Sometimes, you may feel some challenges in your life. To overcome them you need to put in some extra effort. In this situation, you recognize the need for self-care. Self-care is listening to your body, checking in on your moments, intentionally tuning into the thoughts going on in your mind, and challenging your behaviors and belief systems if you feel that things are going out of alignment in your life. So, adopting a self-care practice that can improve your life, here we have listed five approaches you can follow:
5-Step Process for Creating and Getting Into a Self-Care Routine
Follow these five steps to create and get into self-care practice:
- Find what makes you feel centered.
Gill Lopez, who organizes self-care workshops for students, professional groups, and community groups, exposes participants to different types of self-care because one size doesn’t fit all. She said that she has gone through different types of things that may appeal to people in hopes that they will find something to do routinely. So, do something which brings you joy on a regular basis, whether it is playing, listening to music, or anything else.
- Brainstorm to incorporate those things into your daily life.
You can do your interesting activities in the background, or you can make more central space for your daily routine activities. Starting doing your activities for a small time may make the habit easier to get into, so try adding just one new self-care routine at a time.
- Set goals for including self-care behaviors every day.
Now, once you choose the self-care routine you like to integrate into your life, set a goal on how often and when to do it. Make your goal realistic and measurable. For example, if you’re trying to disconnect yourself from electronic devices to be more present, start with a short period of time. When you successfully stick to that period of time for a week, you can set a more challenging goal.
- Find support.
To keep your self-care practices regular and fun, Freitag suggests relying on your support system. Find people who engage in the same self-care activities so you can perform them better together.
- Change and adjust your approach as you go.
If there are difficulties along the way, that’s okay. Ellen K. Baker, Ph.D., a psychologist with a practice in Washington, DC, says that “we’re talking about a practice, trial, and error, and our needs evolving through time.” “What may constitute self-care at one time may not be at another time.” Self-care techniques that are simple to follow include reading a book to your child (or to yourself) each night, going for a 10-minute stroll outside, getting to bed early, turning off your electronics in the evening, cooking with healthier ingredients, and surrounding yourself with cheerful things.
Final Words
By giving time to the activities which give you healthy habits and routines, you’ll be better placed to handle life’s ups and downs. So, remember that everyone deserves self-care. And the bonus is, that the better your self-care, the better you can take care of others.