52 Ideas for Self-Care
/GUEST POST BY TRISH OF JEWELS BY TRISH
When is the last time you took 10 minutes to do something fun for yourself? Do you set weekly pampering dates with yourself? Are you cranky and irritable? Do you feel frazzled and pulled in a thousand directions? Have you forgotten what you even enjoy doing?
Sounds like you are craving some alone time with yourself. And honey, I’ve been there and really don’t want the t-shirt.
As women, we easily fall into the trap of taking care of everyone else first + their brother + their sister + the neighbor down the street + well…you get it. We place ourselves last and at the end of the day, we often feel tired, used up, cranky, and less than stellar. We go to bed and then rinse, lather, and repeat the following day.
It’s a viscous cycle that spirals out of control.
And if left alone, this cycle will leave us feeling like all we do is chase our tail without ever catching it. Yuck! Who wants that?
Not me, fo-sho! And certainly not you either. But don’t fret my pretty; I have some help for you.
The first step to success with self-care is believing YOU DESERVE IT!
Yes, you DO deserve it. What is the thing they tell you in an airplane in the event that it crashes? Put on your oxygen mask FIRST. You can’t save the person next to you if you run out of oxygen.
It’s the same thing with taking care of you. If you don’t stop every now and again to make sure you feel good, then you end up being a poor caretaker of others because you feel like crap. I know you want to be good at taking care of your family, friends, or neighbors. And I know deep down that you really don’t want to feel bad all of the time.
So believe that you deserve to feel good; and you deserve to take some time out for yourself so you can feel great. Repeat that mantra daily until you feel it in your soul.
The second step is informing your family or whomever it is that’s holding you back about this need to take good care of yourself. Tell them why it’s important to you, what’s in it for them {duh, if you’re happy, they’re happy}, and what the plan will be for yourself. And if it’s you holding yourself back, then sit yourself down and talk to yourself.
The third step is scheduling this new playtime. If you don’t schedule it, it won’t happen.
Decide how much time you want to start with…10 minutes a week, 10 minutes a day, an hour a week…decide. Now write it in your planner, or on your calendar. Set a reminder on your cell phone. Write it on a sticky note and paste it to the refrigerator. Put it somewhere to keep yourself accountable.
Lastly, take the time you decided and do something fun for yourself.
Have you forgotten what you even enjoy doing? Worry you will run out of ideas? No worries, I’ve listed 52 ways to pamper yourself. That’s an entire year worth. Here we go.
52 Ideas for Self-Care
1) Take a walk
2) Walk your dog
3) Take a bubble bath
4) Enjoy your favorite beverage on the back porch
5) Read a chapter in your favorite book
6) Take a short nap
7) Dance around the bedroom to your favorite 80’s band
8) Drink a green tea at your local coffee shop
9) Go online shopping
10) Do some yoga stretches
11) Go the movies with your bestie or alone {It’s actually really exhilarating on your own}
12) Paint your toes
13) Paint your nails
14) Splurge on a blow out at the hair salon
15) Get a massage
16) Braid your hair
17) Enroll in a leisure learning class at your local college
18) Shave your legs
19) Soak your feet
20) Go shopping for luxurious hand or body lotion
21) Watch ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ alone in your bedroom
22) Go grab a Sonic Blue Raspberry Slush and add extra Nerds
23) Go play tennis or kayaking or running
24) Go for a bike ride
25) Pick flowers
26) Go take a spin on a swing at the park
27) Visit the park
28) Visit your local Tourist Bureau
29) Meditate
30) Write in your journal
31) Work a puzzle
32) Read your favorite blog
33) Take a spin class
34) Pray
35) Enjoy the silence while smelling the scent of your favorite candle
36) Draw a picture
37) Color in your adult coloring book
38) Try watercolor painting
39) Play on Pinterest
40) Create a new play list on Spotify
41) Sit outside and bird watch
42) Feed the squirrels at the park
43) Flip through your family photo album
44) Learn to speak a foreign language
45) Learn to say, “hello, how are you” in French or Spanish
46) Gaze up at the stars
47) Gaze up at the clouds and see how many shapes you can find
48) Go for a quiet drive
49) Write a love-note to yourself
50) Wear high heels and go fragrance testing at the mall
51) Blow bubbles
52) Craft something with glitter
Oh my goodness, who is pumped up now?! I can’t wait to do all of these myself.
So go forth, my friend. Talk to yourself and believe that you are special, discuss with your family or friends, set a date with yourself and enjoy.
I am so excited for you. If you enjoyed this list, please share with all the women in your life that are so deserving of taking care of themselves, too.
Trish is a busy jewelry designer and a mom of two. Like many women, she used to struggle with self care, but not any more! Now that she has mastered scheduling time for herself, she is a woman on fire and you can be too.
