A Plus Attitudes

Everyone can benefit from self care and should take the time to schedule it into their routine.

Not sure where to start with self care? Here are 5 ideas to get you started.

 

Take a walk

There are so many benefits to walking. The obvious is it is good exercise and almost anyone, regardless of their fitness level can do it.

Taking a walk can help you clear your mind. Some people do walking meditation. If you are walking to clear your mind, consider leaving your phone at home or at least put it on “do not disturb” or “silence” mode. Remember this is YOU time and you are practising self care.

Write in a journal

Writing in a journal is a wonderful way to express yourself. My brother Bill has been writing in a journal everyday for as long as he can remember. He said he journals to get things off his chest, express himself creatively, clear his head of worries, notate ideas, brainstorm and much more. A journal can also be your memoir that you can revisit when you want to or pass on to the next generation if you feel you want to share the information in it.

Read a good book

Who doesn’t love getting lost in a good book? I belong to a book club and we often pick books that are at times intense or thought provoking. It’s good to challenge the mind, but sometimes I just love reading a book for entertainment.

I personally love reading an actual book. My first go-to place for my books is our local library or the Little Free Libraries that have started to pop up in my neighborhood. If I had any “DIY” skills, I would consider building my own…but that’s perhaps another post.

When it is summertime, I love to read stories that take place at the beach. I call them my mindless, feel good books.

I feel like when I read, time stands still and often I am taken to a different dimension. It is my temporary escape route from the rest of the world, and who couldn’t use and escape to some magical place once in a while?

Practice meditation

Meditation can just be finding a few minutes each day to sit in silence. Put all your devices beyond your reach or preferably in a different room(unless you have a meditation app you use) and just listen to silence. The sound of silence can be so calming. Just sit and listen without judgement and let your thoughts come and go. If it helps, visualize each thought sitting on a cloud just slowly drifting past you. Just observe the “thought cloud” as it passes by and return to listening to silence. You can do this throughout the day when a few free minutes present themselves.

Don’t get caught up in the logistics of meditation. The main purpose of meditation is to find a way to calm your mind and/or give all your thoughts a rest. You don’t have to sit any particular way, just be comfortable and if possible meditate in a place where you might not be disturbed or interrupted. If you can’t get away from noise, you can always put on noise cancelling ear buds and if you are comfortable enough in your surroundings, close your eyes to reduce outside stimulation and distractions.

Practice Gratitude

Practicing gratitude is probably one of my favorite things to do. When I routinely practice gratitude, my life seems so much better and I am more content. Practicing gratitude steers my focus in the direction of contentment and abundance.

It is so easy to get caught up in FOMO(Fear of Mission Out) or what my generation referred to as “keeping up with the Jones”. We are bombarded with subliminal messages that we are less if we aren’t driving a certain car, carrying a designer handbag, wearing the latest clothes, living in a bigger domicile. We are told that we have to have the latest phone, watch, tablet to keep up with everyone else. But as soon as we get the latest, there is a newer one. It’s impossible to keep up and...no matter where we are in life there will always be someone who is better looking, wealthier, fitter, smarter, more talented, happier(or so it appears)…you get the picture. So, that is where a gratitude journal comes in handy, it helps you focus on everything that is good in your life and NOT other people’s lives.

My gratitude journal often starts with non-material things because it helps remind me that material things are useless without the non-material things such as “breath, life, good health, healthy family, peace…” I think you get the picture.

Want some more self care ideas? Download my free self care tip sheet.

Do you practice self care? If so, please share some of your favorite self care tips in the comments.

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