Self-care is exactly what it sounds like, taking care of yourself. Anything that involves taking care of yourself physically or mentally is self-care. It sounds obvious but sometimes knowing isn’t enough. Do you want to improve your mental and physical health? Then it’s time to start making self-care a priority. Below are my 6 tips for self-care to start improving your life immediately.

Regular massage

In my opinion, one of the best forms of self-care is getting a regular massage. A massage once a month has tremendous benefits. It is a great way to relax in the moment and improve how you feel overall. A massage is a time dedicated to relaxing and taking care of your body. The peaceful music playing allows you to settle into your session and take your mind off the stressors of the day. The soft tissue work will eliminate aches and pains and rejuvenate your body to have you feeling loose and mobile.

Some of the benefits of massage therapy include:

Reduced muscle tension
Relaxation
Improved blood circulation
Improve energy and alertness

You don’t have to get a massage once a month to get the benefits but to get all of those benefits regularly is good for your mind, body, and soul. When you have a good massage therapist that you see regularly they start to know your body. And instead of them trying to fix a problem area when you see them once a year, they are doing regular maintenance because you see them once a month. That’s when you really start to look forward to your massage appointments. You can walk in knowing that you are going to feel 10 pounds lighter when you walk out.

Workout routine

One of the most obvious forms of self-care is physical fitness. This can come in many different forms, aerobics, strength training, yoga, running, and more. A regular fitness routine takes some commitment but it’s worth it. One of the reasons physical activity is so important for self-care is the immediate benefits on brain health. It reduces the feelings of short-term anxiety, improves aspects of cognitive function, and improves sleep. A good workout program will also boost your confidence and self-efficacy. The feeling of accomplishing something difficult or that you once thought was impossible is extremely rewarding. You take that confidence with you throughout the rest of your day. You feel strong, capable, and rejuvenated. The amount you sweat doesn’t have anything to do with the quality of the workout that you had, but it sure does make you feel powerful and accomplished. There are a ton of benefits to having a regular workout routine that it would be a shame for you not to treat yourself to some daily movement. After all, movement is medicine.

Walking

Research shows that a brisk 10-minute walk can improve your mood and boost your spirits.

Walking may be the most underrated form of exercise, let alone self-care. If you don’t have much to give but know that you need to fill up your cup, then take a nice walk around your neighborhood. It’s a great way to unwind, it’s low stress and high reward. One thing I love about walking is that it gives you a different perspective of a familiar place. Simply walking around your neighborhood that you regularly drive through allows you to see things differently. Maybe you’ll notice the landscaping on a certain house that you never have, maybe you notice that a family has a cute dog you have never seen before. Or maybe you’ll notice someone’s flowers that you don’t see when you are focused on driving down the street. It may seem minuscule but a different perspective goes a long way. If you are stressed due to the groundhog day-like life that we sometimes get caught up in, a simple shift in perspective may be all you need at that moment. Seeing your neighborhood in a new light while enjoying the fresh air and a low-impact movement will make you feel good and can help you feel grounded during a stressful moment.

Some of the benefits of walking include:

Improves mood
Burns calories
Reduces risk of chronic disease
Alleviates joint pain
Strengthens your heart

Quiet time

You may not realize it but we are constantly surrounded by noise, at least most of us are. Music in the car, at the office, a podcast while we cook, tv to wind down at night. Constantly carrying on conversations, depending on your lifestyle. If you have kids I’m sure you deal with even more noise than that. From the minute we wake up until the minute we go to sleep we are surrounded by noise in some way. Noise can create stress but silence can create peace. Quiet time can mean simply sitting in a room with no sound, or it can mean meditating.

On my busy days, I make sure I take at least 5 minutes in the middle of my day to just find some peace and quiet. If I’m at home or in the gym I turn off the lights and just lie on my back in silence. I’ll set a timer to make sure I don’t fall asleep because it ends up being so peaceful. You don’t have to be lying down to do this, you don’t have to think about it as meditation. You can sit in your car in silence, sit in your office in silence. Set a timer for 5 minutes and just chill, you won’t regret it.

Healthy diet

If you are what you eat, then a healthy diet is at the top of the list for self-care. The quality of the food you put in your body definitely affects how you feel. Fresh, colorful food is exciting to eat and it makes you feel good. Clean foods have fewer added ingredients and ultimately, are better for your digestive system and can help improve your immune system. There are so many quick fixes and fad diets out there that it’s hard to know what is actually healthy.

Here are a couple of my simple go-to tips for what I consider to be healthy eating

Eat protein with every meal
Eat a big salad every day
Drink plenty of water
Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables

Spend time in nature

I love spending time in nature because it combines walking, exercise, and quiet time for the ultimate self-care session. To me, there is no better way to feel connected to nature and the entire universe than to spend time in nature. It doesn’t matter if it’s 15 minutes or 3 hours. It grounds you and puts things into perspective. The peace and quiet combined with simply walking makes you feel calm and powerful at the same time. If you are in the right place then the only noise you hear is the sound of the animals and there is nothing stressful about that. Birds chirping, chipmunks running, and leaves blowing is serenity at its finest.

You will get out of self-care as much as you put into it. The more rewarding it is, the more effort you may have to put in. But these simple self-care tips are easily implemented and hold tremendous value. Do them individually or combine them when necessary to create your own ultimate self-care guide. On the other hand, the less self-care that you do the more you will feel like you need it. Take as much time to treat yourself as you can and remember that these are not the only forms of self-care that you can take advantage of. Any activity that you enjoy can be considered self-care if it brings you peace. Think reading, cooking, bike rides, rollerblading, caring for your garden, or even getting together with your friend that you’ve been meaning to catch up on.

If it makes you feel good, do more of it!

Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope that you find some new information or ideas on how to take time to yourself and rejuvenate how you feel.

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Much Love

Patrick

6 Self-Care Tips