I was feeling a little down this weekend so I decided to do a few things to make myself feel better and it brought me to realizing how important self-care is. I’ve always known self-care is important but sometimes I forget to actually do it. After thinking about this for a while I remembered a quote I saw that says, “There is nothing in nature that blooms all year long, so don’t expect yourself to either.” This quote is powerful to me because it’s a reminder that you can’t have great days everyday, but on our bad days we can do things to make ourselves feel better. The one thing I love about self-care is that there is no wrong way to do it. It’s about yourSELF, obviously. So anything you do that makes you happy can be considered self-care and I think that’s amazing. For example, writing this post or any other blog post makes me happy. When i’m feeling down I like to write, even if it’s not for my blog. I write down how i’m feeling and get out my stress or anger and then i’ll end it on a positive note by writing down things i’m grateful for. I wanted to share with you guys some things I like to do for self-care because even though there isn’t a wrong way, some people don’t know where to start.

Physical

For me, physical things are what help me the most. When i’m feeling down and I exercise I feel a million times better. As most of you probably know, exercising releases endorphins. I’m not going to pretend like I know what i’m talking about but I read THIS article that really explains it. Even something as small as a short walk around your neighborhood, I swear it will make you feel so good. I also LOVE doing yoga but i definitely don’t do it as much as I should. Yoga has always been something i’ve been interested in and wanted to know more about and one of my goals this school year is to take more time for myself and really get into yoga. Another thing that really helps me is playing with my puppy! I know not everyone has a dog but if you do, take advantage of it. Almost all dogs will always play or want to go for a walk so why not? Whenever I play with my puppy I can tell how excited and happy she is and that makes me happy. Anything to get your heart rate up will always be beneficial to you!

Mental/Emotional

Sometimes when i’m feeling down I don’t always have the motivation or energy to get up and exercise, that’s where mental + emotional things come in. Reading a book isn’t something i’m really into because I just don’t have the attention span. But I do love reading poetry books, keeping it nice and short for someone with a small attention span(: Another thing you could do is draw, go walk around and take photographs, do a DIY project or any other creative thing you can think of! I think having a creative outlet is something that really helps a lot of people. Another huge mental thing is to TURN OFF YOUR PHONE. I know it’s hard for a lot of people because it’s so easy to get wrapped up in social media. It’s definitely hard for me and although I don’t always turn my phone off completely I try to stay away from it when i’m feeling down because I know it could make my mood much worse than it was to begin with. This weekend when I was feeling down, I did a face mask, drank some tea, watched Netflix and ignored my phone and I felt so much better. Another thing I absolutely love doing before bed if i’ve had a bad day or just am having trouble sleeping is guided meditation! I usually just look up guided meditation for sleep on youtube and listen to one before bed. I wish I was better at meditating and did it more often but like I said, short attention span. This is definitely another thing I need to work on though because meditating before bed makes me feel so good mentally and i’ve heard and read about so many benefits of doing it in the morning as well. If meditation is something you’re into or want to get into it’s a great self care idea! Recently i’ve been obsessed with essential oils and diffusing them. I’m going to do a separate blog post about my favorite essential oils(stay tuned) but they have so many great benefits. BUT unfortunately my diffuser is currently broken and I need to buy a new one. So if essential oils aren’t something you’re into or you don’t own, lighting a candle is also a great idea. Heres a list of some things I mentioned and some other things.

I know I talked a lot about self-care when you’re feeling down, but you should truly be practicing self-care everyday. Even if it’s something as small as drinking more water, do it! This is a reminder that you should love yourself and treat your body and soul well. Put your happiness first and take care of you.

What are things you like to do for self-care? Leave me a comment!(:

xx,

Liv