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The hustling and bustling of life have led us to put self-care in the back seat. We don’t think twice before postponing or sometimes even ignoring our healthy self-care habits. Only to realize their importance when not taking care of yourself hits you in the face. The chaotic lifestyle then begins to take a toll on your overall well-being.
People think of self-care as something bougie or luxurious. Whereas, self-care literally means just taking care of yourself. It can be as simple as taking a good night’s sleep to something a little extra like going on a 5-star vacation. Simply put, any action that you take to maintain and improve your health, happiness, wellness, and contentment is self-care.
Why Self-Care Is Important?
Indulging in healthy habits that enhance your self-care is a way to nourish your mind, body, and soul. It improves your quality of life, allows you to thrive, and increases your ability to be successful. When you see it this way, self-care is doing all that needs to be done so that you can be energized and balanced in your life.
I know, that sometimes the term self-care sounds selfish. It is crucial to understand that your physical and mental well-being depends on how well you can take care of yourself. Let me list a couple of reasons why healthy self-care habits are important to feel your best:
- A reminder of your self-worth
Healthy self-care habits remind you and others of your worth. People value you as much as you value yourself. Therefore, these habits provide a way for you to create a healthy relationship with yourself and show others that “you” are your priority. It also makes you feel like you are important too and you deserve to feel good about yourself.
- Maintain a work-life balance
Well, I don’t believe that workaholism is a virtue. Working 24/7 is just another way of showing that you are incompetent. You cannot maintain a healthy work-life balance. Plus, this type of workaholic lifestyle will catch up to you sooner or later to plummet your productivity and motivation levels. Self-care habits ensure that you are at your best at all times and ready to take on the challenges.
Do we even think about the fact that life is for once only and we shouldn’t waste it doing things that downgrade our quality of living? No, right? We do it all we can in the face of responsibilities while completely forgetting that taking care of yourself is your responsibility too. Healthy self-care habits are a way to enjoy your life to the fullest whilst you can. It ensures that you are happy and satisfied with your ways of living life.
- Better mental and physical health
With a million things going around you, it is very easy to forget that your health matters the most. People often link self-care with either meditation or beauty regimes. While in reality, self-care includes much more than just that.
Eating healthy, exercising, sleeping properly, laughing, hanging out, spirituality, positive emotional health, etc. are all a part of self-care. All and more of such healthy self-care habits are meant to make your life better from every perspective.
Here are some healthy self-care habits to feel your best:
If you have stuck with me till here then I imagine you are all set to jump on to the self-care bandwagon. I’ve got you covered. I have pulled out 12 healthy self-care habits to incorporate into your life to feel your best physically, emotionally, mentally, socially, and spiritually.
1. Just take a deep breath
Come on, 1, 2, 3 take a deep breath. One more time. And again.
Congratulations, you have started your self-care journey. And see, you are already feeling better. Deep breathing or breathing exercises transport the oxygen to your brain and muscles. This leads to a spike in energy levels hence you feel good. Moreover, it improves organ, muscles, and tissue health. Deep breathing can also come in handy when you are feeling overwhelmed as it helps you to refocus and regulate your emotions.
2. Create boundaries
One of the reasons you feel drained is because you lack boundaries. It is extremely important to decide what your boundaries should be and how you should employ them. Having healthy boundaries safeguards your well-being so that you don’t feel resentment, offended, anger, or exhaustion. Without boundaries, it is common to experience being taken advantage of, depleted, intruded upon, or taken for granted.
3. Eat healthy foods
When we talk about eating healthy foods, people instantly assume that healthy foods mean no taste and raw greens. Whereas that’s not the case. It’s all about switching a few options to make your diet a part of your lifestyle and not just a phase. Eat a variety of foods that you like. Just be mindful about consuming less sugar, saturated fats, and industrially-produced trans fats. Healthy foods not only help you to improve your physical health but can also result in better mood and energy levels.
4. Start journaling
In addition to helping you keep your life on track so that you can achieve your goals, journaling is indeed a very healthy self-care habit that can relieve stress, clarify your thought process, and be a self-reflection guide. We can be our worst critics at times. That voice at the back of your head can take you down like no one else. Journaling regularly can put a clear perspective. It boosts confidence and creativity, improves self-discipline, and regulates emotions more healthily.
5. Take a break
Knowing when to take a beat can sometimes be all you need. Yes, working hard to accomplish your goals is a must. However, you should also know when to take some time off. Because if you are exhausted, burnt out, and feeling like your motivation is dying then it is a clear sign that your dream job is perhaps on its way to becoming a dreadful job for you. Taking a break once in a while can be rejuvenating. As well as it can help you to feel motivated again to continue to work at your best capacity.
6. Be on the positive side
It is super easy to focus on the negatives and overlook the positive side. It can destroy your mood and also push you towards some serious self-sabotaging habits. And when you are all into healthy self-care habits then negativity of any sort is a big NO! Train your mind to focus on the good, live with gratitude, and feel contentment in every situation. By doing so you will not only improve your well-being but you will attract positivity into your life.
7. Have some quiet time
Finding time for yourself when you can enjoy spending it with yourself and your thoughts is an essential self-care habit. You can take a bath, paint, read your favorite book, go for a walk, or however you like spending some me-time. It can be very beneficial especially when you want to get in touch with yourself spiritually or recharge yourself for the upcoming challenges.
8. Keep it moving
Don’t be a couch potato. Keep yourself moving to get that dopamine pumping into your system. I know, it may seem impossible to squeeze in a workout when you are juggling between a stressful job, running a household, and your sanity.
Exercising regularly comes with a million benefits. You don’t have to hit the gym to keep your mind and body healthy. Even if you are short of hours in the day, force yourself to walk at least 5000 steps a day, go for a swim on the weekends, run around with your kids, or take a morning walk in the sun.
9. Accept the compliments
Feeling insecure can be a huge dump on self-care. Honestly, everybody feels downright awful on several occasions. But there will also be days when you might not feel your best but you get compliments. Do you know what you should do? Accept those compliments by saying thank you. Stop saying phrases like “no, you must be joking”, or “are you serious, or even worse – “no way, that can’t be true”. Believe in yourself and believe that you are compliment worthy.
10. Choose the people you hang out with
The type of people you hang out with reflects highly on your self-care standards. You must have heard the saying; “we become who we surround ourselves with”. That’s how much choosing your company wisely matters. Stop wasting your time with people who bring your morals down.
Instead, find people who inspire you and push you towards your best version. Trust your instincts and avoid people who bring negativity into your life.
11. Get quality sleep
Quality sleep doesn’t always mean sleeping for twelve hours straight. Although it may seem that sleeping isn’t that important, your next-day productivity levels majorly depend on the quality of sleep you had last night. If you think about it, you can still feel bleary even after an all-stretched nighttime sleep. That may be because you were stressed, anxious, or weren’t feeling your best. Hence, focus on creating a nighttime routine where you put away all your worries and go to bed with a calm head.
12. Do not put it off to the next weekend
Gotcha! The most important and healthiest self-care habit is to start self-care today and stay persistent. Tomorrow never comes. I am sure we all have been there when we said – yes, I will start exercising from this Monday. Nobody knows where that Monday went and it’s next year already. Make it a point to start today and then keep going. Do not stall your progress by leaving your self-care journey in the midst of nowhere. Define what self-care is for you and stick to it with your life.
For more info on this topic, watch this video from Lavendaire about getting your life together with self-care and habits!
Takeaway: Healthy Self-Care Habits
It is not hard to start a few basic healthy self-care habits to get the ball rolling. As you begin to enjoy the new “you”, then you can follow some advanced self-care habits to make life even better. Nonetheless, today is the time when you should consider putting your well-being above all and invest in yourself before anyone else.
Also, know that you cannot do the best for the people you love if you are not at your best. And the only way to reach your ultimate best version routes through self-care and by incorporating healthy self-care habits to live your life to the fullest.
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