Welcome back to this amazing blog post dedicated to self care tips. I believe we have to really take care of ourselves to nourish our body, mind, and soul. If we aren't showing care to ourselves, how can we show care to others? So, I made this blog post to give you some ideas you can begin to incorporate into your daily routine to really nourish yourself and show self compassion. Down below is the video version posted to my YouTube channel - Holistically Humble, so if you are not already subscribed to my channel I would be so appreciative if you subscribed to stay up to date with videos I post. Anyways, below are my ideas of showing yourself some love & care!
Self Care Tips:
Tip No 1 - Drink More Water We as humans are more than 60% water, so it is so beneficial and vital that we drink enough water to stay hydrated on a daily basis. This helps to keep us looking & feeling good, as well as have glowing skin, flushing toxins out your body, and so much more!
To make sure you are drinking enough water to stay hydrated, I suggest you set an alarm on your phone for every hour from when you awake until 1-2 hours before you go to bed. When your alarm goes off every hour, that signals to you that you should drink at least 1 cup (250 mL) of filtered water. That way you can easily get to the minimum of 8 glasses per day.
Using a large glass 1L mason jar with a metal straw is what I like to have around me while I am at home. Therefore, if it is around and easily accessible then you most likely will drink more water. Alternatively, having a reusable water bottle in your car, with you at work, to the gym (a few examples) will make it much easier to achieve drinking a minimum of 8 glasses of water per day.
Filtered water is ideal, but if you don't have a filter then no sweat! Pour some tap water into a large glass jar and leave it out on the counter without a lid for a minimum of 30 minutes. This process will allow any of the chlorine to gas off. There are also things you can add to your water such as alkaline sticks where it helps to make your water more alkaline (disease thrives in an acidic environment) OR you can get yourself a lovely water filter such as a Brita, Santevia, or what I personally have right now - the Berkey.
Tip No 2 - Exercise
Moving your body is so good for you on so many levels, yet we tend to not want to do it, don't enjoy it, or don't know how to do it. So, I am here to suggest you set your timer for 5 minutes and put on a YouTube fitness video (HIIT, cardio, pilates, total body toning, etc.), attend an Instagram live fitness class, Facebook live, or in a zoom room in these quarantine /isolation times and just aim to do it for a minimum of 5 minutes (although I can almost guarantee that once moving for 5 minutes, you will do longer because it makes you feel so good). Down below I mention that I enjoy Tone It Up on YouTube, so go check them out for awesome fitness videos or find someone who inspires you to move your body on a daily basis, unique to you!
Why should you exercise? Great question! Exercise increases your endorphins which in turn makes you feel good as well as being great for your mental health. In addition, it makes you stronger which makes you feel better, flushes toxins from your system while getting your lymph moving which is good for your immune system. Not only that but you'll have glowing skin and by sweating you detox your body and so much more!!
Tip No 3 - Yoga & Stretching
What another amazing thing to do for self care - set your timer for 5 minutes and enjoy some juicy stretches such as neck rolls. We hold so much tension in our neck and shoulders and simple neck rolls (whatever option is safest for your unique neck) can allow that area to stretch and feel a little bit lighter. Doing some stretches such as seated spinal twists, Childs pose, lovely hamstring stretches such as a one legged seated forward fold, etc.
Following an online YouTube yoga class would be an awesome option for some self care, I personally enjoy Boho Beautiful. However, stay tuned as I just became a certified yoga teacher - 200 RYT as of two days ago (!!!!), so I will be posting some yoga videos that will be accessible to a lot of people and meditation videos, so stay tuned!!
Tip No 4 - Journalling
I always seem to have at least a couple different journals going on at once. Right now I have my one journal that has been dedicated to taking my yoga teacher training since January 2020. It has my notes from classes, my sadhana journal (daily practice), and anything else related to yoga teacher training. Then I have another journal that I use for my to do lists, as a brain dump where you literally word vomit everything that is going on in your mind into your journal, setting goals and affirmations, positive manifestations, etc.
Journaling can be so relieving to your body because you are letting out everything that is going on in your mind (if you are like me, it is non-stop) onto your pages. Then it is amazing to go back and read 6 months to 1 year previous your journal entries and see how far you have come or if things manifested in your life that you had wanted such a short time ago.
Tip No 5 - Listen To Or Read More Books
I personally love to listen to audible, which is an online membership that I pay for on a monthly basis where it gives me 1 credit a month. That 1 credit can be used on any book and I go for the self care, self love, self motivation, spirituality type books. Next it downloads into the audible app where I can have all my books that I have downloaded to listen to as many times as I want, as well as listen to the audiobooks without using up any data which I really love.
The reason I love listening to books is because I get to be learning amazing helpful things or exploring myself while doing my daily tasks such as tidying up our space, doing dishes, folding and putting away laundry, taking the dogs for walks and so much more! It can even be listened to while on a run or working out (yes I have listened to books while doing both).
Tip No 6 - Cook Delicious Healthy Meals
Let me tell you that in the past I HATED cooking and actually never did it. I ate out for breakfast, lunch, and dinner every single day that I got sick of eating out. I think of that now and it makes me realize how far I have actually come along this health journey, and you can do it too! I now really enjoy cooking delicious healthy meals because I know and completely understand how beneficial it is for my health of my body. So, that is why this tip is dedicated to cooking delicious healthy meals.
You can batch cook on a Sunday if that works best for your schedule. Cooking a large amount of quinoa or rice to store in Tupperware in the fridge for the next few days of meals. Making some homemade granola bars and storing them for the week ahead. Baking muffins or making energy balls, chia seed pudding, soups to store in the freezer for easy delicious and nutritious meals when you are not feeling the cooking, etc.
Go check out my YouTube video doing below to see what meal I made for this video and the link to the recipe is in the description of that video. Be sure to give the video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it!
Bonus Tip:
You'll have to check out my YouTube video below to see what my bonus tip is - and its a good one!
Thank you so much for reading this post about self care. It is about filing ourselves up with love and compassion, therefore we are better able to give to others such as friends, family, coworkers, and clients.
Have an amazing rest of your day and I will see you next week for a new YouTube video and blog post!
Holistically Humble,
Katie
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