Good morning, afternoon or whenever you’re reading this! I would like to start by saying I am so ready for it to start feeling like fall. It has been way too hot here in Southern California and I want to wear my sweaters already. I’ll be complaining when I am freezing my butt off and it’s 65 degrees out in a couple of months but I’m over the heat.
Now that I have that out of my system I thought I would share with you some of favorite ways to practice self-care. Truth be told I am still not great at it but I am a work in progress just like everyone else. Self-care is so tricky because it feels selfish. We have to actively train ourselves to not feel guilty for taking care of ourselves. Think about that. It sounds ridiculous but it’s true!
Say it with me, SELF-CARE IS NOT SELFISH.
So what do I do for self-care…?
Taking care of my skin. A couple of years ago I started getting into skincare products especially for my face. I have fairly dry and EXTREMELY sensitive skin. Like annoyingly so. All those beautiful smelling soaps and stuff, yeah I can’t use them. My shower looks like its for a newborn baby. Everything unscented and uber blah. But just because I can’t have fancy smelling soap doesn’t mean I have to sacrifice having moisturized skin. So I did what any shopaholic would do and developed a 10 step skin care routine. I am probably exaggerating but not by much. I have just found that taking a little time out of my day, usually at night after I shower, to take care of my skin does wonders for making me feel better.
Watching TV I can just veg out on. My mind is constantly running. It is a curse sometimes because all I want to do is relax and my mind is just chattering away. Seriously, it’s the most random things. Its like a four year old that literally doesn’t know how to shut up for even a second and that’s the continuous sound track in my head. So I have to really try hard to unwind at the end of the day or I would be up all night. One of my favorite ways is to watch TV that I can just zone out on. My go-to is Friends. Yes, I know, me along with the rest of the world. But it works. Ive seen every episode so many times that I can just put it on and I don’t really have to pay much attention to it. I will say I suffered a pretty rough patch for the first 6 months of this year when Friends was taken off of Netflix but hadn’t been released on HBO. The struggle was very real.
Running. Now this is a dicey one because I’ve struggled in the past with having a healthy relationship with exercise so I will start by saying if you are not in a good place with exercise please honor your body and where you are in your journey. Also, when I say running, what I actually mean is more like fast walking to an average human. I used to HATE HATE HATE running. Like I would rather go to the DMV for the entire day. But fast forward to the start of quarantine and the gym closed and I had to get creative. I’ve always wanted to like running. I have cousins who are “runners” that think nothing of a half marathon and I would think wouldn’t it be nice to just be able to go for a run like that. I AM NOT THAT PERSON. I am extremely slow, can’t go very far, and probably look like I am moving in slow motion to people driving by. So by no means do I consider myself a runner. I just enjoy the feeling of freedom of being able to put on my shoes and let my legs take me on a journey. And to give you a nice visual, my face turns bright red!
Cooking. Again, this can be a dicey one so if you are not in a good place to be doing your own cooking that is perfectly okay. Cooking for me is one of those things I definitely have to be in the mood for but when I am I really enjoy it. I don’t like to follow a lot of rules or recipes when Im cooking. I’ll generally just find something and get an idea of what I want to make but I don’t like to follow things step by step. Which is why I have also discovered I don’t like baking. When you cook you can kind of do your own thing, when you bake if you put the wrong amount of one ingredient in the dish is ruined. So yes, I like to add a dash or this or that or raid the refrigerator for things I can throw together and usually it turns out pretty tasty.
Obviously these aren’t going to work for everyone because self-care is so unique and personal. I know a lot of people enjoy reading and I wish that was me but Ive never enjoyed reading. I’m dyslexic and I literally hate reading it has never been my cup of tea. The key is finding what you enjoy that doesn’t feel taxing. Something that you do to re-energize your mind and body even if that means sitting in silence because you are socially exhausted. Do what works for you and don’t feel guilty about it. In order to take care of anyone else you have to take care of yourself first. Something that often feels very uncomfortable. But you can do it!
Next time you’re wiped out or run down, try something new. Throw on a face mask, put your hair in a messy bun and veg out in front of the TV. And you dare feel guilty about it. You deserve to love yourself, which includes caring for yourself!
With that said, I am going to take my own advice and have a lazy day because I need it.
XO
Disclaimer: Please note, all information on The Cheeky Life is not intended as medical advice or as a substitute for professional care. The intention of this blog is to connect with the community and share my personal experiences with mental health, eating disorders, and life in general. All opinions are my own.
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