Self-Care

Happy February! I don’t know about you but January felt like it took forever to end, especially since I was feeling down for a majority of it, so I am happy for a new month. February is the month of love, which if you’re single like me can be annoying, but it doesn’t have to be because I’m choosing to spend this month focusing on the most important love of all. Self-love. If I ever want to be in a happy, healthy relationship (which I do) I need to learn how to love myself first. To me one of the first steps to learning to love yourself is learning how to take care of yourself, because it shows you that you will always be there. Even if it’s just ten minutes of your day, taking time for yourself is so important. I’m quickly beginning to see the differences on the days I do take care of myself vs the days I ignore myself all day. I thought I would take some time to share some of my favorite acts of self-care today.

• Reading – When I’m feeling stressed or needing a break one of the best things for me is to curl up with a book and hopefully my cat. Getting the chance to breathe and escape reality for a bit can help me feel 100 times better. If you need a book recommendation let me know! And if you’re on Goodreads let’s connect because I’m always looking for new titles to add to my to-be-read list.
• Listening to Music/Podcast – Lately, more and more when I need a break the first thing I want to do is grab some headphones and listen to something besides my own thoughts. My go to right now on music is classical or movie scores if I want to relax, and The Greatest Showman soundtrack if I need some motivation. I’m also a HUGE fan of the podcast Armchair Expert by Dax Shepard and love nothing more than to get lost in an episode.
• Social Media Break – If you’re anything like me you are constantly checking social media throughout the day. Sometimes I don’t even know if I actually enjoy it or if it’s just habit. When I’m feeling especially down the only thing social media really helps me do is feel worse. I sit there comparing myself to all the good and excitement shown online even though I know that it doesn’t necessarily show the whole story. I think the best thing to do in these moments is disconnect. Turn your phone off or on do not disturb and stop checking social media, even if it’s just for an hour I feel it makes a huge difference to the inner-critic. We’re not showing it all the things it can use to compare us to and therefore it’s ammo starts to decrease.
• Surround Yourself with Love – It’s weird because when I’m feeling down or that I need to do some extra self-care sometimes the only thing that helps is being alone, and sometimes that’s actually the worst thing for me. Don’t be afraid to tell the people that love and support you that you need them a little closer for a bit. One of the biggest things I’ve learned in self-care is understanding that it is okay to ask for help.
• Getting Out of the House – Sometimes changing your surroundings can be a game changer. Whether it’s going to Target, getting dinner with friends, taking a walk things that get you out of the house and away from your stress and worry is a great way to take care of yourself.

These are just some of the ways I like to practice self-care/self-love. What do you like to do? I would love to hear your list especially since I am always looking for new things to incorporate into my self-care routine. Don’t forget how important it is to love yourself and have your own back no matter how difficult it gets sometimes.

Until next time.♥