We need self-care to help us cope during times of stress and change, especially in maintaining or rebuilding our self-belief and self-worth. Self-care rituals can be small but powerful acts to help us feel better and help shift our mindset from a negative one to a positive one.
Photographed by Silja Magg for vogue Arabia November 2017
Self-care is a lot more important than just doing nice things for yourself, it’s a transformative act that helps preserve your physical, mental and emotional energy. It’s a key element for you to be able to live a healthy and happy life and essential for you to be able to be the best version of yourself.
What we tend to forget when we are most in need of some self-care is that we are all different and need different types of self-care at different times in our lives. There is no one way or one thing you can do, you cannot look outwards at what someone else is doing for optimal impact and long-term results, you need to know what works for you.
Self-care is about knowing what your needs are and responding to them in nurturing ways that work for you.
If self-care isn’t about going for that massage, eating the chocolate cake or jetting off on holiday, what is it about? It’s about the bigger picture, it’s about creating intentional habits and rituals that integrate into your daily life and routine that allow you to feel better mentally and emotionally on a regular basis but also enable you to recognize what you need more of when in times of need to help you cope in challenging and stressful situations.
Here are some ideas to get you thinking, fill in the gap with your own solutions and options:
When I’m feeling maxed out, I will ask for help with…
When I’m feeling stuck or facing a challenge, I will…
When my mind is negative, then I will…
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These solutions need to be actionable in one easy step, revisit your answers and see if you need to break them down further.
Example:
When I’m feeling maxed out, I will… create a priority list of what is on my mind.
When I’m feeling stuck or facing a challenge, I will… write in my journal all the options I have for moving forward.
When my mind is negative, then I will… message my best friend and tell her all the reasons I am grateful she is in my life.
Additional to doing something tangible, a big part of self-care is setting up boundaries in your life such as saying no more and asking for help.
This is the start of your self-care toolkit the more self-aware you are of your needs the more you will be able to build your self-care toolkit. Take time to come up with solutions for the following statements and build a solid foundation to your self-care toolkit:
When I’m feeling lonely, I will…
When I need a good laugh, I will…
When I have exercised planned and I feel too tired, I will…
When I have a bad night’s sleep, I will…
When I start comparing myself to others on Instagram, I will…
When I feel overwhelmed at work, I will…
When I get upset from feedback by my boss, I will…
3 people I can talk to when I feel sad, angry or upset are…
3 people I can talk to when I need to feel inspired are…
3 activities that make me feel good are…
You may not be used to putting your needs first or perhaps even feel like you have the time to start integrating self-care habits and rituals into your current lifestyle, there is no perfect time to start. Just remember, integrating even just one of these actions into life will help you increase your mental and emotional wellbeing. This self-care toolkit is to support you to take one small step at a time, and by having it planned out in advance you are able to refer to it when you need it most.
Health and personal empowerment coach Heidi Jones has been empowering her clients with tools for achieving optimal wellbeing and improved lifestyle habits for the past five years. Her coaching methods focus on implementing preventative strategies, developing a growth mindset and action based self-awareness techniques. Visit heidijonescoaching.com @heidi_jones_coaching
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