For years I’ve done things that would now come under the self-care umbrella.  Things that I needed to do to help lift my mood, to help take care of myself and things that make my low days a bit easier to manage.  They range from opening the curtains as soon as I wake up in the mornings when it’s light earlier to get as much daylight as possible, to having an early night when I need it and all manner of things in between.  Today I’m going to tell you about some of the things on my current self-care list.

Routines

I’m someone who thrives on routines and I change them up occasionally to add a different dimension to my day.

On workdays, I wake up between 5.30 and 6 am.  If I wake at an earlier time I head down to the kitchen and have a cup of hot water and read a book for half an hour before showering and if I wake at 6 with my alarm, I head straight into the shower. Once I’m dressed and have done my hair and makeup, I head back to the kitchen to have my breakfast.  I’m currently obsessed with overnight oats for breakfast and have been for about a year or so. I pop a portion of oats in a bowl, mix some flaxseed and protein powder in with some yoghurt which is spooned on top of the oats and I finish it off with some frozen berries.  I cover the bowl and place it in the fridge till morning, which is when I sprinkle on some chia seeds and also some protein granola on top.  Love!!

Once I’ve eaten I wash up and make a brew and while I drink it I either journal or lately I’ve got into watching inspiring YouTube videos.  It all depends on what I need that day, some mornings I don’t feel like I have anything to write about but other mornings the need to journal is what centres me and calms my anxiety down to a level where I can function outside the house.

Treats

Some days all I want to eat are all the ‘bad’ foods.  Things like crisps, chocolate, cake and chips.  Not all together obviously ;P  I eat a relatively healthy vegetarian diet and try to not have too many portions of chips in a week and eat plenty of fruit and vegetables.  

Some days however I just need that triple chocolate muffin with some ice cream on top, so I allow myself to have it.  I have a fairly active job, as I work in retail where I can easily burn off between 1900 and 2500 calories in a workday and regularly do over 12,000 steps in a day.  Also, we all need a nice treat food or meal now and again.  It's all about moderation, eating healthy and also allowing myself a few treats.

Journaling

For decades I’ve written my thoughts out into notebooks and am up to almost 50 now.  I find it helps to quieten the thoughts in my head and I’m also able to see what’s going on easier as well.  Some days it's very disjointed and the paragraphs or even sometimes sentences jump from one subject to another and often back again a few times.  Others I end up writing in-depth about a specific topic that needs some discussion with myself.  I find it easier to write things out and read them back through to find patterns in behaviour or to see an answer to a problem or issue that’s been on my mind.  

I either do stream of consciousness writing (writing out whatever thoughts are going on inside your head as they appear to you) or sometimes I ask questions about things.  What do I need to do in this situation, what do I need to learn from that one or what can I do to make this situation or my life better.

Early nights

Now, I know I’m not the only adult who now loves an early night.  What used to be punishment when we were younger so often now helps me with my mental health.  I noticed a few years ago that my moods are better in the late afternoon so I looked at my sleeping pattern.  I was heading up to bed at around 10 pm and waking up around 5.30 or 6 am and was getting around 6-7 hours sleep (thank you insomnia). I decided to switch what time I was heading up to bed for a week to see what happened.  I started to go up at 9 pm which meant I was getting to sleep an hour earlier and even though I was still waking at around the same time, I was getting a better quality of sleep and sometimes that extra hour really did help and I often got 7-8 hours sleep a night.  I wear a FitBit watch which tracks my sleep pattern which has been invaluable over the last few years to try and get a better nights sleep and better quality sleep as well.

As I said at the beginning these are a few of my self-care practices, but these are the main ones.  If you would like me to write about what other self-care techniques I use, then please let me know by leaving a comment below.