Self-Care Ideas

Creative Expression (I need to dance this out.)

  • Arts & Crafts
  • Photography
  • Dance
  • Make jewelry
  • Sew
  • Crochet and knit
  • Take a class, learn something new.

Alone Time (Date yourself.)

  • Wander a bookstore.
  • Drink tea at a cafe and people-watch.
  • Listen to music in your headphones and go for a walk.
  • Drive to somewhere new and see what you see.
  • Write bad poetry or a short story at the park.
  • Sing loudly in the car while you drive around and look at neon signs (or whatever).

Pampering (Love yourself.)

  • Take a bath with oils.
  • Get a haircut.
  • Get a massage.
  • Take yourself out for a nice meal, buy yourself a fancy drink and tell yourself how much you love you.
  • Find one thing you love about yourself and write it down on a card you can tape to the mirror.
  • Fix yourself a healing smoothie or meal and take the time to fully enjoy it.

Healing Modalities (Heal from the inside out.)

  • Go to yoga. (Try Laughing Yoga.)
  • Get cranial-sacral and/or reiki work done.
  • Do guided mediation.
  • Schedule a talk-therapy appointment.
  • Research a body system that needs support and create a plan of action.

Journaling (Having a record of your journey is helpful.)

  • Record your thoughts and feelings before they get away.
  • Try free-form writing to reveal pesky, hidden limiting beliefs.
  • Add art and create a photo journal, a 1-sentence journal, a colored-pencil journal or any other kind of journal that speaks to you.

Exercise (Oxygenating our bodies is paramount to wellness.)

  • Ask your muscles what they are ready for and do it. Maybe it’s time to add in some intense short bursts of strength-training?
  • Go for a walk and deep breathe.
  • Swim
  • Do Tai Chi

Do Nothing (Sometimes nothing is just what you need.)

  • Schedule your time to simply Be (or it might not happen).
  • Nature is a good place to Be, but so is your bed and a nap.
  • Hang out with your partner and talk.
  • Stare out the window for awhile and watch the breeze gently toss the trees around.
  • When you’re quiet and doing nothing, sometimes things you need to know about yourself come forward. Record those.

Volunteer (Helping others helps ourselves.)

  • Help out at a homeless shelter or other organization you want to support.
  • Ask the library if they need help.
  • Find out if your church needs help with anything.
  • Check with a friend and ask what you can do for them.

Read (Self-Improvement is awesome and so are novels.)

  • Find out what’s going on in the world.
  • Read poetry or inspirational quotes.
  • Research a favorite author and see what else they’ve written.
  • Learn something new. Research a subject you’re interested in.

Be Pro-Active and Authentic (Become more yourself everyday.)

  • Make a choice to change one small thing for a day, a week, or a month to be more inline with who you really are.
  • Be intentional with your choices and activities. Don’t just tag along – do it on purpose!
  • Or don’t do it at all. Be aware of choices and people that drag you down.
  • Be quick to change course if your intuition tells you you’re heading the wrong way.
  • Clean out a closet or space in your home that’s messy, stacked with stuff you haven’t touched in months or that you’ve been ignoring.
  • Practice *not* multi-tasking. Do one thing at a time, with great intention and attention.
  • Remind yourself it’s ok to be bad at things. Choose an activity you aren’t perfect at but that you love and do it with gusto and passion.
  • Laugh.
  • Remember you are already the perfect you, right now exactly how you are, no ifs ands or buts, so it’s ok to go ahead and be happy and not wait for ______(fill in the blank).
  • Make it a goal to find what you’re passionate about and add it to your life.
  • Tell someone you love them. (Maybe that someone is you.) Assess your time constraints.
  • Set a timer if you need to so your mind won’t wander to that while you’re breathing.
  • If you have longer than three minutes, go for five or even ten.

Apply an Oil.

  • You don’t *have* to use an essential oil, but there are some great ones that facilitate this breathing process. I love Lavender, White Fir & Wild Orange together, and Rosemary & Grapefruit together.
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