In these difficult times everyone should make sure they 'look after themselves' - Self-Care is important for everyone, happy or sad, healthy or ill.
Whether you suffer with mental health problems, are managing them or just want to stay in a good place. Self care is so important.
It’s a very vague term, however, there are so many things you can do to take care of yourself and boost your own self esteem and mental health. Here are a few things you can do:
Positive Affirmation
Positive affirmation is so important. This can be something so small as looking in the mirror in the morning and telling yourself “I am worthy” or “I am beautiful” or even “I deserve happiness”. If you say something enough, you do start to believe it.
Make Yourself Feel Good
Everyone needs something that makes them feel good. For me, it’s my hair and makeup. If I feel low or run down, I get myself to the hairdressers, nail salon or even put my make up on. If I make something look different, I feel better. Some people go shopping, some people go to the gym. Having something to make yourself feel good is about having healthy vices. Hobbies even. Something that doesn’t involve drink, drugs, or some sort of substance that changes your state of mind. It’s all about having the strength to do it yourself. The sense of achievement will be so much greater when you start to feel better. Besides, using drink or drugs to feel better means that a hangover will always follow.
Meditation
I’m a massive advocate of meditation. You can find guided meditation videos and tracks almost anywhere: Youtube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts to name a few. A massive plus here is that both Apple Podcasts and Youtube can be used completely free of charge. Spotify has a premium, ad-free service which comes at a cost of £9.99 a month. However, they also offer 3 months free. There’s always an offer on membership. Something to keep in mind though is you don’t necessarily have to use guided meditation. Sometimes, it can be as simple as sitting or laying down in a quiet room with nothing to disturb you and focussing on your breathing. It helps to bring your heart rate down and promote a sense of well being. So, next time you feel stress building up or you’re struggling to sleep, give this a try!
Opening Up
I’ve spoken about this before, but having someone to open up to is so, so important. Having nobody to talk to or keeping things to yourself is a recipe for disaster for anyone’s mental health. It’s always a good idea to voice any concerns or issues you have as soon as they come up so that your problems stay small. An accumulation of small issues can all turn into one big problem. So, in an effort to take care of yourself, it’s always a good idea to keep talking. Even if it’s something that’s annoyed you at work, or your partner left his dirty underwear on the bathroom floor. No matter how small – talk. It’s healthy.
Hopefully I’ve given you some helpful tips on how to take care of yourself and to promote your own mental health. It’s OK to put yourself first sometimes. Obviously there has to be a balance. When done right, you’ll find that not only you feel better but your relationships with friends and loved ones may well thrive as a result. I’ve been doing some of these for years. I personally find positive affirmation the hardest of the lot. I still try though. Give it a go. After all, you’ve got nothing to lose.
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