Creating a Self Care Routine that Sparks Joy
Today, it’s about you.
Time for a little self-reflection. No pressure, just take a moment to think about what it means for you to be the best version of yourself. What practices or routines do you have in place to help you nurture your ongoing development + growth? What works well? What could change?
There isn’t much in our outer world ever truly within our control; however, we do have full control of what goes on in our inner world. When we focus our attention on taking good care of ourselves emotionally, physically, and spiritually, we are better equipped to handle and respond to what is going on around us.
We're talking "self-care" today. If I'm being honest, the term makes me cringe a little. It feels a little like just another task to figure out how to schedule into the day. I know I’m not alone in this. Here are a few reasons many of us choose not to prioritize putting our own well-being first:
We think we’re too busy.
We feel overwhelmed.
We are too consumed with technology.
We aren’t sure what to do so we end up doing nothing.
We aren’t entirely sold on it even being necessary in the first place.
Can you relate? Especially right now, it’s easy to consider self-care a nonessential practice. However, it turns out how well we care for ourselves dictates the quality of our life. By improving on the inside, we’re also able to improve our outside circumstances.
Here are a few ideas for incorporating a wellness practice into daily life:
Make exercise a priority. Physical movement positively impacts every aspect of our being: it improves physical health, increases cognitive ability, and enhances our emotional well-being.
Schedule first thing in the morning. This ensures the activity will actually get done and it sets us up for a successful day. In addition to physical exercise, here are a few other wellness activities to consider:
Prayer/Meditation. This improves our physiology by lowering cortisol, our body’s stress hormone. It also helps us to get centered, calm, and clear-minded before beginning the day.
Reading. Select a book or topic that’s specifically relevant to what’s going on in your life. Think about your objectives. Health? Finance? Professional/personal development? This is also a good time to read and focus on religious/spiritual text.
Gratitude journaling. When we’re looking at our world through a lens of gratitude, our mindset begins to shift. "If you focus on what you lack, you lose what you have. If you focus on what you have, you lose what you lack." -Greg McKeown
In other words: gratitude rewires our brains.
Include sleep. This is crucial to our emotional, physical, and cognitive well-being. For better sleep:
Determine your bedtime and commit to it. Remember: our morning begins the night before!
Keep your phone away from your bed and turned on Airplane Mode.
Don’t consume any stressful, negative media before bed.
Practice what’s called the digital sunset: put away all screens at least 60-90 minutes before bed (they interfere with our circadian rhythms), and no food at least 3 hours before bed.
Every day, choose 1 activity that nurtures each of the following:
Mind: read, podcast, journal, etc.
Body: physical exercise
Spirit: affirmations, gratitude, prayer, etc.
Eliminate any nonessential activities. I believe one of the very best ways to add value is to subtract. Caring for yourself doesn't need to come in the form of squeezing an activity into an already packed schedule. It is possible there are activities we do daily that don't serve us well at this time. We can let those things go or at least pause for evaluation.
Perhaps you already have a good take-care-of-yourself routine going on. Maybe you've been wanting to start. It is possible you're like me who had a good thing going, but COVID forced a pivot and now you're trying to get your groove back (some days are excellent, some days could be better).
The point is simply to encourage you to give yourself permission to prioritize JOY in your life.
Now it's your turn. Leave a comment and tell me about yourself! What habits or routines do you practice regularly that have helped you grow and develop? What is keeping you from your ideal life?
Can't wait to hear from you and to learn + grow together!