10 Revitalizing Self Care Tips to Kick-Start Your Week

by Ashley Fernandes, a Life’s Rails Blog Contributor

Have you been feeling down on yourself lately, and you can’t seem to find a way out? You might need to focus on yourself for a bit and indulge in some much-needed self care. This may seem hard to do especially when work and other priorities take up the majority of your time, but finding a balance between responsibility and taking care of mind and body is key to maintaining mental health.

To help you out, here is a list of ten ways you can practice self care and find yourself feeling better in no time. Start your week off fresh as you partake in these tips that make you the priority.

Take Yourself on a Date

Hands-down, one of the best ways to take care of yourself is to treat yourself like the queen (or king!) you are. Going out alone can be scary, but sometimes it’s exactly the thing we need to start feeling like ourselves again and finding out who we are when we’re alone. 

Why wait for others to approve of that new movie you’re dying to see? Buy a ticket-for-one, grab a bucket of popcorn and some candy, and watch that film in the back row with your feet up. And the best part of all of it is that you don’t have to share any of that buttery goodness.

Go on a Nature Walk

Nature is truly the most genuine form of self care there is. Nature does not judge. There are no rights or wrongs, ifs or buts. In the forest, there is only the sound of the wind in the trees and tiny animals who live their lives scurrying through branches and weeds in a peaceful daze.

Going for a walk in nature can be just the thing that soothes your weary soul after a long, hard day or week. Perhaps you have been so stressed lately that you haven’t had time to hear yourself think. Once you let the voices of nature seep into your skin, you will soon start to hear yourself, too.

Treat Yourself

Every now and then, it’s okay to treat yourself. Allow yourself a “cheat” day once in a while to reward yourself for getting through something difficult, or simply to just remind yourself you are important. 

This can look like ordering takeout for the first time in a while, taking a few hours out of the day to binge-watch the rest of your favourite Netflix show, or ordering new clothes. Whatever you choose to treat yourself with, let yourself indulge in it fully by not worrying about what the next day or week might bring.

Eat a Healthy Meal

Eating an abundance of healthy foods can boost your overall mood. When you are providing your body with the nutrients it needs to function optimally, you feel better, look better, and health-wise, you are better.

Go all out by making fancy little dinners for one or even for the whole family. Be creative and add bright colours to lighten the mood. Summer’s coming up, which means you’ll have a whole lot more of bright fruits and veggies to add to your diet. Yum!

Watch ASMR Videos

Okay, this one might sound weird to some, but trust me! ASMR stands for “Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response” which, in short, means getting the chills or tingles from a trigger like whispering or someone brushing your hair. Many people swear these videos can do wonders to calm you down. 

If you aren’t sure what I mean, take a look at this video. Seriously, there’s something so relaxing about the thought of getting pampered or someone plucking your worries away. If you’re interested, there are a whole range of self-care ASMR videos that you can search at your leisure.

Read Something Inspiring (or Relaxing)

Reading a self-help book or an article about motivation can help you to come up with better ways of taking care of yourself. Or, if you would prefer something more entertaining, read a fiction novel and let yourself go crazy. No expectations! Read that trashy romance novel or that 500-page detective mystery. There’s no one else around to tell you what’s good and what’s not.

Fiction and poetry can soothe the soul in more ways than one. Consider reading in an environment where you feel completely relaxed and able to let loose. This way, you can let yourself get lost in page after page until you finally look up and the sun has already gone down before you. One of the best feelings in the world is when you can step away from reality for a bit, even if just for a short while.

Write Your Feelings Down in a Journal

Seriously, a feelings journal is something that every single person should have. If everyone wrote down what they felt once in a while, the world might be filled with a lot more emotionally-mature people who know how to handle their feelings.

Sometimes, you just have to let everything out, and there may not be a listening ear you can vent to every day about your problems. Simply getting your feelings down on paper can reduce stress levels dramatically, which is why journaling is almost always recommended in self care. Who cares if you’re writing in that sparkly unicorn notebook from fifth grade, or even the notes app in your phone? Just let it all spill out.

Do a Social Media Detox

Social media is full of people who post pictures of themselves on their best days and none of the bad days. Many of the popular “influencers” post highly unrealistic, photoshopped images of their bodies from contorted angles that make us feel horrible about ourselves. Seeing these photos often can cause us to compare our realistic faces and bodies in their natural state to women who don’t even look like that in real life.

A great way to solve this is to go through your following and unfollow all of the accounts that make you compare or question yourself. You might even go further with a total social media detox by taking a break from social media for a few days or even months. This will allow you to take all the time you need to see the beauty of your natural state.

Learn How to Say No

Knowing when to say no is a lot harder than it sounds. Many of us have grown up in homes where we were afraid to share our opinions or voice our concerns. Because of this, we have become adults who fear rejection. When this happens, it’s hard for us to tell someone that we’ve had enough or that we don’t like something in a certain situation. After all, it’s easier to tell someone everything is fine instead of causing “unnecessary drama.” Right?

Truthfully, this sort of mindset can have a far more detrimental impact long-term than one may think. For those of you who think this way, try practicing saying no to people more often. Your opinions and feelings are valid just as much as anyone else’s. You might feel bad about it in the beginning, but you will soon feel relief as the weight of other people’s expectations is lifted off your shoulders. 

Watch this TEDtalk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eupk56SG76M

Lastly, before you go off with these tips and enjoy the rest of your week, consider taking eleven minutes out of your day to watch this TEDtalk. Portia Jackson-Preston talks about how she neglected to take care of herself so that she could continue working extremely hard. However, this ended up having a negative effect of her physical and mental health, and she now emphasizes the need for self-care.

These tips are designed to help you find ways of better taking care of yourself in daily life. Whether or not you are able to perform one self-care act a day or even every other day, as long as you put yourself as your priority, you will soon begin to feel better about yourself in the long run.