Are you feeling a little burned out? You’re not alone. Many things can get in the way of taking care of ourselves, but ultimately when we do take care of ourselves and our needs, we’re better able to show up for other people in our lives.
Self-care can include a myriad of practices that you find enjoyable and that also promote your physical, emotional, spiritual, or mental health in some way.
Self-care is the behaviour you exhibit to take care of your own health, and it can include hygiene, nutrition, leisure activities, sports, exercise, seeking professional healthcare services when needed, and much more.
“I truly believe that self-care is often misunderstood as indulgence or selfishness, but in reality, it is a preventive and essential practice for mental and physical wellbeing,” says Zishan Khan, MD, a Psychiatrist with Mindpath Health based in Frisco, Texas.
“The mistake many people make is focusing only on surface-level self-care such as bubble baths or spa days. While these are important, people may neglect deeper self-care such as setting boundaries, emotional regulation, and cognitive wellness.”
According to Dr. Khan, a commonly overlooked aspect of self-care is finding fulfillment through purpose-driven activities like volunteering, creative expression, or practising mindful eating.
“The way we fuel our bodies truly impacts mood and cognition, and serving others can further reinforce the sense of connection and gratitude, both of which are key elements of wellbeing,” he says.
Need some self-care inspiration? Here are some suggestions:
1. Prioritise Sleep
When it comes to taking care of your health and wellbeing, sleep is pretty much always part of the answer.
Sleep is one of the top ways that we can help prioritise our mental health. Sleep deprivation can make it harder to process your emotions, leaving you more susceptible to feelings of anxiety and depression, and exacerbating symptoms of other mental or chronic health conditions.
Lack of sleep can also lead to headaches, decreased mood, and overall poor brain function, including the following symptoms:
- Irritability
- Trouble with focus or memory
- Slower reaction times
- Headaches
“Someone’s productivity is not good when they’re running on empty because they’re not sleeping well. They can’t concentrate as well, their cognitive skills aren’t what they should be, and they’re just not able to be present,” says Paul Losoff, PsyD, a clinical psychologist with Bedrock Psychology Group in Northbrook, Illinois.
Dr. Losoff says that while we know sleep should be a priority, sometimes getting quality sleep is an issue. This is where instituting sleep hygiene or a sleep routine comes in.
One thing you can do immediately? Set your phone down before it’s time to head to bed. “It can disrupt sleep and lead to worsening inattention. Late-night scrolling disrupts circadian rhythm and focus,” Khan says. “The blue light from our devices prevents the natural release of the body’s melatonin stores and stimulates the mind further, making it harder to settle down to sleep.”
Other parts of a successful routine to combat sleep deprivation can include these habits:
- Setting a bedtime and sticking to it
- Limiting bright lights
- Avoiding meals and alcohol right before bed
- Being physical throughout the day
- Being consistent in your nighttime routine
- Getting evaluated by your primary care doctor or a sleep specialist if your sleep doesn’t improve
Move Your Body
Exercise can feel like a heavy task, especially if you’re already struggling to make time for your daily to-do list. In reality, it doesn’t have to be time-consuming or look any specific way – it’s just about moving your body in ways that feel good and accessible to you.
Staying active keeps your body healthy physically, lowering both your risk of many chronic health issues and your chances of death from acute illnesses like the flu and pneumonia.
It also boosts your sense of wellbeing because exercise releases endorphins – hormones that make you feel good. In addition, moving your body sharpens focus, aids sleep, increases energy, lessens the risk of mood disorders, and has the potential to improve your mood overall.
Yoga is one form of exercise that offers a laundry list of physical health benefits:
- Heightened body awareness
- Improved heart health
- Greater flexibility
- Better posture
- Healthier bones and joints
Yoga is known to be beneficial to mental health too.
A yoga practice can aid in overall stress reduction because it requires you to focus on your breath, stimulating the branch of your nervous system that induces relaxation.
Increasing movement in small ways on a busy day could involve any of these actions:
- Add a few extra steps
Consider walking to a coffee shop before work instead of driving, taking your dog for a walk the long way, parking further from a store, or using a walking pad while you watch the latest episode of your favourite show.
- Choose enjoyable activities
Do the types of activities that bring you joy, like a five-minute dance party or a walk around the neighbourhood with a friend. - Do seated exercises
Your current level of mobility doesn’t have to be a barrier. You can use resistance bands or hand weights for strength, or try chair yoga for relaxation and flexibility. - Prioritise things you already do
Do you spend regular time in the garden? What about handwashing your car? If these are ways you already move your body, don’t take them for granted.
Laughter as Medicine
Laughter is an antidote to stress, helping to physically reduce your symptoms.
It reduces levels of the stress hormone cortisol and is thought to be beneficial for overall wellbeing, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Engage in simple activities that bring you joy, like taking time to be silly with your kids or watching your favourite comedy movie. Even if it’s brief, a moment of laughter can have a positive impact on your mood.
When it comes to stress relief, laughter may seem like a whimsical fix, but it really works.
In the short term, you’re enhancing your intake of oxygen-rich air, which helps your heart, lungs, and muscles. One frequently cited study has even linked humour and laughter to improved immune function, since it can increase the activity of natural killer cells in people with cancer, potentially increasing their ability to fight the disease.
Go Forest Bathing
The Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, means walking in an area with trees and taking in the air and your surroundings. This is one way to practise mindfulness, a known benefit to overall wellness.
Forest bathing has other benefits as well:
- Increased oxygen to your brain
- Reduced cortisol levels
- Lessened depression
The practice is so powerful that forest bathing has been shown to decrease measures of depression, according to one review of studies.
Compared with people with depression who received no intervention or standard care, those who received some form of forest therapy were 17 times more likely to achieve remission and 3 times more likely to achieve a 50 percent or greater reduction in depression symptoms.
Break Out the Game Controllers
Engaging in hobbies is important, and this includes activities like playing video games. According to a mixed-method study of college students, open world-style video games like The Legend of Zelda can be beneficial for relaxation and stress reduction by allowing players a temporary mental escape from real-life stressors.
A survey of current video game players conducted by the Entertainment Software Association supports playing games to decompress as well as for spending time with family. According to the survey, 89 percent of respondents said that video games relieved stress, and 61 percent said they helped keep them close to family.
Be mindful of screen time, however: Playing video games excessively is linked to worsened mental and physical health, as well as having negative effects on social skills.
Eat Intuitively
We know that what we eat can have an impact on our mood, but it turns out that how we eat does too. Instead of focusing on what you can’t or shouldn’t eat, intuitive eating centres on kindness and self-care for your body.
It’s not a diet: Intuitive eating doesn’t restrict specific foods or require counting calories.
By design, it rejects the idea of good or bad foods and instead encourages a practice in which you listen to your body and pay attention to what you need in the moment.
According to a meta-analysis of 97 studies, this practice has significant benefits to overall physical health and emotional wellbeing, including improved body image, self-esteem, and wellbeing.
Cut Back on Caffeine
Caffeine is one of the most popular stimulants in the world, with 80 percent of the world’s population consuming 200 milligrams (mg) of the psychoactive chemical in some form via coffee, tea, energy drinks, and the like each day.
However, research has linked caffeine consumption to an increased chance of anxiety, particularly in doses over 400 mg – the equivalent of two or three 12-ounce (oz) cups – per day, which is also the maximum amount recommended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
This doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy a good cup of coffee in the morning, but it could mean that it’s worth limiting your intake if you notice a connection between your consumption and your mood.
If you’re not quite sure how much caffeine you’re really getting each day, check your consumption with this chart from the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
If you want to cut down, consider these changes:
- Shifting to a weaker brew
- Pouring a smaller cup or brewing less in your pot
- Lessening the frequency of your coffee or caffeine drinks each day
- Swapping your regular coffee for decaf or caffeine-free alternatives like chicory
- Switching from a strong coffee to a less-caffeinated tea
Skip the Scales
Because food and body movement are connected to mood, discussions of self-care can often teeter into conversations about health and body standards.
While aiming to make decisions that are in line with what your body needs is a great way to practise self-care, it can be hard to tune out the messaging that veers into body shaming.
For some, hopping on the scales is part of a morning routine. This could be beneficial for different goals (for example, tracking your muscle gains from a weight-lifting regimen), but think about how checking regularly makes you feel.
According to one meta-analysis, weighing can be a source of stress and a habit that drives down self-esteem.
Does getting on the scales regularly negatively affect your mood or your opinion of yourself? Does it impact the ways you choose to take care of yourself? If any of these are the case, consider weighing yourself less.
If you find that the numbers on the scales significantly impact your actions or mental wellness, you might want to reach out to a mental health professional as well as your primary care doctor to discuss ways to better navigate both your mental and physical wellness in tandem.
Practice Gratitude
“I find that gratitude is a powerful cognitive tool that rewires a person’s brain to focus on positivity rather than deficits,” Khan says. “It reduces stress hormones, may boost dopamine and serotonin, and creates a more resilient mindset.”
How might gratitude look in a regular self-care practice? Khan offers the following suggestions:
- Keep a gratitude journal
Write down at least three small wins or things you’re thankful for on a daily basis. - Go on a gratitude walk
While walking, reflect on sensory experiences around you, like the sound of the birds and the warmth of the sun. - Express gratitude to others
Send appreciative messages to friends, family, or colleagues to reinforce those positive connections.
Create a Daily Ritual
Part of what can make self-care feel unattainable is the pressure to make it fit into your daily life. But experts say that it doesn’t have to be a heavy lift.
“This should be more than just a routine and should be non-negotiable,” Khan says. “This doesn’t have to be overly extensive or time-consuming.
Whether it’s five minutes of deep breathing, journaling, or stretching, having consistency in self-care creates resilience.”
Daniela Wolfe, a licensed master social worker with Best D Life, a coaching practice in Buffalo, New York, also emphasises the importance of prioritising self-care practices: “People don’t always prioritise self-care on a daily basis.
Practise Positive Self-Talk
Positive self-talk is the practice of challenging one’s negative inner dialogue and working on replacing it with more supportive, constructive thoughts. This practice enhances self-esteem, leads to greater resilience, and helps regulate emotions.
So instead of saying, “I’m a failure at everything,” reframe it with, “Yes, I faced a setback, but I can learn from it and grow.” Practising affirmations like “I am capable and prepared” can shift anxiety into confidence and focus, Khan says.
Automate Your Joy
If a self-care practice is new to you, a gentle reminder could be useful. Wolfe suggests that her clients set an alarm on their phone.
“You set that reminder five times, for one minute each. During that one minute, you don’t do anything else – you don’t scroll, you don’t go on social media, you don’t throw in a load of laundry – and you just focus on your breath for one minute, do some shoulder shrugs, or have some water,” Wolfe says.
According to Wolfe, the goal is to increase the length of time for your self-care moments, but one minute is all it takes. “Studies have shown that your cortisol levels go down. Your heart rate starts to go down. You’re relaxing and de-stressing, as well as getting the dopamine hit from setting a goal and achieving it,” she says. “And now you have a five-minute self-care practice.”
Schedule Your Day With Intentional Gaps
According to Wolfe, your mindset when prioritising self-care is just as important as checking off the boxes. She asks, “Are you able to focus on what you’re doing? Are you present, or are you running through your to-do list or feeling guilty about the fact that you’re taking time?”
To address this, she suggests making a schedule with two or three of your priorities in mind (including self-care, of course), but be sure to leave buffer time between activities to allow for life to happen.
“Then you’ll know that you’re not running late, feeling stressed, or going back-to-back between activities,” Wolfe says.
Try Alternate-Nostril Breathing
Alternate-nostril breathing, a yogic practice that is also known as channel-cleaning breathing, or nadi shodhana in Sanskrit, is an intentional way to centre and slow down your breathing:
- Exhale completely through your mouth.
- Before your next inhale, gently place your right thumb against your right nostril to close it off, inhaling using just your left nostril.
- Place your right index finger on your left nostril, so that both are held closed, and hold your breath for a moment or two.
- Then release your thumb and exhale through only the open right nostril.
- Keeping your left nostril closed, pause, then inhale through the open right nostril.
- Use your thumb to again block your right nostril, and hold both nostrils closed for a moment or two.
- Release your index finger to exhale through your left nostril.
- Keeping your right nostril closed, pause, and inhale through your open left nostril.
- Continue alternating sides and repeat for 15 rounds.
This breath work exercise has three main potential benefits:
- Stress reduction
- Improved focus and attention
- Increased breathing quality overall
Use an App or Video for Meditation
If you’re interested in meditating as a form of self-care, there’s good news: You don’t need any special equipment or space for this – you can do it anytime, anywhere. Free or low-cost subscription apps like Calm, Headspace, or Insight Timer walk you through the steps of guided meditations that suit your comfort level.
Losoff often tells his clients to search YouTube for meditations, as he understands the importance of accessibility. “Whether it’s just simple relaxation or meditation for sleep, anxiety, or eating better, it’s all in the category of helping the brain relax,” he says. “It doesn’t cost any money, and everyone can access it.”
SOURCE: Everyday Health
