Attaining a healthy lifestyle isn’t always about how often you hit the gym or eat a balanced diet. It must also include habits that are good for your mental and emotional health. One way to achieve optimal mental and emotional health is by incorporating self-care practices into your daily routine.
Self-care is any activity or exercise that you purposely do to de-stress, unwind, boost your mood, and make yourself happy. Investing time and effort in self-care practices could help you improve your mental and emotional health and achieve a better life quality.
The best thing about self-care is that it differs for everyone. There’s no one-size-fits-all when it comes to creating a self-care checklist since every person has different mental and emotional needs. For instance, some people may consider ‘jogging’ as part of their self-care list, while others may not find the idea relaxing or emotionally fulfilling. The point is, self-care should be something that makes you feel good and make your life better.
To get started, here are nine ways you can have a perfect self-care day at home.
1. Try Self-Massage
Some people may opt to book a relaxing massage at a spa center. However, the process itself can sometimes be stressful, especially if your favorite spa center is fully booked or you’re not in the mood to step out of the house. But, just because you’re at home doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a good and relaxing massage.
You can always try self-massage and use oils like SUPA Naturals Massage Oil and other essential oils which you feel could give you a euphoric massage experience. You can rub your feet, massage your scalp, knead your shoulders, and other areas in your body that need to loosen up. You can also use massaging tools like recovery balls and massage guns for hard-to-reach areas. Most importantly, remember to just focus on massaging yourself and leave any school- or work-related thoughts out of your mind.
2. Soak In A Warm Bath
Allow yourself to take a long, warm, luxurious bath. Not only will this feel great to your emotional and mental health, but it also brings health benefits. Bathing in warm water can help relieve body aches and pains and de-stress your nervous system. It’s also an excellent way to shut yourself out of the stressful digital world.
To enhance your bathing experience, make sure to play your soothing playlist and add essential oils to your water, such as lavender, rose, and calendula. You can also enjoy a cup of tea or a glass of wine while you’re soaking in your bathtub.
3. Use Face Mask
Besides just lounging in your bed or sofa, amp up your self-care game by putting on a cool face mask. These face masks are great for rehydrating and purifying your skin and reducing inflammation. Just make sure you use a face mask that’s suitable for your skin type. If you want, you can also make your own face mask by mixing honey, raw egg yolk, oat milk, and olive oil.
4. Interact With Nature
Perhaps you’ve been so wrapped up in your job and other daily responsibilities that you already forget the last time you had interaction with nature. Interacting with nature isn’t only limited to walking or hiking into the woods. You could also bring nature into your home.
For instance, you can bring in some indoor plants and fresh flowers as part of your decorations. The presence of these living matters can boost your endorphins and help you achieve a mediative state. If you’re new to indoor plants, you can start with the low-maintenance ones like the Spider plant, ZZ plant, Snake plant, and Aloe Vera.
5. Meditate
Along with the presence of nature in your home, it’s also ideal if you incorporate meditation into your self-care routine. Meditation is already known to help reduce stress and anxiety, lower blood pressure, and promote better sleep. This practice allows you to slow down and focus on the present moment instead of constantly stressing about the following days or the future. Even as short as 10-minute meditation is already enough to set the tone of your day positively. Thus, make time for meditation in the morning when you wake up or at night before your bedtime.
6. Unplug
So many people use every free time they have in scrolling through their phones, browsing on their social media accounts, and reading or watching pretty much anything they see on the internet. As relaxing as this habit may look, unfortunately, too much usage of phones and gadgets are among the primary sources of stress and anxiety.
This is true, especially if you unconsciously but constantly pressure yourself to have a ‘perfect’ life like the people on social media. It could also be that your gadgets are always associated with your work emails, keeping you busy answering emails and work calls.
So, during your self-care day, be firm in unplugging and disconnecting yourself from anything online-related. Switch off your phone, laptop, and tablet. Put them somewhere wherein you won’t be tempted to check on them. Instead of entertaining yourself with the internet, you can go for another source of entertainment like reading a book, dancing to your favorite beat, having a one-person karaoke, or coloring some adult coloring books.
7. Eat Your Favorites
It’s true that some people barely eat thrice in a day due to their hectic schedules, such as the workers in the medical industry. Others may also be restricting themselves from their favorite foods due to their strict diets. But since it’s a self-care day, give yourself a break from anything that’s stopping you from eating what you desire. Order in a box of pizza, a gallon of ice cream, or indulge in a giant burger and bucket of fries.
Don’t get this wrong, as eating healthily is also a form of self-care. But if you really wish to do something comforting and relaxing without overthinking every food you put in your mouth, then allow yourself to have a cheat day every once in a while.
8. Play With Your Pet
Another thing you mustn’t miss during your self-care day is bonding with your pet. A time spent with your beloved furry friends can actually help reduce stress and boost your oxytocin levels, the hormone responsible for your happy feelings. Think of this as a win-win situation. Playing with your pet can be a good stress-reliever for you while your pet is getting extra time and attention from you.
9. Binge-Watch On The TV
You’ve probably always had that TV in your living room but never had the time to sit down and watch anything due to your busy lifestyle. So, during your self-care day, drop everything that keeps you busy and stressed and turn on the TV. Just wear your comfiest clothes, sink into the couch and pillows, grab a bag of popcorn, and binge-watch any movie or TV show you’ve always been planning to watch.
Takeaway
Prioritizing your mental and emotional health isn’t something to be guilty of. Thus, don’t hesitate to schedule a self-care day every week or every month. Better yet, incorporate self-care habits into your daily routine. Remember, it’s never selfish to attend to your own needs. It’s a necessity.