take the time to remove our eyes from our screens and get away from our work, and just focus inward on what we need in that moment. Maybe you need to get a nourishing snack, take a short walk outside, or simply take a few minutes to focus on your breathing. Listen to your body, and do what feels right!
5. Write out a daily gratitude list.
You may have heard about the power of gratitude. Research has shown that a consistent gratitude practice can lower stress levels – and it may even help you sleep a bit better! Thankfully, it is incredibly easy to establish a gratitude practice in your daily routine. Simply pick out a journal and write down three (or more!) things you are grateful for each day. Doing this in the morning is a great way to start your day off on a positive note, while doing it at night can help you look back on your day and reflect. This small action will help bring your attention to all the good that exists in your life and bring you into a more positive state of mind.
Want to boost your self-care? Check out our BKTY philosophy or follow us on Instagram for more reminders, tips, insights and inspiration!
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