There are so many elements to self care, it’s a subject you can literally deep dive into all night long… and we will… in time. What I want to bring you today is 5 simple strategies you can incorporate into your life quickly and relatively easily so that you can start a powerful self-care routine and up level your relaxation haven… in your everyday life. Without taking up a lot of time, costing a lot of money or needing to make a drastic change to your lifestyle (right now).
First of all… why is self care so important? Self care is crucially important because it helps you reset your mind, reduce stress, restore your vibe, energy, increase productivity and help you show up even bigger and more bad ass tomorrow.
Let me just throw in there that I know what it feels like to be on such a mission in life or in business that you think that there is just no time to ease off the gas… that any 15 minutes you could spend on yourself is 15 minutes you could spend working even harder towards whatever it is that I am working towards.
Well guess what, if you don’t refuel your tank, not only will you ultimately run out of gas… you will start to ruin your engine (oh the car analogy should make my dad proud). That analogy is cliche but true.
So here are 5 ridiculously simple strategies to help lower stress, increase relaxation and kickstart your self care routine…
1. Consider the space around you… does it cause you stress? Your home, the office (Which at this point is probably still your home), your car… how does it make you feel? Does it overwhelm you? Does it make you feel stressed? Is it cluttered? One of the most freeing things you can do is declutter your space. Get rid of anything that as Marie Kondo says… does not bring you joy. Clear your space… begin to clear your mind. So take 15 minutes each day and clean, tidy and declutter. You can just clean and put away or you can choose to declutter
2. Ignite the Senses… Smell is a very powerful tool when it comes to stress reduction and relaxation. It can transport us in time, ignite memories. Make us feel good. Is it a placebo effect? Perhaps… and believe me the debate is on but sometimes having a space that just smells good can make you feel good whether the therapeutic benefits are up for debate or not. I mean… who didn’t love the smell of Pinesol in their home growing up? Guilty! I hated cleaning.... But I sure did like the smell of it. Thankfully there are much much better and healthier alternatives now to get your space smelling divine. Diffuse essential oils in your home, office or even car, light a scented all natural soy or beeswax candle, use a linen spray on your bed before going to sleep.
3. Indulge in the little things. First take a moment to identify what little things really float your boat. There is a list as long as my arm of ideas I could give you but you probably don’t have time for that and I really want you to hone in on what really lights YOU up… what is it that is seemingly insignificant or flay out not important that really just brings you a lot of joy? Extra sleep, reading a book, watching the Notebook on repeat every once in a while, drinks with friends… a bubble bath… taking a nap. You don’t have to over complicate these things and they don’t have to take a lot of time OR break the bank, awareness of the first part. Believe it or not… There are some people who don’t really know what little things they love the most and are missing out on.
4. Journaling, Mindfulness & Meditation… ok I know for some this is where I lose you. The main point here is not necessarily about jumping into a full fledged daily meditation routine (unless that is right for you) which can spur an all or nothing mentality which in my opinion, is rarely a good thing when it comes to self care and personal growth. A little can go a long way on your path to the ultimate self care and mindfulness routine. The point here is taking a moment to still the mind, get clarity, find peace in the silence. If we can feel clear about our purpose, or goals, our vision (even if it’s just for that day) can help us move forward with more ease and flow.
Taking the time to do this even for a minute or two a day is going to help. You can start with setting an intention or asking a question and waiting to see what comes from your inner wisdom… you do have inner wisdom and if you are persistent… you will find it!
If you are not into meditation, taking the time to enjoy the process of your life like washing the dishes, brushing your teeth, driving, folding laundry… you can find peace in it. Journaling is also an amazing way to organize your thoughts, get clarity and reduce stress. P.S. Journaling doesn’t have to be a dear diary type of situation (although it can be) it can be as simple as what am I grateful for today and what did I learn today?
5. Plan for it. What get’s planned gets done. No one is out there looking out for you and your self care needs… well maybe I am but I can’t actually do it for you! Making sure that you find the time for self care is well… completely up to you. Don’t assume that you are going to automatically find the time to simply squeeze the little things you enjoy along with these other self care and relaxation hacks. Nope… you need to work it into your schedule as though it was just as important as checking your daily emails. Book it in. Period.
Bonus Hack: Ask for help… What I hear my community say the most when answering the question of why they don’t indulge in self care and spa day’s more often… is well… time. I am always a supporter of leveraging your resources and if timing is a problem… You can go ahead and ask for help, talk to family members, hire a babysitter, find services with built-in childcare, delegate some of your to-do list to an employee, teammate or coworker so you can make a little space on your to-do list. . Where there is a will there's a way.
So let me ask you… If you took 30 minutes before bed to tidy up your space, diffuse your favourite essential oil, light a candle and journal reflecting on 1 thing you were grateful for in the day and 1 thing that you learned, do you think that you would feel good?
Let’s put your money where your mouth is… I hereby challenge you to do just that for 7 days straight. If those three things are your particular jam, pick any 3 teeny tiny things that you can do every day to make you feel good, and do it. Then let me know just how good, bad or indifferent that you feel. I really want to know!
Go ahead and join us over in Your Happiness Project community to report back to us on how you are and how you are feeling and don’t forget to join our mailing list for the latest spa beauty, wellness updates, self care hacks, other offers and more!