[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Self-care is not a dirty word. It’s also not yoga and meditation, of spa days with cucumbers on your eyes and a specially selected and prepared sparkling water for your enjoyment, complete with a herbal tisane designed to cleanse and soothe. That is, unless you want it to be. It also doesn’t have to be complicated.
Starting a self-care routine can be one of the most difficult things to do. First of all there’s the physical elements. Do you have enough time? What can you afford? Right now are you juggling both working and virtual schooling from home with little breathing room?
There are also the emotional elements. Do you deserve to take ten minutes out of your day and breathe? Are you “good enough” to have deserved a trip alone or breakfast in bed? Of course you are! But those thoughts run through our mind anyway, and it’s up to us to battle them.
Self-care doesn’t need to be complicated.
One of the things that’s been the most transformative about my personal self-care practice is the realization that it doesn’t need to be complicated. Choosing to stop and have lunch is great self-care. Taking five minutes to step outside, feel the sunshine on your face, and breathe can reset your day in an instant. You don’t need huge plans and long, time-intensive things to perform perfectly wonderful self-care.
Keep it simple. Our lives are complicated enough right now. They’re hectic and crazy with a huge dollop of uncertainty thrown on top. There are all sorts of feelings about writing, or not writing. Making or not making word counts. Or even just being “productive”. The good news is that self-care helps with all of that, if we stop and take time for it.
5 Great Self-Care Ideas
Here are five things that I love to do, and that don’t take a lot of time, or money.
- On a nice day simply step outside and breathe. Spend five, maybe ten minutes enjoying and giving gratitude for the sunny weather, the fresh air, and the sense of rejuvenation going outside brings.
- Make a nice cup of tea. Whether it’s my “cup of calm” I enjoy in the evenings or trying a new flavor. (My current fave is Numi White Rose tea.)
- Give yourself 20 minutes to read. I know your “to be read” list is as big as mine (maybe bigger!). Give yourself 20 minutes to read.
- Do five minutes of deep breathing. It doesn’t matter if you do box breathing or 4-5-8 breathing or whatever system you want to use. Just stop what you’re doing and spend five minutes taking deep breaths.
- Try an app like Calm. I know anytime one of those commercials come on the tv and it says “Do nothing for 15 seconds” I do. And it’s calming!
If you have something you like to do for self-care, drop me a line in the comments! I’d love to hear.[/vc_column_text][vc_zigzag color=”orange” el_width=”70″][vc_column_text]Subscribe to our newsletter and receive our free gift, Social Media Header Magic. Learn how to turn your social media headers into promotion opportunities for your books! Plus, be the first to hear about our author giveaway and sales bundle events, discounts on classes and services, plus more![/vc_column_text]
