There’s about a million and one articles flying around the psychology buzz-word of “self-care” at the moment. I was first introduced to the concept of self-care by a psychotherapist when discussing mindfulness.
The concept of self-care, if you don’t know, is exactly what it says on the tin; looking after yourself. The beauty of it is though, rather than ‘self-care’ being embodied solely by 7-day yoga retreats with juice detox cleanses, self-care is something you exercise which is completely tailored to your needs.
Self-care could be waking up on Saturday and deciding to binge-watch Netflix… It could be indulging in a big glass of merlot at the end of a long day of work… It could be painting… Writing in a bullet journal…It really could be anything you need it to be.
Recently, I’ve started to take the time to make sure I plan dedicated time in my week for self-care. Sometimes its good to be selfish, and indulge in time for you.
There are small things you can do throughout the day to show yourself a little kindness…
- A special mug – sounds stupid right? I have a Harry Potter mug at work, and if I know I’ve got a stressful day ahead, I often think about how much I’m looking forward to making a nice cup of tea in my mug when I get to work.
- Using your lunch hour – rather than work through, I’m spending half an hour of my break propping up my Kindle and reading a few pages of my book.
- Popping a nice hand cream in your bag. One of my girls got me the loveliest M&S hand cream. If I’m trying to digest a complex email, or I’m short on time, I’ll spend 30 seconds massaging my hands to momentarily zone me out from the stress at hand.
- Go for a walk on your lunch break; find some greenery or some undiscovered architecture – anything that takes you outside of your own head for a bit.
- Pack yourself a nice lunch to look forward to – or a little treat for in the middle afternoon when the day starts to drag!
- Plan your ‘you’ evening – it’s easier to get through the day if you know you’ve got time set-aside when you get home to relax.
- Treat yourself to a takeaway and an old favourite film on Prime or Netflix 🙂
- Invest in some nice shower gel for the morning (I also love the in-shower moisturiser from the Sanctuary – its lovely!) – it really helps me feel
- Decorate your desk – pop a £1 bunch of daffodils in a small vase, or get some mini clip frames and put some photos up to have ready to give a quick at-a-glance!
- Listen to a Mindfulness app on your way to work, or book a meeting room for ten minutes to do so and regain some equilibrium 🙂
Self-care – to me at least – is really about spending time on the things you love. If it’s hiking, dancing, putting on a face pack, having the girls over for prosecco and all the ‘lolz’, spending time on your own, reading a chapter of your new book, re-reading the same chapter of your favourite book over and over again, creating a scrap book, printing all your favourite photos and pouring over them for a few hours, spending an hour and a half exchanging messages in your Group WhatsApp…
I think there is such a strong emphasis on how self-care has to be a certain way – but the beauty of it is, it’s just about taking time out to do what makes you feel good, and its easy to start incorporating a little kindness to yourself in each day!
How could you bring a little extra care in to your day to day?
I adore this post. So many self-care posts focus on things like meditation, which I agree are brilliant but it’s so refreshing to think about how actually just something like using hand cream or giving yourself time to watch Netflix is also self-care, just doing something you love, something for you 💖💖💖
Gorgeous photo and post
Love you xxx
I absolutely love the message behind this post – I feel like a lot of self care oriented posts can make it feel a bit unattainable, talking about full nights dedicated to pampering and things like meditation as Hels says above. Although those things are great ideas, they might be a little difficult to incorporate into a busy daily routine. What I really like about what you’ve done here is to show that self care needn’t be big gestures, sometimes it’s the smaller things that really make a difference! I really resonate with what you’ve said here about using a nice hand cream, I had a lovely garden mint and bergamot hand cream (from Neal’s Yard – obviously haha!) that I used exactly for this during my final undergrad exams! Giving myself a mini massage gave me the momentary break I needed to then get on with the task in-hand with a focused mindset afterwards! You’ve inspired me to dig through my skincare box and pop a handcream into my bag for tomorrow, I will mentally thank you every time I use it! Big love for this post, and what a beautiful flatlay too!
Abbey xxxx
Have you read The Self-Care Project by Jayne Hardy of The Blurt Foundation? If not, I’d definitely recommend it! She talks all about how self-care is sometimes seen as such a pretentious word to people who don’t know what it means, but it’s actually so easy to understand. For some, self-care means spending a fortune on a spa day, but for others, it literally just means having the motivation (or pushing yourself if you don’t) to have a shower or eat a healthy meal.
This is something I’ve been working on a lot recently. My self-care has been absolutely rubbish so I’ve been trying to make time every single day to do little things that I know will make me feel positive and motivated! I try to read every day, even if it’s just for 10 minutes after I wake up or before I go to bed, and I’m trying to learn something new every day (e.g. I’m currently learning to code, so I’m taking half an hour every day to learn some HTML or CSS). It’s helping so much and I think people who sneer at self-care need to learn its true value!
Some great points here. I always make sure I have some “me” time as I get home an hour before my husband in the evening xx
Self-care is really important. I love being able to just clear my mind and not have to worry about work or other life things. I always try to take a half hour at lunch for myself to just relax and chill out! I love the calm app and often listen to sleep stories! I love all of your tips and ideas on here. I’m going to buy some flowers for my desk now!
Self-care is so important and I agree it’s the little things that you love that counts! I really want to decorate my work desk with flowers, I do feel they’ll make me feel much better! Sitting at a desk most of the day, I always try to take a walk around the streets for some fresh air and cleanse my mind!
Jessica & James | http://www.foodandbaker.co.uk / http://www.foodandbakertravels.co.uk
This is a great post! I think we can all do with adding a bit more self care into our routines but it can be so difficult when we’re all so busy. The “little things” can go a long way though! xxx
I totally agree with you Kate ☺️ Self-care is 100% worth it since we spend all day working, we need to give ourselves a break! Will be taking these tips on board ☺️ Xx
I love the idea of popping a wee hand cream in to your bag for when you’re out and about, it does feel like a little luxury and makes you feel good when you apply it! Definitely going to do this now – thanks for the ideas!!
Charlene McElhinney
http://www.charlenemcelhinney.co.uk
I adore this blog post babe, anything to do with self-care makes me so happy!! 🌸✨
With love, Alisha Valerie x | http://www.alishavalerie.com
Hell yes to all of this! I am big believer in self care and I already do much of what you suggested! (Walks for me are v v therapeutic, I am aiming to walk more this year!) And a special mug does lift your spirits! It’s the little things to make you smile! x x x
I love this post so much! I really need to learn to do self care more often, as it’s such an important concept!
Hayley X
Such a great post. Self care doesn’t have to be big and flashy, it’s all about the little moments.
Steph x
http://www.wanderlustpulse.com
Lovely post, Kate! It certainly gave me some ideas of how to incorporate self care into my daily routine. Thanks for sharing. I like the idea of spending your lunch hour doing something you enjoy. I also have flowers on my desk, the desk in my bedroom at home and it makes such a difference to my mood, it really brightens things up. I’ve been trying to focus on doing a little self care every day and it certainly helps. I love watching an episode or even half an episode if I’m feeling tired, of my favourite tv show or doing a bit of colouring before bed. I love how your post focuses on all the little things you can do to make a difference rather than big things.
Author
Thank you so much, Kate! Flowers really do somehow make you feel ten times better don’t they? I agree about watching an episode; How I Met Your Mother really relaxes me and is such an easy and warm watch! It’s so important – and so easy! – to squeeze these little things into our every day lives to feel just a little bit better about things!
Kate x