Mental health is a serious issue with far-reaching impact on life and functioning. Self-care is one of the ways to prevent poor mental health and increase mental reserve, or to manage stress before it starts to seriously impact your health. Self-care has no set prescription. While for one person it may be a mindfulness or yoga practice, for another it might be engaging in regular acts such as reading a novel, or choosing Netflix over a friend’s party (JOMO – the joy of missing out). Experiment to find out what works best for you when you’re feeling run-down or downright exhausted. Most importantly, commit to treating self-care as a regular priority and not a luxury.
Here is an A-Z self-care guide to help you with some ideas, put together by Nishtha Tandon:
Affirmations. It’s normal for negative thoughts and feelings to creep up on you, it happens to all of us! Design some helpful statements that can help you when these come up.
Breathe. As simple as that. You can follow a guided approach if you’re easily distracted. Calm & Headspace have great breathing exercises and mindfulness techniques to help you relax.
Candles. Rosemary, lemon, chamomile, geranium or lavender, or another calming scent.
Doodling. Let your pen roam free on a piece of paper. Channel your inner Leonardo da Vinci. Doodling can help alleviate stress.
Eat Well. Prioritise your health by nourishing your body.
Friends. Reach out to a friend and dedicate some time to see them, write them a personal note or make them a gift.
Garden. Cultivate some outside time. Take a lungful of fresh air. It’s an instant mood lifter.
Hydrate. Drink more water!
Introspect. It’s as good a time as any to start to tackle overthinking. Become aware of your thoughts and start to call out your “inner voice” when it’s being nasty. You deserve better.
Joke. There is a reason why people say, “Laughter is the best medicine”.
Knit. Meditation may not be your thing. There are other ways to get mindful. Try knitting, crochet or colouring in.
Let it out. Don’t let your emotions and thoughts build up in the dark. Yell, cry, or even take up a boxing class.
Meditate. Start with 5 minutes daily, with no expectations. You’ll find plenty of tracks on Spotify or YouTube.
No. Normalise saying “no”. Most importantly, do it without apologising. It’s ok to check in with yourself, and decline offers that you aren’t feeling up to accepting.
Organise. Start with making your bed, doing the dishes, ironing your clothes, taking out the garbage and finally folding the laundry that’s been lying on the table for days. Small acts can lead into big acts.
Puzzle. Put things into perspective by simply putting something together.
Quiet. Take a time-out. You deserve some quiet, alone “me” time.
Read. Pick up the novel that’s lying on your coffee table. Escape into other worlds or other times.
Smoothie. Feed your soul by throwing some bananas, strawberries, chia seeds and peanut butter into almond milk and whirr away!
Tea. Try some herbal flavours such as chamomile or peppermint.
Unplug. Take some time away from the feeds. Experiment by deleting or blocking your favourite social media apps – Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat.
Volunteer. Practice gratitude. Be around people who motivate you to learn, unlearn and relearn.
Write down compliments. Don’t we all hate criticism? Make sure you write down the compliments you receive to remind you that you’re doing great.
(e)Xercise. Go out or stay indoors but give your body some joyful movement.
Yoga. Many people benefit from this – there are body-positive, and trauma-informed classes.
Zzzz’s. While it is tempting to catch up on our favourite TV shows late at night, it’s important to prioritise snooze time for good health. Good night!
For help with burn-out and stress, contact us via our web enquiry form above, via email at info@foresightpsychology.com , or via phone 02 8380 8855.
