It’s self-care Sunday, and tonight, I’m here with a blog all about self-care and why it’s so important. There’s nothing quite like the calming feelings that surround the day that is Sunday. Alongside that, it’s perfect when you decide to spend the day doing some self-care, completely switch off for the day, and take the day to relax. Not all of us have the time to do this, but it’s always good to be able to make time for it. It’s so important to be able to invest in self-care and to be able to have at least one day a week where you stop and immerse yourself into a carefree day treating yourself.
Self-care is about being kind to yourself, giving yourself an hour or so to switch off, relax and do what you enjoy. So, when we’re feeling stressed or have had an awful week, we can do some self-care to refresh and recharge rather than taking on these more self-destructive routes; they are only temporary and often worsen our emotions. Instead, indulging in self-care will make your body and mind feel good, and that refreshing feeling can last for a few days. Here are some benefits to do with self-care. Then, at the bottom are a few ideas you can try yourself!
1) Enhanced self-esteem
When we practise self-care, it enables us to boost our self-esteem and make ourselves feel better. When we invest in self-care, we begin to feel ourselves starting to love ourselves and our bodies because we’re showing them love and appreciation. When we care for our minds and bodies, they do the same for us; when we put them through a lot of stress, they react to make us feel low.
So, when you’re doing your skincare or whatever you choose to do on your self-care day, that will make you feel better, which is why it’s essential to carry on doing it. It’s easy to forget or to be so caught up in everything else that we don’t do it every week or every day. But it wonders for our self-esteem; it makes us feel more confident. When we look good, we feel good on the inside, and even just doing a little pampering can do a whole world of good to how you feel about yourself.
2) Better productivity/creativity
We always feel more productive once we do things we enjoy, organise our weeks, decide what to wear the day, etc. Self-care makes us feel more motivated if we’re at work. You have something fun planned over the weekend, you’re productive at work, and you allow the week to have a positive attitude, which makes you happier and more happy to enjoy what you have planned.
Not only that, but you can also do some self-care activities before you go to bed and then have an early night. Then, getting a good night’s sleep will significantly boost your productivity levels. Having that ability to focus on yourself more reduces the effects of stress and anxiety and has significant benefits on your creative skills. Often, overwhelming ourselves with specific tasks and piling work upon work on ourselves does a lot more harm than good. It stresses our bodies out, and we procrastinate and lose focus.
This is why it’s essential to separate pieces of work or plan, get a good night’s sleep and wake up feeling productive and ready to take on the day. Most importantly, it would be best to give yourself the self-care you need to let your creative juices flow and be motivated to complete your tasks, leading to a successful day. It’s also a fact that slowing down makes you more productive because you’re giving yourself time to work through it slowly rather than taking on too much.
3) Better physical health/mental health
There are many benefits of self-care regarding physical health; one is that it boosts your immune system. When you get lots of rest, exercise and perhaps take a hot bath, all of these activate the Parasympathetic Nervous System; when this happens, it puts your body into a sense of rest mode, giving it time to relax after a hectic day. The more we add this into our routine, the better we’ll feel. All the time we’re doing, this allows our bodies to have the opportunity to build up these defences against nasty flu or sickness bugs, which most likely attack at our weakest.
Having your body in that relaxed mode also means it’s not going through stress, which massively helps your physical health. It also enables you to realise that you’re important and how you’re feeling. Having a well-cared-for body makes you feel good about yourself and the life you are living; it gives you more value and self-worth. Even going for a walk is also a great way to exercise while still having your body feel reasonably relaxed.
It also has many benefits regarding mental health, such as the fact that it can uplift your mood. If you’ve had a bad day and get into a nice bubble bath, that will instantly improve your mood. No matter how you’re feeling, self-care can help you feel better. It’s just about learning to do it more frequently and not just as a one-off. It gives you something that will boost your spirits and reduce anxiety. It can also help the brain focus more when the surroundings are more organised, which is where self-care comes into play. Not only that, but it helps when it’s got something to focus on, something to motivate it.
4) Prevents distraction
We all get distracted, and we sometimes get distracted by things, leading us to forget about what’s important or needs to be done. If we’re taking care of ourselves, focusing on the essential things can be more accessible. And you can talk to me, and then we can ignore each other. This leads us to be distracted and often need to work on things. When our minds are so filled with stress, worry, concern or anxiety about what will occur or how we will get through certain situations, we become distracted.
When we find it hard to concentrate because we have too much going on in our minds, we mess up. This is why it’s so important to be able to focus on self-care, which keeps us focused and stops us from making mistakes. Whether that’s being more organised to complete tasks on time without distractions, having a clear-out, or even exercising. Without an excellent self-care plan, distractions will always loom, and we work best when there isn’t any of that around us.
5) Healthy relationships with ourselves
It’s so important that we have a healthy relationship with ourselves, along with friends and family. We can’t go through life having a toxic relationship with ourselves and constantly putting ourselves down and lowering our self-esteem daily. It’s not the way to live a healthy life. You’re such an important person, and it’s in realising that you’ll realise how much of a benefit having a healthy relationship with your body and mind is.
The truth is when we have a terrible relationship with ourselves; it can often impact our relationship with our family and friends. It’s ok to take a day off and take time to breathe and do something you love. Doing what we love or simply having a relaxing day allows us to check in on ourselves. It will enable us to ensure we’re doing okay and happy with what is occurring in our lives. It’s even more important that, in these times, we’re still in that; we check in on ourselves and have a healthy relationship with our bodies and minds.
Ideas for physical self-care: Get good sleep, eat a healthy diet, prepare some of your favourite meals, exercise regularly, even if it’s just a walk, do some skin care, have a relaxing bath or shower, moisturise your skin, and spend time outdoors.
Ideas for your mental health: Spend time practising mindfulness, focus on an activity you enjoy, exercise your brain, get organised, do something you’ve been putting off for a while, and laugh.
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