If you’ve not already noticed, there’s a heavy focus on well-being, mindfulness and self care right now, and it’s about time, to be honest. Many of us spend too long worrying about everybody else and let our own needs and wants fall by the wayside forgetting one important fact: In order to help others you must first help yourself. While it’s not a bad thing to look out for others, pouring too much from your cup of energy while neglecting your own personal needs can eventually take it’s tole and end badly. I know this from personal experience.
You’ve seen guides on how to concentrate on your well-being, and you’ve possibly tried a few of the ideas. You might also have not had a lot of success and, as such, feel lost in the world. It can be easy to get discouraged about this, especially with external factors compounding the stress. However, instead of getting disheartened, you’ve probably just not found the right well-being journey for you. Everyone deserves to feel good about themselves, their friends, their family, and the world around them. Taking the first steps of that journey, whatever it may be, is the key to that feeling.
Self Care Ideas: Meditation and Mindfulness
Practicing mindfulness through meditation and similar techniques is an easy way to improve your well-being without splashing out hundreds of dollars on equipment or other accessories. All you need is a smartphone and one of the many, many mindfulness apps available on either Google Play or the Apple Store.
Through these platforms, you can embrace different meditation techniques. These techniques include breathing, touch, and focus exercises to bring you closer to the ground and be more aware of your body and your surroundings. It is inexpensive, and for beginners, it’s as quick as dedicating just five minutes a day.
You can also use these methods to take notice of things around you and really recognize them. Keep track of these things in a diary, look after a plant in your home, try out new things, or tidy up your home, so you have the mental space to tidy up your mind, too.
Self Care Ideas: Exercise and Sport
According to an NHS study last year, regular exercise helps to lower the risk of depression across all age groups, so if you’re feeling down and have tried everything else, it might be time to pull your sneakers from the back of the closet and hit the tracks.
Exercise’s effects on the body include released endorphins both during and after (also known as the Runner’s High) while also improving your fitness and physique. Not to sound too shallow, but knowing you look good will also make you feel good, so it’s worth a shot.
You can also improve your well-being by finding local sports teams to join. It doesn’t matter if the team plays competitively, working as part of a group will help you make new friends, and this is an excellent symptom of exercising, even on top of feeling fit and happy.
Self Care Ideas: Eating Right
You should eat right anyway, but making minor changes to your diet can improve your mood and general well being. If you don’t already, add more colorful fruit and vegetables like carrots, broccoli, and strawberries to your diet, and cut out junk food, soda, and snacks as much as you can. Our Healthy Cookie Dough Recipe!
It won’t be easy, and there will be times where you fail. It’s okay to fail, though, as long as you keep trying. Too many people fall at the first hurdle and give up. Successful people keep pushing forward, and eventually, you will create a habit that sticks without you even realizing it. Soon enough, you’ll not think about snacking on cookies, chocolate, or McDonald’s ever again, and your cravings will be gone. For addition craving help make sure to check out our post Stop Those Cravings! Tips To Reduce Appetite and grab the free download filled with ideas!
For further fantastic results, you can also look at supplements such as adaptogens, amino acids, and other vitamins to help boost your general health and well-being, give you more energy, and a more positive attitude.
Self Care Ideas: Getting Creative
Indulging in your latent creativity – whether you’re creative or not – is a superb way to blow off some steam after a stressful week. With creative exercises, you tap into the left side of the brain, and this allows you to do something entirely stress-free. Or at least, that’s the plan.
Taking a creative class for fun and with no expectation of worldwide fame and fortune can do wonders for your self-esteem, and even if you’re not great at first (and you don’t need to be), you’ll still see improvements when you persevere.
Even if you don’t want to go to a class, you can still learn to paint, sew, crotchet, write, or play an instrument all from the comfort of your bedroom. You don’t need to show anyone else, but it can give you a way to release pent up frustration and deal with emotions like you never have done before. This site is literally brimming with ideas for creativity so peruse around once you’re done here.
Self Care Ideas: Connect with Friends and Family
Sometimes, you just need to speak to someone other than your reflection to help you find and ground yourself. Talking with others, such as friends or family members and asking for advice, is a tried and trusted method of working through problems.
It doesn’t have to stop with friends and family, though, and directly connecting with anyone can help improve your well-being more than you might expect. Reaching out over sending a text to asking a question and properly listening to their answers, you’ll be surprised how much of a benefit connecting with someone can bring.
It won’t always work, and that’s okay. Not everybody will want to engage with you, but remembering that is more their problem than yours is the ideal fuel to keep you going and staying positive as you search for a better connection between you and others.
Self Care Ideas: Educate Yourself
You don’t need to go back to school (not if you don’t want to, anyway), but taking time out of your day to learn something new helps you make the most of those endless hours scrolling through your social media feeds. Think about how many hours you waste on Facebook or Instagram. Now consider how much of anything you could have learned if you’d applied your time more effectively. This isn’t intended to shame you, but instead, show you what you could be doing with your time. Check your area for local classes (it’s a bonus if they’re free), or if you don’t have the time, read a book, ask your friends and colleagues questions, and be more curious in general.
Self Care Ideas: Give Back
While everyone starts their well-being journey thinking more about how they can help themselves, one of the routes towards self-satisfaction and peaceful existence is by giving back to and engaging with those less fortunate, even if you’re not sure at first.
If you choose to get engaged in the local community, you can discover a wide variety of fun activities and events to get involved. This won’t only introduce you to the different ways the community operates but also a bunch of incredible people who have the local area and other people’s best interests at heart.
The more good you do, the better you will feel, but don’t worry, that isn’t as selfish as it sounds. You’ll get a rush from helping others and seeing results, and you’ll also have the opportunity to meet new people, try new things, and throw yourself into new experiences.
Self Care Ideas: The Well-Being of a Human Being
With the Mental Health Awareness Week (October 7 – 12), discovering which path to take towards better well being is more appropriate than ever. Now you’ve got an idea of the different well-being journeys available to you, why not try one (or two, or three) out and see if you can discover the perfect one to feel better about yourself, your job, and everything else in your life.
