What Is Self-Care?
Self-care and self-love simply means honoring your body, mind and spirit. It’s about making it a priority to take care of yourself physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. And it’s not feeling guilty or selfish for taking time to recharge and take care of your personal needs.
You are the creator and caretaker of your body and life. Self-care helps us maintain a healthy relationship with ourselves and others by boosting self-confidence and positive feelings. And who doesn’t need more positive vibes in their life?
When you start taking positive steps to create self-care rituals, everything in your life will benefit. You have to love yourself first if you want to live a truly fulfilling life. Loving yourself means caring for yourself by making sleep, exercise, nutrition and well-being a priority. You can’t pour from an empty cup which is why you must take care of yourself first.
The most important project you will ever work on is YOU.
Self-Care Is The Secret To Your Goal Success!
One of the most overlooked pillars of goal achievement is the need for self-care. Goal setting and success requires commitment and energy. Taking care of yourself enables you to be consistently refilling your well with energy, enthusiasm and motivation. And this positive practice creates momentum for optimal performance.
If you want to create the body and life you desire, you have to take responsibility. You must do what’s necessary to get you from where you are, to where you want to be.
No one else can do this for you.
Self-care ensures you are taking care of your physical and mental wellbeing in order to successfully stay on track to achieve your goals. So don’t just make it your goal to be fit, make it your goal to be consistent and being fit will follow.
It feels amazing to start saying yes to yourself and setting up self-care rituals. By keeping up this practice you’ll notice a multitude of benefits that will enhance all areas of your life!
The Benefits Of Self-Care
✔︎ More productivity
✔︎ More happiness
✔︎ More energy
✔︎ More respect from others
✔︎ Better relationships
✔︎ Less fear
✔︎ Less stress and anxiety
✔︎ Less resentment
✔︎ Less depressed feelings
Self-Care Vs. Selfish: Shift Your Perspective
People often misunderstand what it means to put yourself first. It doesn’t mean doing whatever you want to do all the time or ignoring the needs of others. It does mean however, at the very least, putting yourself on a level playing field as everyone else in your life. It’s about establishing healthy boundaries and understanding the balance between taking care of yourself and others. And that can sometimes involve doing things that are difficult, but will benefit your health and well-being long term.
There’s a stigma attached to putting yourself first as being selfish or self-absorbed. But the fact you have concerns about being selfish means that you’re not. Selfish people don’t even realize or take the time to question if they’re being selfish.
Shift your perspective to see self-care as selfless vs. selfish. Being skilled at taking care of yourself will improve your capacity to care of others as well. If you’re not fulfilled, you’re only able to see other people through the filter of your own needs. By keeping your cup full you’ll have an overflow to give willingly without expectations. This is why studies show that not taking care of ourselves can be unhealthy for those who depend on us as well.
Establishing Healthy Boundaries
So why is it so hard for us to do things for ourselves before we do for others?
Many of us have the preconditioned belief that a “good woman” sacrifices herself for her family, relationships and work. Women often feel responsible for everything and somehow the world won’t work if we don’t help it along. For example, taking on responsibilities that could be better handled by others is one of the ways we begin to lose our balance.
Women are likely to be the primary caretakers for children, spouses, aging parents, grandparents, etc. Consequently, this leads to falling into the pattern of serving the people we love before we serve ourselves. And the bitter irony is, if you’re always putting other people’s needs first, there’s a tendency for others to take you for granted. So make a conscious effort to at least have equal concerns for yourself as you do for your loved ones.
This means scheduling ‘me time’ for yourself and doing things that energize your body and mind. Like a car, how can you expect to keep going if you’re running on an empty tank?
Make the time to do something healthy for yourself every day.
It can be anything from getting more sleep each night to making your workout time nonnegotiable.
Exercise gives you more energy, helps to stabilize your mood, enables you to sleep better and will ultimately prolong your life.
This is why you shouldn’t feel any shame in putting a high priority on taking the time to exercise.
It’s about having the energy to be engaged and present with the people in your life. It’s about listening to your body and giving it what it needs to feel its best.
Empower yourself with simple daily rituals to be the best version of you. Customize a self-care action plan that can be coordinated into your busy babe lifestyle. Think of at least 3 self-care activities that make you happy and start adding them into your regular routine.
My Top 50 Favorite Self-care Ideas
1) Read a book or listen to an audiobook
2) Snuggle and spend QT with your pets
3) Meditate
4) Take a relaxing salt bath or hot shower
5) Journal
6) Do a home workout or Yoga video
7) Go to your favorite workout or Yoga class
8) Give yourself, or get a mani/pedi
9) Give yourself, or get a facial
10) Practice a daily skincare ritual
11) Get a massage
12) Go for a walk or hike in nature
13) Turn your phone on silent for a little while
14) Have a Spa night at home and pamper yourself
15) Light candles & play spa music (Dean Evenson is my fav)
16) Centering, deep breathing or breathwork
17) Trade a foot rub or shoulder massage with your partner or kiddo
18) Make a gratitude list
19) Do some light stretching
20) Eat your favorite comfort food slowly and enjoy every bite
21) Curl up with a blanket and watch your favorite guilty pleasure
22) Buy yourself flowers or a new plant
23) Watch something inspirational or educational on YouTube
24) Do a closet purge and donate what doesn’t fit or bring joy anymore
25) Cook dinner to music you love
26) Take a 10-minute work break to go outside for fresh air & Vitamin D
27) Enjoy some coffee or tea in silence
28) Eat healthy whole foods
29) Do something creative you love to do
30) Make yourself a healthy smoothie or green juice
31) Try cooking a delicious new recipe
32) Read a magazine
33) Repeat mantras or affirmations
34) Splurge on a skincare product
35) Organize and declutter a space in your home
36) Write a goals list
37) Create a vision board or something artistic
38) Listen to a motivational podcast
39) Sweat it out in a sauna or steam room
40) Go for a swim
41) Find a local class or online course for something you’ve been wanting to try (cooking, art, meditation, Scuba, etc.)
42) Go to bed 30 minutes earlier
43) Stay IN on a Friday or Saturday night for self-love
44) Make a playlist of favorite songs that motivate and uplift you
45) Make a Pinterest board of something you love
46) Watch standup comedy or a funny movie
47) Dance around to your favorite music
48) Watch the sunset or sunrise
49) Take a nap
50) Innercises: Mental exercises to strengthen your mind for enhanced inspiration towards accomplishing your goals. To learn more about the power of the mind-body connection, check out my other post to help you reach your fitness goals faster!
Love your new website Christina! Nice work!
-Carolyn
Thank you, Carolyn!! I had to recreate a whole new website after my last site unexpectedly crashed.
I appreciate your continued support!