Self-Care For Your Best Life Today is our monthly recap blog post to help you see what we have shared in June if you are looking for ideas on the topic of self-care.
We appreciate that we are all living in challenging times and self-care might not be on your mind at this time. It is also clear to us that now more than ever taking care of yourself is one of the most loving things you can do for your best life. Make the time to practice self-care for yourself today knowing that it is not selfish and, you will immediately notice what an impact it makes! We appreciate that it never seems as if there are enough hours in the day, but it is so important to make a conscious decision to practice self-care. Taking care of your mind, body and emotional needs will help you be able to live your best life. You are your best advocate; if you are not taking care of yourself, it is easy to get burned out by all of life's demands. Taking even just 15 minutes a day for yourself to regroup and relax can have a profound impact on your well-being. Self-care begins and ends with you! There are many reasons why practicing self-care is vital for your healthy mind, body and spirit, check it out. Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. And be sure to share any ideas or comments below. This month we did something a little different and we included a 10-day self-care challenge along with our regular blog posts. Enjoy Self-Care Blog Posts: • Is It Selfish To Take a Much Needed Day Off For Your Best Life? – https://bit.ly/2U7Nu7m • Simple and Effective Self-Care Activities For Your Best Life - https://bit.ly/2SEeuLc • Why Is Developing a Positive Mindset for Self-Care So Important – https://bit.ly/3g1mYDS • The Importance of Self-Care For Your Best Life – https://bit.ly/3vIRo4m • Are There Benefits of Writing In A Self-Care Journal? – https://bit.ly/2SKXyCC • Practice With These Exercises to Help with Self Care For Stress – https://bit.ly/34Gn2nk • Self-Care Tip - 4 Easy Ways to Reconnect with Nature When You Live in the City - https://bit.ly/3z6lrW6 • Think Self-Care Is Expensive? Taking Care Of You That Costs Nothing Ideas - https://bit.ly/2Sjcckx • Super Simple Dietary Changes to Make For Self-Care - https://bit.ly/3z82n9M • Self-Care Tip - Treat Your Body with Kindness For Your Best Life - https://bit.ly/3gmtYeF • Taking Care of Yourself Daily Practices Checklist - https://bit.ly/2U0THSJ • The Power Of Daily Affirmations for Self-Care In Your Best Life – https://bit.ly/2SqumB3 The 10-Day Self-Care Challenge • Day 1: Take Time to Yourself - https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/why-you-need-to-take-time-for-yourself-our-challenge-for-you • Day 2: Choose Quiet, Relaxing Activities – https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/why-choose-quiet-and-relaxing-activities-in-your-self-care-challenge • Day 3: Start a New Morning Routine – https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/why-you-must-start-a-morning-routine-for-your-best-life • Day 4: Cancel at Least One Thing – https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/cancel-at-least-one-thing-on-your-list-self-care-tip • Day 5: Express Gratitude - https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/how-to-express-daily-gratitude-to-help-change-your-mindset • Day 6: Do Something Creative - https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/take-care-of-yourself-tip-do-something-creative-for-your-best-life • Day 7: Indulge in a Guilty Pleasure - https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/indulge-in-a-guilty-pleasure-self-caring-tip-for-your-best-life • Day 8: Start a Worry Jar - https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/why-use-a-worry-jar-practice-to-reduce-stress-thoughts-improve-self-care • Day 9: Get Outside - https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/stop-being-a-cave-person-and-get-outside-today-for-your-best-life • Day 10: Take Time For You - https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/is-it-selfish-to-take-a-much-needed-day-off-for-your-best-life What would a Focus on self-care look like for you? Share any ideas and comments below. Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Join our FREE Walking Challenge here https://forms.aweber.com/form/46/118824146.htm Self-Care Resources: If you are looking for a cookbook resource we recommend The Fat Burning Kitchen - Your 24-Hour Diet Transformation to Make Your Body a Fat-Burning Machine - Why to STOP eating whole wheat bread, vegetable oils, energy bars, or cereals - https://bit.ly/2RzknZP (our affiliate link - now you do not pay more ordering from our link, it simply helps us with a commission that supports our work here) Turbulence Training Special Offer - But if you take advantage of this opportunity to ditch your cardio and finally start losing weight today, you can receive access for more than HALF OFF, just $27. (Affiliate link - https://bit.ly/3fZeQUk) Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB
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Take A Much Needed Day Off! Will You? Welcome to the final day of the self-care challenge. Congratulations, you made it to the final day of this blog series! During this series, you have learned how to get started with better self-care. Hopefully, you got some great ideas for taking some time for yourself and working on your own emotional, physical and mental health. Today our topic is, Is It Selfish To Take a Much Needed Day Off For Your Best Life? We want to share with you right at the start of this post that taking a much-needed day off is not selfish for your best life. It is necessary to have some downtime, to change your viewpoint and find some joy. In our world of stress and busy, busy, busy taking some time for you with a day off allows you to go back to work with a clearer frame of mind, get back to your family refreshed and most importantly spend some time with you doing the things that bring you joy. Here is a summary of the blog series, in case you missed anything: • Day 1: Take Time to Yourself - https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/why-you-need-to-take-time-for-yourself-our-challenge-for-you • Day 2: Choose Quiet, Relaxing Activities – https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/why-choose-quiet-and-relaxing-activities-in-your-self-care-challenge • Day 3: Start a New Morning Routine – https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/why-you-must-start-a-morning-routine-for-your-best-life • Day 4: Cancel at Least One Thing – https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/cancel-at-least-one-thing-on-your-list-self-care-tip • Day 5: Express Gratitude - https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/how-to-express-daily-gratitude-to-help-change-your-mindset • Day 6: Do Something Creative - https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/take-care-of-yourself-tip-do-something-creative-for-your-best-life • Day 7: Indulge in a Guilty Pleasure - https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/indulge-in-a-guilty-pleasure-self-caring-tip-for-your-best-life Day 8: Start a Worry Jar - https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/why-use-a-worry-jar-practice-to-reduce-stress-thoughts-improve-self-care Day 9: Get Outside - https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/stop-being-a-cave-person-and-get-outside-today-for-your-best-life On Day 10, we want you to try something that might be a little more difficult: taking a day off! Like many other aspects of this challenge, this is subjective. Think about what a day off would be for you. A day off may be to call in sick for work and spend the day with your kids, while someone else may want to go somewhere with friends. Other people want a day all to themselves, so maybe you go shopping, head to the spa, go for a long hike or ride your bicycle through a nearby park. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as you indulge in activities that make you happier all day long. This might require cancelling plans and making arrangements, but it is well worth it. Make a commitment to do this often as you can to really practice your self-care and improving your clarity, happiness, and overall wellness. We hope you enjoyed this series! Now it’s time go to take care of yourself. Make the time to spend some time for yourself today knowing that it is not selfish and, you will immediately notice what an impact it makes! We appreciate that it never seems as if there are enough hours in the day, but it is so important to make a conscious decision to practice self-care. Taking care of your mind, body and emotional needs will help you be able to live your best life. You are your best advocate; if you are not taking care of yourself, it is easy to get burned out by all of life's demands. Taking even just 15 minutes a day for yourself to regroup and relax can have a profound impact on your well-being. Self-care begins and ends with you! We would appreciate hearing from you. Will you accept today's challenge? Share any ideas or comments below. Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Join our FREE Walking Challenge here Self-Care Resources: If you are looking for a cookbook resource we recommend The Fat Burning Kitchen - Your 24-Hour Diet Transformation to Make Your Body a Fat-Burning Machine - Why to STOP eating whole wheat bread, vegetable oils, energy bars, or cereals - https://bit.ly/2RzknZP (our affiliate link - now you do not pay more ordering from our link, it simply helps us with a commission that supports our work here) Turbulence Training Special Offer - But if you take advantage of this opportunity to ditch your cardio and finally start losing weight today, you can receive access for more than HALF OFF, just $27. (Affiliate link - https://bit.ly/3fZeQUk) Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB Get Outside Today Hey, thank you for staying connected as we continue the Self-Care Challenge! This blog challenge is meant to help you discover the benefits behind self-care and give you some ideas and suggestions for taking better care of your emotional, physical and mental health. Today, our topic is Stop Being A Cave Person And Get Outside Today For Your Best Life. As we are coming to the end of this challenge there are just 2 days left – and today is all about going outdoors. If you spend a lot of time in your house or your office, which most people do today living more like a cave person in a modern world, then self-care may seem like it isn’t really the break your brain and body needs. This is when it is time to soak up some vitamin D. Benefits of Outdoor Self-Care Activities Speaking of vitamin D, this is one of the top benefits of spending more time outside. The sun’s UV rays give you natural vitamin D, which absorbs through your skin. This can give you more energy and a feeling of euphoria, often making you happier and less stressed out during the day. Indulge in some vitamin D by spending time outside in the sunshine as often as you can. We suggest that you spend at least 15 - 20 minutes in the morning sun without sunscreen, sunglasses, or a big, floppy hat. This allows the sun to do what it is meant to do. Get outside in the sun to allow it to absorb into your body and get stored for your best healthy life. We do practice what we write here and get outside every morning for an hour walk, no sunscreen, no sunglasses, no big,floppy hat for our best healthy life. Here is an article that will help you understand how important it is to get outside for your best life. https://draxe.com/nutrition/vitamin-d-benefits/ Another benefit of outdoor activities is that you get to enjoy nature. This is something you can be grateful for each day. Find fun and relaxing activities that you escape the worries and stresses of everyday life, even for just a few minutes a day. Most outdoor activities are also free, which is a bonus for you. Ideas for What to do Outside Not sure how you can go outside to practice self-care? Here are a few ideas to get you started: Take your dog for a long walk – This was mentioned in a previous post, and it is worth repeating. If you have a dog you need to take out, don’t just let him out in the backyard. Take him on a long walk every day, and you not only give the pup a nice adventure but give yourself more YOU time. Go on a hike – This is a great idea because you are getting exercise, which everyone needs for optimal health, and will release some happy endorphins as well. You can enjoy all nature has to offer on a short hike. Spend the day at the beach – Have a day off soon? Why not head to the beach. You can either go alone and bring a book or go with family or friends and still get self-care benefits. Walk around the building during work breaks – If you have a busy schedule, just take one break during work to walk outside around the building. This is a simple way to soak up a little more vitamin D. Don’t miss tomorrow’s post, this is the final day of this self-care challenge. If you can find a few minutes to yourself today to practice getting outside, you will immediately notice what an impact it makes! See you tomorrow. We appreciate that it never seems as if there are enough hours in the day, but it is so important to make a conscious decision to practice self-care. Taking care of your mind, body and emotional needs will help you be able to live your best life. You are your best advocate; if you are not taking care of yourself, it is easy to get burned out by all of life's demands. Taking even just 15 minutes a day for yourself to regroup and relax can have a profound impact on your well-being. Self-care begins and ends with you! We would appreciate hearing from you. Will you accept today's challenge? Share any ideas or comments below. Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Join our FREE Walking Challenge here Self-Care Resources: If you are looking for a cookbook resource we recommend The Fat Burning Kitchen - Your 24-Hour Diet Transformation to Make Your Body a Fat-Burning Machine - Why to STOP eating whole wheat bread, vegetable oils, energy bars, or cereals - https://bit.ly/2RzknZP (our affiliate link - now you do not pay more ordering from our link, it simply helps us with a commission that supports our work here) Turbulence Training Special Offer - But if you take advantage of this opportunity to ditch your cardio and finally start losing weight today, you can receive access for more than HALF OFF, just $27. (Affiliate link - https://bit.ly/3fZeQUk) Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB Why Use A Worry Jar Are you a worrier? Does worry cause excess stress day today? Today as we continue with the self-care challenge our topic is Why Use A Worry Jar Practice To Reduce Stress Thoughts & Improve Self-Care. Thank you for joining us for another day of the challenge. Today is day 8, and it is all about putting aside your worries as much as you can. When it comes to self-care, the advice is often to take out more time for yourself and indulge in activities or tasks you like to do. But sometimes, it is hard to take better care of yourself when your mind is filled with stress. Don’t worry – you aren’t alone. A lot of people struggle with stressful situations in their everyday life. This might have to do with your personal life, from friends to family members or kids. You may have work stress, financial stress, or other types of stress. If you find that you are worried so much that you can’t even take a few minutes a day to relax, it might be time to start a worry jar practice to help you get out of the habit of worry. You see chronic worry can cause health challenges and the idea of the worry jar to practice eliminating a worry thought before it gets to the chronic stage. We found an article for you if you find you are living in that chronic state here What is a worry jar? It is exactly what it sounds like – a jar filled with your worries. This works similar to when you write a letter to someone in your life you need to vent to, without actually sending it to them. This letter works by letting you express your emotions, without the onslaught of their reaction. With the worry jar, you are writing down things bothering you, causing stress and putting them into the jar. This action provides a few different purposes. For one thing, it lets you really get down to what is bothering you the most. You can think of the biggest issues in your life, including people or situations causing you stress, and write them down. Write each worry on a piece of paper, fold it up, then put it into the jar and put the lid on. By expressing the worry thought, you have now put aside those worries, not to dwell on them. There may be a time in the future when you come back to the worry jar, read what worries you were dealing with and realize that the issue has already happened and passed on. You are still here living a healthy and good life. This is a wonderful, therapeutic activity to start doing. Make a habit of putting those thoughts that cause the most stress into the worry jar, allowing you to let go of the stress from the worrying thought. Be sure to connect with us for Day 9 to talk about getting outside. If you can find a few minutes to yourself today to practice something creative, you will immediately notice what an impact it makes! See you tomorrow. We appreciate that it never seems as if there are enough hours in the day, but it is so important to make a conscious decision to practice self-care. Taking care of your mind, body and emotional needs will help you be able to live your best life. You are your best advocate; if you are not taking care of yourself, it is easy to get burned out by all of life's demands. Taking even just 15 minutes a day for yourself to regroup and relax can have a profound impact on your well-being. Self-care begins and ends with you! We would appreciate hearing from you. Will you accept today's challenge? Share any ideas or comments below. Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Join our FREE Walking Challenge here Self-Care Resources: If you are looking for a cookbook resource we recommend The Fat Burning Kitchen - Your 24-Hour Diet Transformation to Make Your Body a Fat-Burning Machine - Why to STOP eating whole wheat bread, vegetable oils, energy bars, or cereals - https://bit.ly/2RzknZP (our affiliate link - now you do not pay more ordering from our link, it simply helps us with a commission that supports our work here) Turbulence Training Special Offer - But if you take advantage of this opportunity to ditch your cardio and finally start losing weight today, you can receive access for more than HALF OFF, just $27. (Affiliate link - https://bit.ly/3fZeQUk) Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB Guilty Pleasure For Self-Care Before we begin today we want to share with you the idea of Guilty Pleasures defined - "something, such as a movie, television program, or piece of music, that one enjoys despite feeling that it is not generally held in high regard." Simple, right? Ok, let's get started with our topic today.
So glad you made it here today! We are now in the final 4 days of the Self-Care Challenge. Hopefully, by now, you have a good idea of why self-care is so important and have decided on some different activities and lifestyle changes that allow you to take more time for yourself. Our topic today is Indulge in a Guilty Pleasure Self-Caring Tip For Your Best Life. Today is Day 7 and is all about those guilty pleasures. You must enjoy yourself, especially when working on self-care. If you are not someone who likes baths and you can’t clear your mind enough for meditation, don’t do it! Everything suggested is not going to work for everyone. Sometimes the best thing you can do for yourself is just to indulge in something you love. The term ‘guilty pleasure’ is subjective with many definitions and we shared one definition as we began today. You might consider it a movie or TV show that you don’t get to watch often and prefer watching alone, or just an activity that isn’t necessarily something you can indulge in often. Think about the times when you really get absorbed into something, whether you do it alone or with your significant other, family, or friends. Will you start incorporating this into your life? Today’s Assignment - Think of at least one guilty pleasure and write it in your schedule. If for one day a week, you order dinner instead of cooking. You might enjoy sitting in front of the TV watching your favourite show or movie, you will be amazed at how much better you feel. See you tomorrow to talk about the worry jar. If you can find a few minutes to yourself today to practice enjoying one guilty pleasure, you will immediately notice what an impact it makes! See you tomorrow. We appreciate that it never seems as if there are enough hours in the day, but it is so important to make a conscious decision to practice self-care. Taking care of your mind, body and emotional needs will help you be able to live your best life. You are your best advocate; if you are not taking care of yourself, it is easy to get burned out by all of life's demands. Taking even just 15 minutes a day for yourself to regroup and relax can have a profound impact on your well-being. Self-care begins and ends with you! We would appreciate hearing from you. Will you accept today's challenge? Share any ideas or comments below. Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Join our FREE Walking Challenge here Self-Care Resources: If you are looking for a cookbook resource we recommend The Fat Burning Kitchen - Your 24-Hour Diet Transformation to Make Your Body a Fat-Burning Machine - Why to STOP eating whole wheat bread, vegetable oils, energy bars, or cereals - https://bit.ly/2RzknZP (our affiliate link - now you do not pay more ordering from our link, it simply helps us with a commission that supports our work here) Turbulence Training Special Offer - But if you take advantage of this opportunity to ditch your cardio and finally start losing weight today, you can receive access for more than HALF OFF, just $27. (Affiliate link - https://bit.ly/3fZeQUk) Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB Do Something Creative This month we have been sharing ideas on the topic of taking care of yourself or another way to say it self-care. Over the past few days, we have shared ideas in a daily challenge for you to practice the habit. Today, the Self-Care Challenge is on day 6! Our topic today is Take Care Of Yourself Tip - Do Something Creative For Your Best Life. Congrats! You have now made it halfway through this blog series challenge, learning the basics of self-care. Here is a look at what we have covered so far:
And day 6? It is all about doing something creative. Practicing self-care in your life isn’t just about writing in a journal, reading a book, or taking a bath. Sometimes, it is also good to incorporate more creative activities in your life. You don’t need to be artistic to benefit from being more creative. It allows you not only to relax and take time for yourself, but it uses a different part of your brain. This creative part of your brain can come alive when you dedicate just a few minutes a day to an activity of your choice. Choosing the Right Creative Activity One thing to know is that there are no rules for what you can or can’t do. If you know how to knit or love to draw, definitely do that! Consider your own preferences, talents, and skills when thinking about creative activities that help with self-care. You might also want to learn something new, like making jewelry, write poems or begin learning how to watercolour. You can do something on the computer as well, from learning web design to mastering Photoshop. There are so many different options available that will channel your inner creative master, while also taking more time for yourself. Connect back tomorrow to learn more about the idea of Indulging in a Guilty Pleasure. If you can find a few minutes to yourself today to practice something creative, you will immediately notice what an impact it makes! See you tomorrow. We appreciate that it never seems as if there are enough hours in the day, but it is so important to make a conscious decision to practice self-care. Taking care of your mind, body and emotional needs will help you be able to live your best life. You are your best advocate; if you are not taking care of yourself, it is easy to get burned out by all of life's demands. Taking even just 15 minutes a day for yourself to regroup and relax can have a profound impact on your well-being. Self-care begins and ends with you! We would appreciate hearing from you. Will you accept today's challenge? Share any ideas or comments below. Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Join our FREE Walking Challenge here Self-Care Resources: If you are looking for a cookbook resource we recommend The Fat Burning Kitchen - Your 24-Hour Diet Transformation to Make Your Body a Fat-Burning Machine - Why to STOP eating whole wheat bread, vegetable oils, energy bars, or cereals - https://bit.ly/2RzknZP (our affiliate link - now you do not pay more ordering from our link, it simply helps us with a commission that supports our work here) Turbulence Training Special Offer - But if you take advantage of this opportunity to ditch your cardio and finally start losing weight today, you can receive access for more than HALF OFF, just $27. (Affiliate link - https://bit.ly/3fZeQUk) Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB  We want to welcome you back to the Self-Care Challenge with today’s topic learn how to express daily gratitude to help change your mindset. Over the past few days, you have been learning how to take more time out for yourself and become a happier and healthier you.
Today is day 5 of the challenge, and we want to talk about gratitude. Many people will express what they are grateful for occasionally, but not on a regular basis. Expressing gratitude helps you in several ways. It first lets you look at your life from a different angle. You might be stressed about money, work, or personal relationships, however, that doesn’t mean you don’t have a good and fulfilling life. Being grateful lets you see the good in your life, promoting an attitude of optimism. When you start expressing gratitude daily, it helps to change your entire mindset. Suddenly, you are less negative and more positive. That can help with your personal and professional goals since you now have the drive to succeed in every facet of your life. How to Express Gratitude So, how do you do it? The easiest way is to start writing about what you are grateful for in your journal. You can have a gratitude journal used only for this purpose, or you may want to just write a shortlist of what you are grateful for each day while journaling other things as well. If you don’t have a journal, write it anywhere, from a notebook or a Post-It you keep on your computer. The important and powerful thing is that you take a few minutes each day to practice thinking about what you are grateful for. Today’s Self-Care Assignment: Write down 3-5 things you are grateful for right now. Do this each day for the next 30 days, and experience yourself expand with new possibilities that come from practicing gratitude. Practicing for 30 days helps you be well on your way to creating a new habit. You are now halfway through the challenge! Let us know your thoughts and ideas in the comments. Connect back tomorrow to learn more about creative activities for self-care. Take a few minutes to yourself today to practice writing 3-5 things you are grateful for right now, you will immediately notice what an impact it makes! See you tomorrow. We appreciate that it never seems as if there are enough hours in the day, but it is so important to make a conscious decision to practice self-care. Taking care of your mind, body and emotional needs will help you be able to live your best life. You are your best advocate; if you are not taking care of yourself, it is easy to get burned out by all of life's demands. Taking even just 15 minutes a day for yourself to regroup and relax can have a profound impact on your well-being. Self-care begins and ends with you! We would appreciate hearing from you. Will you accept today's challenge? Share any ideas or comments below. Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Join our FREE Walking Challenge here Self-Care Resources: If you are looking for a cookbook resource we recommend The Fat Burning Kitchen - Your 24-Hour Diet Transformation to Make Your Body a Fat-Burning Machine - Why to STOP eating whole wheat bread, vegetable oils, energy bars, or cereals - https://bit.ly/2RzknZP (our affiliate link - now you do not pay more ordering from our link, it simply helps us with a commission that supports our work here) Turbulence Training Special Offer - But if you take advantage of this opportunity to ditch your cardio and finally start losing weight today, you can receive access for more than HALF OFF, just $27. (Affiliate link - https://bit.ly/3fZeQUk) Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB Cancel At Least One Thing Today Today is day 4 of the taking care of you challenge. Welcome back to the series all about Self-Care! Our topic today is Cancel At Least One Thing On Your List Self-Care Tip. If you have missed any previous posts, you can find them here: Day 1 - https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/why-you-need-to-take-time-for-yourself-our-challenge-for-you Day 2 - https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/why-choose-quiet-and-relaxing-activities-in-your-self-care-challenge Day 3 - https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/why-you-must-start-a-morning-routine-for-your-best-life So far in this series, you have learned about the importance of self-care, starting a morning routine, some relaxing activities, and how to take more time out for yourself. Today, we are going to talk about canceling tasks or plans. We believe this is definitely one of the harder things for people to do, but it is also one of the most important. We are living in an overscheduled society today. Busy for many people is a badge of honour. If you are like most people, you are no stranger to having a schedule with more tasks than time. It can be hard to say no to people, whether it’s your boss, child, neighbor, or friend asking for something. You want to help as much as you can, but sometimes you are stuffing your schedule a little too much, and suffering as a result. For our challenge today, you are going to think about at least one thing you can cancel from your list entirely. There are many ways to do this, from practicing saying no to an activity with a friend, family member or social event, or limiting your daily schedule to the essential tasks rather than the “got to” tasks. It might also be something smaller, such as taking a task from your big to-do list off your list completely or push it forward to a later date and then revisit the task to see if it is truly that important. If not cancel it from your list completely. By doing this, you not only learn how to say no easily, but you free up a little time that can be dedicated to you and your own self-care. As you move forward, consider your schedule when taking on new projects or accepting invites from other people. When I began this practice it was super challenging because I didn't want to disappoint others. What I learned in the process of the practice of saying no and canceling tasks or events that did not make my heart sing is I felt better. Practicing saying no is empowering and over time I have found it to be one of the most important self-care practices that I can do for myself and my best life. That’s it for today! Tomorrow will be all about gratitude. If you can find a few minutes to yourself today to practice canceling one thing on your to do list, you will immediately notice what an impact it makes! See you tomorrow. We appreciate that it never seems as if there are enough hours in the day, but it is so important to make a conscious decision to practice self-care. Taking care of your mind, body and emotional needs will help you be able to live your best life. You are your best advocate; if you are not taking care of yourself, it is easy to get burned out by all of life's demands. Taking even just 15 minutes a day for yourself to regroup and relax can have a profound impact on your well-being. Self-care begins and ends with you! We would appreciate hearing from you. Will you accept today's challenge? Share any ideas or comments below. Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Join our FREE Walking Challenge here Self-Care Resources: If you are looking for a cookbook resource we recommend The Fat Burning Kitchen - Your 24-Hour Diet Transformation to Make Your Body a Fat-Burning Machine - Why to STOP eating whole wheat bread, vegetable oils, energy bars, or cereals - https://bit.ly/2RzknZP (our affiliate link - now you do not pay more ordering from our link, it simply helps us with a commission that supports our work here) Turbulence Training Special Offer - But if you take advantage of this opportunity to ditch your cardio and finally start losing weight today, you can receive access for more than HALF OFF, just $27. (Affiliate link - https://bit.ly/3fZeQUk) Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB Start A Morning Routine As we continue to share ideas for your self-care, today is day 3 of this challenge, and we are going to talk about starting a new morning routine. This is going to not only help give you a good opportunity each day to dedicate to yourself, but it really transforms your entire day. Welcome back to the Self-Care Challenge. Keep reading to find out why you must start a new morning routine and how to use it for self-care. Start a Morning Routine As you continue your journey to better self-care, one of the bigger challenges can be not having enough time for you. This is a common excuse most adults deal with. While it is true that you already have a full schedule, there is always a way to switch things around and make improvements. The first way to do this is by starting a new morning routine. You are not just setting your alarm earlier to give yourself a few minutes, but really re-thinking how you approach your mornings. If you have chaotic mornings, it probably lasts throughout most of the day. To start your day off right, start a new healthy routine. Tips for Deciding What to Include in Your Routine Your morning routine will be just for you, so we can’t tell you exactly what to do each morning. Think about what you want to accomplish and what will get you ready for the day. Here are some Morning Routine ideas: • Write in your journal for a few minutes every morning. • Take a cold shower for heightened energy first thing in the morning. • Wake up a little earlier to drink your coffee in peace. • Practice relaxing exercises in the morning, such as yoga, getting outside for a walk. Think about this as something you must do every day. When your alarm goes off, do not press the Snooze button, but begin preparing for your day and stick to your routine. The positive impact it has on your life is truly life-changing. That’s it for today! Tomorrow will be all about cancelling. If you can find a few minutes to yourself today, you will immediately notice what an impact it makes! See you tomorrow. We appreciate that it never seems as if there are enough hours in the day, but it is so important to make a conscious decision to practice self-care. Taking care of your mind, body and emotional needs will help you be able to live your best life. You are your best advocate; if you are not taking care of yourself, it is easy to get burned out by all of life's demands. Taking even just 15 minutes a day for yourself to regroup and relax can have a profound impact on your well-being. Self-care begins and ends with you! We would appreciate hearing from you. Will you accept today's challenge? Share any ideas or comments below. Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Join our FREE Walking Challenge here Self-Care Resources: If you are looking for a cookbook resource we recommend The Fat Burning Kitchen - Your 24-Hour Diet Transformation to Make Your Body a Fat-Burning Machine - Why to STOP eating whole wheat bread, vegetable oils, energy bars, or cereals - https://bit.ly/2RzknZP (our affiliate link - now you do not pay more ordering from our link, it simply helps us with a commission that supports our work here) Turbulence Training Special Offer - But if you take advantage of this opportunity to ditch your cardio and finally start losing weight today, you can receive access for more than HALF OFF, just $27. (Affiliate link - https://bit.ly/3fZeQUk) Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB Choose Quiet And Relaxing Activities We are on day 2 of the taking care of ourselves challenge and the topic today is why choose quiet and relaxing activities in your self-care challenge. So, we want to thank you for joining us for Day 2 of the Self-Care Challenge. Throughout this challenge, it is our intention that you will learn about the importance of self-care and get some easy ways to take more time out of your day for YOU. If you are hesitant about the importance of self-care, think about this – all the people (and pets) who rely on you need you to be happy and healthy. Your physical, emotional, and mental health is vital not just for you, but for them as well. If you become ill or have severe stress, you can’t help anyone, especially yourself. It is important for everyone to spend more time working on self-care and self-improvement. Choosing Quiet & Relaxing Activities! Today, you are going to get some suggestions for choosing activities you can do on your own. Sometimes when you are told to focus more on yourself and have quiet time, you don’t know what that means or what you are supposed to do. There are a lot of options based on your lifestyle, but here are some ideas: Take a hot, bubble bath – This is probably not the first time you have heard this suggestion. The reason it is suggested so much for self-care is because of how helpful it is. When you take a bath, you are (hopefully) spending that time alone without distractions, while the candles, bath salts, and soft music create a soothing environment for pampering yourself. Read a book – If you love to read but haven’t done it in a while, now is the time to pick it up again. Even with a busy lifestyle, there are probably at least a few minutes a day where you could get your book out and read. Think about breaks at work, the last few minutes before bed, or in the morning just after you have sent your kids to school. Think about creative activities – There are also a lot of creative activities that you can participate in that are quiet and relaxing. Think about colouring in an adult colouring book, learning something like knitting or crocheting, or possibly doing something digital, such as learning graphic design. Spend quiet time outside – Sometimes, you can’t get much quiet time at home, so you need to get outdoors. Go for a walk or a hike, enjoy a few minutes of alone time on your patio or porch, or work in your garden. That’s it for today! Tomorrow will be all about starting a new morning routine. If you can find a few minutes to yourself today, you will immediately notice what an impact it makes! See you tomorrow. We appreciate that it never seems as if there are enough hours in the day, but it is so important to make a conscious decision to practice self-care. Taking care of your mind, body and emotional needs will help you be able to live your best life. You are your best advocate; if you are not taking care of yourself, it is easy to get burned out by all of life's demands. Taking even just 15 minutes a day for yourself to regroup and relax can have a profound impact on your well-being. Self-care begins and ends with you! We would appreciate hearing from you. Will you accept today's challenge? Share any ideas or comments below. Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Join our FREE Walking Challenge here https://forms.aweber.com/form/46/118824146.htm Self-Care Resources: If you are looking for a cookbook resource we recommend The Fat Burning Kitchen - Your 24-Hour Diet Transformation to Make Your Body a Fat-Burning Machine - Why to STOP eating whole wheat bread, vegetable oils, energy bars, or cereals - https://bit.ly/2RzknZP (our affiliate link - now you do not pay more ordering from our link, it simply helps us with a commission that supports our work here) Turbulence Training Special Offer - But if you take advantage of this opportunity to ditch your cardio and finally start losing weight today, you can receive access for more than HALF OFF, just $27. (Affiliate link - https://bit.ly/3fZeQUk) Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB Take Time For You Challenge Over the next few days, we will provide you with ideas for a Self-Care Challenge! The idea is for you to join us on this journey to becoming a better you. This challenge is a good way to get introduced to better self-care, guiding you through the process of making small changes in your life. We wrote about Big Changes by Tiny Steps here: https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/how-to-make-big-changes-by-tiny-steps In this series of blog posts, we will share an ‘assignment’ with you. These assignments will show you another way you can practice self-care, but you don’t need to do them each day. The challenge is meant to show you a variety of ways you can practice self-care, but don’t feel like you need to complete them immediately after reading this post. Make small changes in your own time and as they suit you best. Work with your own schedule but do use this blog series as a guide for how you can improve your life. Why You Need to Take Time for Yourself Today in the challenge, we really wanted you to learn more about taking time to yourself. While social interactions and family time are also extremely important for health and happiness, people often don’t focus on themselves enough. You might get busy with work responsibilities, or your family takes up all your free time. While it may not be realistic to have entire days where you do everything just for yourself, it is important to find a little time every day just for you. This allows you to de-stress and reset your brain. Really focus your thoughts on yourself, even if for just a few minutes a day. Some Quick Tips to Get Started This might be something you struggle with the most, so here are some tips to start taking more time for yourself on a regular basis. Wake up 20 minutes earlier than necessary – Mornings are often busy with getting ready for work, cooking breakfast, and making lunches if you have a spouse or children. If you know you don’t have time to spend a few minutes alone, set your alarm just a little bit earlier. It is important not to think of those 20 minutes as you losing sleep and to realize that this time can be all for you, whether you take a long, hot shower, go for a morning walk, enjoy coffee on your patio, or write in your journal. Go for an after-dinner walk – Do you have a dog that loves to walk? Why not get some more bonding time with your pup while giving yourself a little break. This has amazing mental and physical benefits and can be your new nightly ritual where it’s just you and your dog. If you can find a few minutes to yourself today, you will immediately notice what an impact it makes! See you tomorrow. We appreciate that it never seems as if there are enough hours in the day, but it is so important to make a conscious decision to practice self-care. Taking care of your mind, body and emotional needs will help you be able to live your best life. You are your best advocate; if you are not taking care of yourself, it is easy to get burned out by all of life's demands. Taking even just 15 minutes a day for yourself to regroup and relax can have a profound impact on your well-being. Self-care begins and ends with you! We would appreciate hearing from you. Will you accept today's challenge? Share any ideas or comments below. Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Join our FREE Walking Challenge here https://forms.aweber.com/form/46/118824146.htm Self-Care Resources: If you are looking for a cookbook resource we recommend The Fat Burning Kitchen - Your 24-Hour Diet Transformation to Make Your Body a Fat-Burning Machine - Why to STOP eating whole wheat bread, vegetable oils, energy bars, or cereals - https://bit.ly/2RzknZP (our affiliate link - now you do not pay more ordering from our link, it simply helps us with a commission that supports our work here) Turbulence Training Special Offer - But if you take advantage of this opportunity to ditch your cardio and finally start losing weight today, you can receive access for more than HALF OFF, just $27. (Affiliate link - https://bit.ly/3fZeQUk) Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB Simple And Effective Self-Care Taking care of ourselves can feel like quite an indulgence at the best of times. And now during these past 16 months, it seems to me that there has been more stress and it is more difficult for many of us to put our needs first.
You see, life is not always easy. Every day, many people struggle to find a balance between work, family obligations, hobbies, health, fitness and more. It is not uncommon to be wrapped up in trying to get everything done that we forget to take care of the most important thing of all: ourselves. The idea of taking care of ourselves is not a new concept, in fact, people have been practicing self-care for centuries. Recently the idea of taking care of ourselves has found its way into the news as more people realize how important it is to take some time to make sure your needs are being met. When you practice self-care, you do things that take care of our physical, mental and emotional needs. The ways in which you do self-care vary from person to person. What works best for someone else may not work best for you, so it is important to keep an open mind and an ongoing commitment to self-care. Practicing self-care helps you to be the best version of yourself that you can possibly be. Taking time to do the things that make you, you are important to living a healthy and balanced life as we often give so much of ourselves to others. As a worker, friend or parent it can be hard to find that balance between living up to our expectations and obligations and doing things for ourselves. You will find that if you make time to practice self-care, your happiness and health will be dramatically improved. There are many different activities available to help with your self-care needs. Here are some main categories to help you learn about practicing self-care through relaxation, productivity, physical, and other important types of activities. • Relaxation Activities - Here are some of the top relaxation activities to help you with self-care. a. Meditation and Mindfulness b. Soak in the Tub c. Pick up a Book • Physical Activities - Don’t forget that exercise has a host of health benefits, including: a. Releasing endorphins to make you happy b. Providing you with more energy throughout the day c. Giving you an activity to do outdoors, where you get vitamin D • Here are some physical activities that can be great for self-care. a. Yoga b. Walking, Hiking, Biking • Creative Activities - Here is a list of some creative activities to start with for your self-care. a. Coloring b. Painting c. Cooking and Baking • Social Activities - Here are some social activities to consider for self-care: a. Take a Class b. Join a Running Club or Sports League c. Volunteering d. Spending More Time at Home • Productive Activities - Take a look at these productive activities to get involved in: a. Keep a Goals Journal b. Put the Phone Down c. Get More Sleep These are just some of the self-care ideas that you might want to include in your daily, weekly and monthly taking care of yourself practice. We appreciate that it never seems as if there are enough hours in the day, but it is so important to make a conscious decision to practice self-care. Taking care of your mind, body and emotional needs will help you be able to live your best life. You are your best advocate; if you are not taking care of yourself, it is easy to get burned out by all of life's demands. Taking even just 15 minutes a day for yourself to regroup and relax can have a profound impact on your well-being. Self-care begins and ends with you! We would appreciate hearing from you. What kind of self-care activities resonate with you? Share any ideas or comments below. Self-Care Resources: If you are looking for a cookbook resource we recommend The Fat Burning Kitchen - Your 24-Hour Diet Transformation to Make Your Body a Fat-Burning Machine - Why to STOP eating whole wheat bread, vegetable oils, energy bars, or cereals - https://bit.ly/2RzknZP (our affiliate link - now you do not pay more ordering from our link, it simply helps us with a commission that supports our work here) Turbulence Training Special Offer - But if you take advantage of this opportunity to ditch your cardio and finally start losing weight today, you can receive access for more than HALF OFF, just $27. (Affiliate link - https://bit.ly/3fZeQUk) Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB Join our FREE Walking Challenge here Developing A Positive Mindset As we continue to share ideas on self-care this month, developing a positive mindset is an important one. Why? Because mindset matters for your best life. You see we believe that self-care is vital to healthy living on many levels. It helps us to become the optimum version of ourselves. Our actions and attitudes are core components of self-care, and having the right mental outlook is a key to regulating wellness. This is why developing a positive mindset for self-care requires commitment and work. The rewards are well worth the effort. Realize that Self-Care is a Right and a Responsibility Many individuals today have been conditioned to believe that putting themselves first is selfish. Perhaps you have heard the term "buyer's remorse." This happens when someone experiences guilt after purchasing for themselves. It is a sad reality that some people have buyer's remorse when it comes to investing in their own self-care. The right mindset accepts that self-care is a right. You are worthy of the time and effort it takes to create fulfillment. You have the right to be mentally and physically well. No one is entitled to diminish your need for self-care. Furthermore, personal wellness is a responsibility. A good mindset means accepting responsibility for the path of your life. It is all too common today for people to lay blame when it comes to their own challenges. Taking responsibility empowers you. There is a great comfort that comes from knowing you are in control. Create a New Mental Narrative We spend our whole lives telling ourselves a mental story. That story frames how we perceive the world and our reactions to life's twists and turns. Close your eyes for just a second and listen to the story your mind is telling. Is it filled with empowering phrases and images, or is it polluted by a negative outlook? You must learn how to rewrite the mental script that is often on auto-play. A great way to do this can be to simply slow the endless procession of thoughts and noise. Meditation is a great way to quiet the mind and refocus on positive thoughts. This, too, takes effort, but in time the flow and substance of your own mental narrative can change for the better. Stop Consuming Mental Junk Food We live in the era of social media. These platforms can be useful for communicating with distant friends and relatives or even finding a story to lift your spirits. Unfortunately, they can also be extremely toxic. There is far too much junk food for the brain on social media. Your brain is a body organ that requires sustenance and nutrition just like your heart or lungs. It needs to be fed the good stuff. That hour you spend perusing a news feed that is filled with controversy, self-pitying posts, and mind-numbing videos would be better spent doing yoga or reading a book on the subject of wellness. Allow yourself to detach from social media and observe the results. The mind can sometimes be unruly and must be disciplined. It must also be exercised just like the body is conditioned. In the beginning, the work will be hard, but with each passing day, you'll find that your mindset is working on your behalf to promote self-care. As we end this post we will share two articles that may help you practice developing a positive mindset for self-care. • The Power Of Daily Affirmations for Self-Care In Your Best Life - https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/the-power-of-daily-affirmations-for-self-care-in-your-best-life • Are There Benefits of Writing In A Self-Care Journal? - https://wendybottrell.weebly.com/blog/are-there-benefits-of-writing-in-a-self-care-journal This simply means that by taking time for a self-care practice that includes developing a positive mindset, slowing down and connecting more with mind, body and spirit you will learn what is best for you in pursuit of your best life. Share any ideas and/or comments on how are you may practice developing a positive mindset for self-care in the comments below. Self-Care Resources: If you are looking for a cookbook resource we recommend The Fat Burning Kitchen - Your 24-Hour Diet Transformation to Make Your Body a Fat-Burning Machine - Why to STOP eating whole wheat bread, vegetable oils, energy bars, or cereals - https://bit.ly/2RzknZP (our affiliate link - now you do not pay more ordering from our link, it simply helps us with a commission that supports our work here) Turbulence Training Special Offer - But if you take advantage of this opportunity to ditch your cardio and finally start losing weight today, you can receive access for more than HALF OFF, just $27. (Affiliate link - https://bit.ly/3fZeQUk) Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB Join our FREE Walking Challenge here Affirmations For Your Self-Care Practice We are sharing ideas on self-care this month. This is an important topic because if we are not taking care of ourselves who will? We only have one body in this life, and it really is our responsibility to feel good and get and stay healthy for our lifetime. Now, to be perfectly clear with you each one of us in this world gets different marketing messages that may be confusing about health from pharma companies, our doctors, or the medical system. Hopefully, you understand that I didn’t call the current medical system a Health Care System because it is not. Self-care is one of the most important aspects of physical and mental health, and it doesn't have to be expensive or time-consuming. One of the best ways to practice self-care is with affirmations. Now, affirmations can be words, phrases, or sentences that focus your thoughts, relieve stress, or lift your mood. If you are anything like me, there may have been times in your life that you doubted yourself. You were trying to achieve something and a voice in your head told you that you were not good enough. There could be several reasons for this. Many people hear negative statements about themselves when they are a child, and this has a negative impact on their future. There was a UCLA survey from a few years ago, reported that the average one-year-old child hears the word, ‘No!’ more than 400 times a day! (source: https://sueatkinsparentingcoach.com/2017/01/23137-2/) Can you imagine what that does to a child? We all have limiting beliefs. These are rooted in our subconscious minds and hold us back in life. If you failed to achieve something in the past, then you probably have a limiting belief about that now. For example, if you were learning to swim and you couldn’t do it you could now have a limiting belief that you will never learn how to swim. Affirmations Neutralize Negative Thoughts Imagine that you are really determined to learn to swim despite the negativity in your head from the limiting belief. Everyone experiences negative thoughts and the best way to deal with them initially is to neutralize them. So, if your negative thought is “I will never learn how to swim” you can neutralize this with “I am an excellent swimmer” while visualizing yourself swimming well. It is all about positives and negatives. Affirmations are positive statements that you make about yourself repeatedly. The reason that this works so well is that you are bombarding your subconscious mind with these messages. Your Subconscious cannot Differentiate between Positive and Negative Your subconscious mind will pick out various words when it hears them. If you say to yourself “I am a loser” then it will focus on the word “loser”. Creating an affirmation like “I am not a loser” will not be effective because again the focus is on the word “loser”. When you are writing your affirmations, you need to look for opposites. For the example above, the opposite of “loser” is “winner”, so it is best to use this in your affirmation. You might write an affirmation like “I am a winner”. I learned many years ago that anything that you tell yourself after “I am” is true good or bad. Imagine this - “I am” is one of the most powerful statements we can make. Whatever follows “I am” starts the creation of it. Yes, it’s true – “I am” is a 100% pure statement of creation. - THE POWER OF CHOICE When your subconscious mind hears you say I am a winner repeatedly it will start to question you being a loser. After a period of time, the perception that you are a winner will replace the notion that you are a loser. You can include them in your daily meditation practice, or you can repeat them to yourself as you face obstacles throughout your day. As you repeat your affirmations, you'll start to truly believe it and embody it. Here is a couple of daily affirmation that you can add to your self-care practice: I am worthy of things that bring me joy. We often deprive ourselves of good things or feel guilty for indulging in what we love. It's okay to want the best for yourself and to seek out what brings you joy. Whether it's spending time with a good friend, sleeping in late, buying something nice for yourself, or anything else, you deserve the things that make you happy. I deserve to take care of my mind and body. If you're constantly stressed about work, school, or family obligations, you might neglect your physical and mental health. However, even amidst all the stress, you deserve to treat your mind and body well. I am strong. You have made it through every obstacle in your life so far, and you'll continue to make it through. Even when you don't feel strong, remind yourself of your strength. Sometimes, being strong involves practicing self-care, which helps you become healthy and focused enough to tackle whatever comes your way. It's best to choose one affirmation at a time and focus on it for at least a week. Everyone has different values and priorities, so some affirmations might not benefit you as much as others. Once you've used a few affirmations, you'll find one that really speaks to you. A good affirmation helps you focus on the positive, but it also has the power to influence your actions. Your affirmation must help you accept yourself, take care of yourself, and make positive choices that benefit your life. Share any ideas and/or comments on how are you may use the idea of a daily affirmation practise in taking care of yourself in the comments below. This simply means that by taking time for a self-care practice that includes slowing down and connecting more with mind, body and spirit you will learn what is best for you in pursuit of your best life. Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Join our FREE Walking Challenge here Self-Care Resources: If you are looking for a cookbook resource we recommend The Fat Burning Kitchen - Your 24-Hour Diet Transformation to Make Your Body a Fat-Burning Machine - Why to STOP eating whole wheat bread, vegetable oils, energy bars, or cereals - https://bit.ly/2RzknZP (our affiliate link - now you do not pay more ordering from our link, it simply helps us with a commission that supports our work here) Turbulence Training Special Offer - But if you take advantage of this opportunity to ditch your cardio and finally start losing weight today, you can receive access for more than HALF OFF, just $27. (Affiliate link - https://bit.ly/3fZeQUk) Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB Join our FREE Walking Challenge here Taking Care Of Yourself Checklist We are discussing taking care of yourself this month with self-care ideas and thoughts. I was just on a webinar this morning diving deep into this conversation during this global health situation we are all presently living through. It is quite interesting to me that not one public servant at any level of government has made any effort to help citizens learn some basic self-care ideas for better health, to reduce stress and build a better society of people today.
You see, if you want to feel better daily, then you must have a guideline for taking care of yourself because no one else is going to do it for you. You just can’t count on having other people to help with your well-being, so you must have a daily plan and practice. You might think that having a plan for your own self-care is a waste of time, but by taking care of your body and mind, you can avoid additional mental or health problems in the future. Use these self-care guidelines to improve the way that you feel. Emotional Self-Care Experts believe that your emotional well-being is vitally important, and you may overlook this aspect of your health. You may think that your emotional well-being is good because you are in denial of certain stressful situations in your life, but if you ignore emotional difficulties, then the problems will get worse with time. One of the best ways to understand your emotional health is by taking time to notice your mood and how you feel. If you are a busy person, you might not notice that you feel anxious, sad, or angry until the emotions lead to serious problems. Physical Self-Care Taking care of your physical well-being involves many aspects of your daily life, including eating real organic foods, sleeping enough and getting plenty of exercises. If you aren’t consuming a nutritious real food diet, then you need to create daily menu plans that include fresh vegetables and fruits along with pastured proteins and wild-caught fish. At the same time, you must have an exercise practice that includes a variety of physical activities. In addition, adults require seven to nine hours of sleep each night to avoid illnesses such as colds and influenza. Spiritual Self-Care A spiritual practice can include traditional religious services, but it also can involve daily practices such as meditation or prayer. You may want to have a quiet area of your home where you can focus on spirituality. This area will be a quiet and comfortable place where you can simply sit peacefully with yourself. Learning to meditate can be as simple as heading over to YouTube and I recommend checking out finding Light Walking to help you how to focus your mind. Use a Calendar to Keep Track of Self-care I use an app on my phone to track my walking steps each day. It is a free app and it tracks steps, my bike rides and my workouts. This helps me to know how far I walk each day and the time it takes daily. I use a calendar to make appointments with reminders for my walking, workouts, quiet time to meditate. These reminders help me stay on track daily and are a simple way to practice self-care consistently. These times are booked in my day like any other important appointment. Share any ideas and/or comments on how are you taking care of yourself with your daily practices? This simply means that by taking time for a self-care practice that includes slowing down and connecting more with mind, body and spirit you will learn what is best for you in pursuit of your best life. Self-Care Resources: If you are looking for a cookbook resource we recommend The Fat Burning Kitchen - Your 24-Hour Diet Transformation to Make Your Body a Fat-Burning Machine - Why to STOP eating whole wheat bread, vegetable oils, energy bars, or cereals - https://bit.ly/2RzknZP (our affiliate link - now you do not pay more ordering from our link, it simply helps us with a commission that supports our work here) Turbulence Training Special Offer - But if you take advantage of this opportunity to ditch your cardio and finally start losing weight today, you can receive access for more than HALF OFF, just $27. (Affiliate link - https://bit.ly/3fZeQUk) Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB Join our FREE Walking Challenge here Treat Your Body With Kindness Self-Care is the idea we are discussing this month. Our idea today is a Self-Care Tip - Treat Your Body with Kindness For Your Best Life. We feel this is a big topic and yet an important topic. The most important aspect of the self-care idea is we only have one body to live in for in our lifetime and feeling good in our mind, body as well as our spirit is definitely a great way to feel each day.
As we continue to live in these stressful times it is more important than ever to take care of ourselves mind, body and spirit, right? Have you heard the quote - “If I knew I was going to live so long, I'd have taken better care of myself.” ― Mickey Mantle. Powerful and such a good reminder of why it is important to have a good self-care practice. What I have found about my own self-care practice is how simple it is to be kind to my body each day for my best life. Practicing many self-care habits over this past year I feel better than I have in years. Some but not all of the self-care practices I have committed to this year are:
Check out our tips to help you treat your body with kindness and be sure to let us know how we can help you. What a lot of people really need, is to focus on being kinder to themselves and their bodies. Most feel that they’re already being kind, but are they really? Get Lots of Rest In my holistic lifestyle coaches training what we learned is sleep/rest is the forgotten pillar of wellness. We learned that if most people just got better read and sleep many nagging health issues would simply go away, that is how vital sleep is for our best life. So, the first and easiest way to treat yourself better would be to make sure that you get as much rest as you need each day. Proper sleep and rest are important for your body because your body needs those periods to make some repairs to your cells. If you don’t get all of the rest you need, then your body will begin to fail in small ways, and you will begin to feel tired all of the time. As you become weaker, you will see a breakdown in the quality of your work, and relationships around you will begin to suffer. Much of this is due to the fact that it’s hard for a person to feel completely connected to others when their mind hasn’t been allowed to rest properly. Studies have connected lack of sleep to a rise in apathy in some people. As the apathy increases, the subject will begin to connect less and less to those around them until they are completely isolated. So it’s extremely important to take proper sleep into consideration. Let Yourself Have Fun Do you ever feel guilty when you take days off or try to do fun things with friends and family? A lot of people are in fields of work that force them to produce more and more work for their company. This culture of overworking yourself isn’t healthy and can lead to extreme forms of burnout. The apathy that comes from being sleep deprived can also play a heavy role in diminishing your ability to enjoy things, so this is a place where arresting and allowing yourself to have fun meet. When you are properly rested, you’ll be in a better state to have fun, and if you allow yourself that time, then you can get rid of a lot of the extra stress that you’ve been holding onto each day. Make Sure You’re Hydrated How much water do your drink in a day? Hydration is something that a lot of people overlook because living in a modern world tells you that everything you need is just a phone call or a store trip away, but people have to make the right choices when it comes to health. A lot of people have fallen into the habit where they've replaced water with different types of soft drinks. These soft drinks are made of mostly sugars and chemicals that were created in a lab, and they don’t provide pure water to help you sustain many of your basic functions, so it can be easy to find that you are dehydrated to a level that can make you feel ill. One idea to drink enough water daily is to have a glass of water when waking up in the morning, have a glass of water before you eat meals and snacks, 2 glasses of water during exercise and a glass of water before bed. Pay Attention to Your Body Self-awareness isn't always something that comes naturally to people. Sometimes it can take a well-crafted effort for you to learn what is needed and when. This is partially because the world at large has taught people to live for their desires more than their needs. Once you have made the choice to get more well acquainted with yourself, you can begin to practice mindfulness so you can learn about the signals that your body puts out to let you know what you really want. This simply means that by taking time for a self-care practice that includes slowing down and connecting more with mind, body and spirit you will learn what is best for you in pursuit of your best life. How do you Treat Your Body with Kindness For Your Best Life? Share any ideas and comments below. Self-Care Resources: If you are looking for a cookbook resource we recommend The Fat Burning Kitchen - Your 24-Hour Diet Transformation to Make Your Body a Fat-Burning Machine - Why to STOP eating whole wheat bread, vegetable oils, energy bars, or cereals - https://bit.ly/2RzknZP (our affiliate link - now you do not pay more ordering from our link, it simply helps us with a commission that supports our work here) Turbulence Training Special Offer - But if you take advantage of this opportunity to ditch your cardio and finally start losing weight today, you can receive access for more than HALF OFF, just $27. (Affiliate link - https://bit.ly/3fZeQUk) Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB Join our FREE Walking Challenge here  Have you heard the saying You Are What You Eat? Simply meaning what you eat indicates the measure of wellness you live with each day. If you are not eating the highest quality food for you then changing your diet is important for so many reasons, not just physical health or weight loss. It can also improve your mental health and help you a lot with stress, anxiety, and depression. Here are some dietary changes to make when working on better self-care.
Drink More Water Water is clear, colourless, odourless and tasteless. So you will want to drink filtered water that has removed the chemicals. Fluoride and Chlorine are definitely not beneficial to be drinking for health. Now, there are practically an endless amount of benefits to drinking more water, and self-care is one of them. When you want to take better care of yourself, drinking water to hydrate must be one of your top priorities. It is great for diet and physical health, which in turn can help with your mental health as well. Sometimes, when you are extremely stressed out or having an episode of anger toward someone, sitting alone to drink a glass of water can do wonders for you. Do you know that most people today cannot tell the difference between being thirsty or if they are hungry? If you think you are hungry it will be in your best interest to have a glass of water and wait twenty minutes. If after twenty minutes you still feel hungry go ahead and have something to eat. Eat Nutritious Real Organic Food Another way to change your diet for self-care is to fill up on healthier real organic options and avoid eating the less healthy options. What we mean is simply begin adding more organic fruits, veggies, pastured proteins and wild-caught fish. For many, this may take some time to adjust to eating real organic food and you will have to train your taste buds if they are not in the practice of eating this way. We have lost touch with the idea of cooking and eating real organic food so give yourself time. Time to learn to enjoy the most amazing flavours mother earth has to offer, time to learn how to prepare these foods in your own kitchen and begin the practice of eating around the dining table each evening enjoying the feast with family and friends. One of the super simple ways to eat real organic food meals is to begin to make new recipes. Find 3 recipes you know you will enjoy and begin to make them at least weekly until you can make each recipe without looking at the cookbook. If you stick with this idea, you will be able to learn at least 3 new recipes a month and that is 36 new recipes a year. Have fun learning how to cook. Find Healthy Comfort Food If you want to eat healthier, but prefer comfort food, you can still do this! You don’t have to eat anything but salads and fish just to eat healthily. There are lots of ways to take your favourite comfort foods and make them healthier. For example, you can use cucumber when making dips, lettuce leaves to make wraps, and one of our favourite comfort foods is homemade chicken wings in a dry rub of sea salt, cayenne pepper and a teaspoon of turmeric, baked in the oven. So delicious, simple to prepare and easy to enjoy. We believe that taking care of yourself is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. Learn how these Super Simple Dietary Changes to Make For Self-Care will help you for your best life. Today we simply want to share that there are many ways to practice self-care when it comes to what you decide to eat. Your creativity will be your most exciting practice learning how to make dietary changes. It would be great to hear your thoughts in the comments below. What super simple dietary changes have you made as a part of your self-care plan and your healthy lifestyle? Share any thoughts or ideas in the comments below. If you are looking for a cookbook resource we recommend The Fat Burning Kitchen - Your 24-Hour Diet Transformation to Make Your Body a Fat-Burning Machine - Why to STOP eating whole wheat bread, vegetable oils, energy bars, or cereals - https://bit.ly/2RzknZP (our affiliate link - now you do not pay more ordering from our link, it simply helps us with a commission that supports our work here) Turbulence Training Special Offer - But if you take advantage of this opportunity to ditch your cardio and finally start losing weight today, you can receive access for more than HALF OFF, just $27. (Affiliate link - https://bit.ly/3fZeQUk) Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Here are some resources that I use: Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB Join our FREE Walking Challenge here https://forms.aweber.com/form/46/118824146.htm Taking Care Of You That Costs Nothing Ideas We are discussing self-care this month and it seems that many people feel that this is a big expense. Today we want to share a couple of ideas to help you take care of yourself that costs nothing. You see we believe that self-care activities don’t have to include getting an expensive facial or massage, or joining a gym. You can practice self-care every single day and not spend a dime. Our topic today is Think Self-Care Is Expensive? Taking Care Of You That Costs Nothing Ideas Here are some great free or low-cost ways to have more self-care. Take a Bath Getting in a hot bath can be a great way to self-care. We might suggest a bubble bath or maybe Epsom salts and essential oils if have the supplies. Draw yourself a hot bath and pour in some bubbles, essential oils, or bath salts. Soak in the tub with some music playing or just sit in silence. Make sure the house and family are taken care of in advance so you can have the time to take full advantage of soaking in the tub. Lock the door so you have no distractions and let the dogs out, so they don’t bother you either. Remember not to bring your cell phone to the bathroom with you! Practice Meditation Many people also like to practice meditation as a form of self-care without spending a lot of money. This is something else that can be free or possibly cost a small amount of money, depending on your method. For example, if you want to purchase a meditation CD to follow along to, naturally you will be spending a small amount of money. However, for the most part, this is minimal and a one-time cost. Meditation involves breathing exercises and sitting in a quiet space alone while you relax your mind. You want to try to think about as little as possible, using imagery to think of something that brings you peace and happiness, instead of using this time to think about what is causing you stress in the first place. It does take a little practice, but once you get the hang of it, you will realize just how beneficial and enjoyable it can be. Go For a Walk or Run Exercise must always be at the top of your list when you are looking to find activities for yourself that don’t cost anything. Some workouts cost money when you need to get a gym membership or buy fancy equipment, but both walking and running require nothing. Just wear comfortable clothes and a good pair of shoes, and you’re good to go! You can walk around your neighbourhood, head to somewhere more scenic, or even walk in place or up and down the stairs in your home if the weather is bad outside. We believe that taking care of yourself is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. It doesn’t cost a lot to begin the practice. Today we simply want to share that there are many ways to practice self-care that costs nothing. These activities are relaxing, rejuvenating and enjoyable. It would be great to hear your thoughts in the comments below. How do you practice low or no-cost self-care? Share any thoughts or ideas in the comments below. Turbulence Training Special Offer - But if you take advantage of this opportunity to ditch your cardio and finally start losing weight today, you can receive access for more than HALF OFF, just $27. (Affiliate link - https://bit.ly/3fZeQUk) Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Here are some resources that I use: Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB Join our FREE Walking Challenge here One of our favourite things to do is get out in natureWho We Are and sometimes it can be a challenge to get out of the city. So, we have found a few city parks and nature walks that are only minutes away from where we live. Getting out for a walk, connect with the earth, be outdoors is truly uplifting and we feel a great way to practice self-care. Our topic today is Self-Care Tip - 4 Easy Ways to Reconnect with Nature When You Live in the City. Be sure to share your ideas and comments below. Get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. If you live and work in a big city, it might feel almost impossible to reconnect with the natural world. After all, you’re surrounded by concrete, glass and steel twenty-four-seven, right? If you work from home, somedays you might not even get outside. Reconnecting with nature might seem like an impossible hippy-dippy dream for most of us. But if you’re craving some greenery, there are some things you can do right now to get back in touch with Mother Nature. 1. Go barefoot in the grass Okay, so there’s not much lawn in your tenth-floor apartment and even less in your twenty-fifth-floor office. But most cities have parks, river banks or beaches where you can escape the relentless demands of twenty-first-century life. Try to take a green lunch break at least a couple of times a week and go to the nearest park. Sit on the ground, take off your shoes, and wiggle your toes into the cool green grass. 2. Touch the earth While you’re in the park, press your hands and feet flat onto the earth and feel the difference between earth and concrete. There’s a reason why that feeling of relaxation is called ‘being grounded.’ It immediately taps you back into a different, slower world where the grass, plants, and trees are just doing their stuff regardless of office politics or the daily grind. 3. Feel the sun on your skin You don’t have to be out in nature to appreciate the warmth of the sun. Sunlight is humans’ primary source of Vitamin D, and it also regulates hormones and your daily waking and sleeping cycle (your circadian rhythms). As long as you don’t overdo it, some sun exposure is great for your mood and your body. 4. Notice the seasons Even in the middle of the big cities, there are trees, planter boxes full of plants and florist stores. Even if you’re stuck indoors all day, take a moment to look out of the window, even better if you can open the window and get some fresh air! What can you see? Are there leaves or flowers on the trees? Look up. Are clouds building? Is there a storm brewing? Or is the sun shining? You can still reconnect with nature as you look out of the window or walk down the street. That will help until you can get to your favourite nature reserve or beach. We believe that learning how to practice self-care by connecting with nature even if you live in the city is an important aspect of a healthy lifestyle. It would be great to hear your thoughts in the comments below. How do you practice connecting with nature as a form of self-care? Share any thoughts or ideas in the comments below. Turbulence Training Special Offer - But if you take advantage of this opportunity to ditch your cardio and finally start losing weight today, you can receive access for more than HALF OFF, just $27. (Affiliate link - https://bit.ly/3fZeQUk) Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Here are some resources that I use: Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB Join our FREE Walking Challenge here  Include Exercise With Your Self-Care Practice For Stress Reduction We believe that taking care of yourself is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. There are a lot of different types of self-care activities, from drawing or writing in a journal (we wrote about this here ), to taking a bath or eating well. Another thing you can do is exercise, which releases those happy endorphins to relieve stress, and gives you some alone time. Today we would like to share the idea of learning to Practice with These Exercises to Help with Self Care For Stress. Here are some exercises to try out for self-care when you are working on stress relief. Go for a Walk Walking is our absolute favourite way to reduce stress and take care of ourselves. It is probably one of the best exercises you can do for self-care. It is easy to do with a lot of flexibility, doesn’t cost anything, and can be done alone or with others. If you have dogs, you can take them for a walk around the neighbourhood or go hiking. You can walk alone during your morning break at work to de-stress, or walk in the evenings with your kids for some family time. Walking alone also helps you to really focus your thoughts and provide much-needed private time. (Join our FREE Walking Challenge here ) Take a Yoga Class Yoga is another really good exercise for self-care. It is often done in combination with mindfulness meditation and similar relaxation techniques. With yoga, you learn proper breathing techniques to relax your body and mind and help to relieve your stress. Yoga can also be good for your physical fitness, helping to tone your body and improve your flexibility. You can either try yoga at home or take a class if you want to get out and learn from an instructor. Go Dancing This is a fun activity that is good for physical health and can be wonderful for your mental health as well. You can also dance in your home, but when you go out to dance, you are benefiting in multiple ways. For one thing, you are more inclined to keep dancing all night long, burning lots of calories and releasing endorphins at the same time. It also encourages you to get out of the house and be more social, which can be great for your stress and depression. Don’t forget that going out can be good for you when you feel like you spend too much time at home, but aren’t sure where to go. Try Unique Workouts There are also some of the less traditional ways to exercise, like going indoor rock climbing, heading to an indoor trampoline center, or taking a barre method class. We enjoy getting out in nature for a big of trail running, and hiking for example. These workouts provide the same good amount of exercise but help you try new things at the same time. We believe that learning how to practice using exercise as a form of self-care for stress is an important aspect of a healthy lifestyle. It would be great to hear your thoughts in the comments below. How do you practice using exercise as a form of self-care to reduce stress? Share any thoughts on the importance of practicing exercise as a way to use self-care for stress in the comments below. Turbulence Training Special Offer - But if you take advantage of this opportunity to ditch your cardio and finally start losing weight today, you can receive access for more than HALF OFF, just $27. (Affiliate link - https://bit.ly/3fZeQUk) Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Here are some resources that I use: Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB Join our FREE Walking Challenge here Journalling Benefits For Self-Care Caring for yourself is an important part of a health and wellness practice. Today our topic asks the question What Are The Benefits of Writing In A Self Care Journal? We believe so for a few reasons. We have been using a journal for many years and began to notice how it helped to improve our mindset about how we were taking care of ourselves. Check out today’s topic and be sure to share your ideas and comments below. And get in touch with us to let us know how we can help you. Do you journal as a part of your health and wellness practice? One of the top coaching recommendations for practicing self-care on a routine basis is to start a journal This was so helpful, easy to do, and doesn’t cost a lot of money. It is convenient and can be brought with you everywhere, so even in the middle of a busy workday, you can grab the journal and write in it for a few minutes. You Can Express Yourself in a Healthy Way First of all, when you are dealing with a lot of stress, it can make it hard to focus on anything. However, you may not want to express yourself in a frustrated or angry way, especially with your friends and loved ones. In order to practice self-care with journaling but also express yourself, you must have a journal that is kept private and confidential. Whenever you need to unload your thoughts or feelings, you can do it with the journal. When my mother died was when I began my practice of using a journal. This was a good way to deal with my grief and sadness. At that time, I decided I was going to use a pen and paper journal to write my daily thoughts and feelings for one year. That is exactly what I did. Writing helped me move through so many feelings that might have taken a long time otherwise. It Helps you to Find the Root of Your Issues Also, consider what is causing you stress or anxiety. Do you know why you have so much emotional stress? Are you sure you know the reason behind your frequent panic attacks? If you don’t, a journal can be very helpful. As you write in the daily entries, include information about your mood and how you’re feeling. When you feel a high amount of stress, frustration, anxiety, or depression, make a note of it. Then you can look back and see if things like caffeine or diet, work, relationships, or other aspects of your life are becoming triggers for you. Learn About Yourself Probably the biggest benefit from journaling is what you learn about yourself. When you read back your challenges and accomplishments, you can recognize areas where you need to focus on, and you can take pride in your achievements. You still can do all this without a journal, but most people forget much of what they have done and why they did it. This was a powerful practice for me to become clear on feelings that were real and those caused by outside influences that I could control like food, drink, exercise or even how the weather made me feel. Journaling Provides Clarity In some cases, your stress causes you to constantly think about what is stressing you out, which can be very overwhelming. If you want clarity, journaling is a great option. While you are writing in your journal, you aren’t thinking about anything else but what you are journaling about. It is a really good way to open yourself up to find clarity with any situation you are dealing with that is causing your stress. It Helps You Find Your Next Actions This was the most beneficial thing about writing in a journal for me. Perhaps you are stressed because of a certain life situation or you’re not sure about the direction of your life, or you know you have to make some major changes and just don’t know how to begin. Journaling can help you express yourself and find the next path your life must take. Finding your clarity and making clear action steps will definitely help you on the way to the beginning of your journaling experience for self-care. More Than Just Words Journaling can be done with a notebook and pen. However, by using a computerized version, you can tie in graphics, videos, audio, and other media types. You are limited only by your imagination. The more of these types of media you incorporate, the better. Besides, it can be a lot of fun to produce a journal in this fashion. You can choose to print out hard copies and store them in a notebook if you’d like. Let the Format Evolve At the current time, there is no journaling police that will come and take you away if your format is not correct. There is no correct format. Just start creating, and the format will start to evolve as you develop it. You will notice what works and scrap what doesn’t. Don’t restrict yourself. Just create and then make changes as you progress. So, we began today asking the question Are There Benefits of Writing In A Self-Care Journal? We believe there are many benefits to using and writing in a self-care journal. It would be great to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Do you write in a journal? Have you used a journal to improve your self-care? Share any thoughts on the importance of self-care in the comments below. Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Here are some resources that I use: Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB Join our FREE Walking Challenge here https://forms.aweber.com/form/46/118824146.htm The Importance of Self-Care Self-Care is the big topic we want to share ideas with you this month. As we continue to live through these challenging times it is our belief that taking the time for self-care is more important than ever. Be sure to share any ideas and comments below. Get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you.
Self-care involves taking better care of yourself, which is essential for the mind, body and spirit. It can really make a positive impact on your life, from helping you to connect regularly with friends and family to relieve your stress, to moving well, sleeping well and eating well as some examples. Here are some of the top benefits of self-care. It Helps to Relieve Stress If you are like most people, you probably are more aware of this over the past year that we all have lived with a lot of stress, right? And this can also be stress from your job, financial situation, relationships, or other personal reasons. Self-care is important for stress relief because it provides activities that help calm your mind and focuses you, improve your mood, and help you take better care of yourself. Keep in mind that self-care can be anything from taking a bath to going for a walk, so there are tons of options available. You Can Improve Your Mental Health In addition to relieving your stress, self-care can also help in other aspects of your mental health. Perhaps you have anxiety or depression and are practicing to relax while also figuring out your triggers. Well, things like writing in a journal and walking help you accomplish both. You are able to focus more on your mental health during these activities, so you are practicing self-care while actually improving your mental health at the same time. It Raises Your Self-Esteem Did you know taking better care of yourself can help with your self-esteem? Lack of proper self-care often causes you to feel bad about yourself, such as from not getting a manicure or pedicure in a while, or not exercising. These types of activities make you feel healthy, fit, and beautiful, which goes a long way with self-care. With higher self-esteem, you raise your confidence, and that can help boost your mood and help with your stress levels. You Deserve Some Quality Time Don’t underestimate the power of having quality time to yourself. There are so many ways to do this, whether you allow yourself some time to meditate in the morning, get up early to have your cup of coffee alone, or have dance parties in the living room with your family. This quality time gives you a short break from your daily life and can be so wonderful for your self-care. Learn to give yourself at least a few minutes a day for self-care. It will help you to reduce stress and improve other areas of mental health. Share any thoughts on the importance of self-care in the comments below. Be sure to get in touch with us and let us know how we can help you. Here are some resources that I use: Personal Care Products & Healthy Home Products go here https://bit.ly/3upNqxB Join our FREE Walking Challenge here |
Wendy BottrellWe have outsourced our lifestyle for way too long! 
 
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