61 Self Care Tips
Contents
Self care isn’t about self indulgence it is about self preservation.” – Audrey Lorde
People who are happy use self-care very meticulously.
Whether they are doing it consciously or subconsciously, they are integrating self-love tactics on a daily basis that allow them to live their best life.
But you are probably wondering:
What are the best self care ideas you can use to do the same and life my best life??
Well below I offer you a solution, in the form of 59 self care ideas that you can start using today to create better mental, physical and emotional well-being 🙂 Enjoy.
Self Care Ideas - The Ultimate Self Love Guide Click To Tweet61 Self Care Activities
Loving Yourself
Notice how good it feels when you GIVE love? Almost if not better than it does getting it. That is because love is our natural nature, our true essence. Just try loving yourself for five minutes a day. Give yourself the permission to do so and notice how nice it feels!
Do Yoga
A great article called yoga as a practice of self love talks about how yoga is a great way to exhibit self love as well as lead to self discovery. The author of the article talks about how many people come to yoga with things like depression, anxiety and low self-esteem and it helps them heal by peeling back layers of themselves during the practice. This is because in a world where we are always looking outside ourselves, it forces us to be alone with ourselves. Allowing us to shed the things that aren’t supporting our growth and happiness. It helps you recognize your true value and self worth in a world that isn’t supportive of this. It allows you to see that emotions are simply energy in motion and often times after classes you can feel great about events that used to trouble you.
Another article offered 4 tips for finding self-love saying that you should start by setting your intention for the class as well as know your value by accepting your body as it is and enjoying class. Next you should don’t be a afraid of your body adjusting, deepening and backing off whenever you feel need be. Also, express gratitude throughout your body with positive affirmations as well as congratulate yourself at the end. Lastly
Say No
A great article called say no – the self love test talks about how saying saying no to other people is one of the best ways to see how much we actually love ourselves. It is the one act that allows you to put yourself first. Which it can feel selfish, but it is creating boundaries that are necessary for a happier life. The best way to do so is to say no top people with as much love and compassion as you can, but not saying you’ll think about it because that leaves you open to doing something you don’t want to do and stressing about it. We only have so much energy before we get burned out. Put yourself first by learning to say no more often.
Take A Hot Bath
A great article called self-love ritual – the goddess bath talks about taking 20-30 minutes and taking your bath to a whole new level of self love. Saying that you should add 2 cups of epsom salt for detoxification purposes, 1 cup of Himalayan sea salt, 1/2 cup of dried flowers and herbs, essential oils of your choice and healing stones in or around your bath tub. Also lighting candles or burning incense to help cleanse the energy. Then Proceed to pour the water on your chest which is your heart chakra, throat, forehead which is your third eye chakra then lastly the top of your head, which is your crown chakra.
After you have set your bath up in a way like this and poured water over your chakras, then either relax with a good book or take the time to journal out your thoughts. You can even blog about these thoughts as a way to reach out to people who are dealing with the same type of life anxieties and thoughts.
Meditation
A great article called A guided mediation for self love talks about how meditating for self love gives us permission to be real and vulnerable with ourselves. Simply sitting with your thought and feels instead of pushing them away is an act of self care and self love. You focus on your heart during self love meditation where you are able to create a compassionate space that you feel from. It also allows you to see and feel that thoughts are not permanent.
By letting them pass by you see that things like the feeling of unworthiness is simply temporary. This article offers a great 9 minute audio of self care meditation. A quick summary of how to do so is to simply focus on your breath and with each inhale, think the though “I am worth” and on each exhale you think the thought “I am enough”.
If meditation isn’t really your thing, than prayer can have a great affect in your life as far as self-care goes. There is an excellent article that offers a prayer for self love. Check it out if you need a good place to start!
Buy Yourself Fresh Flowers
A great article titled 31 days of self love talks about how you can even send them to yourself and put them on your desk. Which when people ask where they came from, you can answer “from someone who loves me.” A great act of self care. They will make you feel good and a great way to say I love you to yourself!
Journaling
Journaling can be such a great way of self care and emotional purging. There is a great post titled 20 journal questions for self love offering some of the following questions to get the most self care out of your journaling session:
- What do I believe I deserve in life and why?
- What does trust mean and how can I learn to trust more?
- What do I need to let go of in my life and how will I feel when I do so?
- What does love mean to you and how do you show loving actions to yourself?
- What would your daily habits look like if you chose to live your life having an open heart?
The article says to pick one question at a time and write for at least 5 minutes, keeping the pen moving and not censoring anything. Simply move your thoughts to the page and look how much truth comes out of your heart.
Napping Without An Alarm Clock
Allow yourself to take a nap without having any quilt of how long you sleep. Do so at a time where you don’t have to worry about being somewhere. It could be 20 minutes or 2 1/2 hours. Listen to your body and allow yourself to care for yourself in a way of nourishing your body with the amount of rest it is asking for.
A great article called why taking a nap is amazing for self care talks about how how it can increase your mood and creativity, better your memory and alertness as well as better your personal and professional performance.
Belly Breathing
A great article called how to embrace the most powerful self help tool you have talks about how using diaphragmic breathing can help you be more mindful as well as connect spiritually all while calming your body through the process of drawing more oxygen into your cells!
To get started you want to sit comfortably while relaxing your jaw, eyes and mouth. The first step is to inhale by drawing your belly outwards. As you do this, your ribcage will expand then lastly your chest. The exhale results in your chest flattening and your belly button button being pulled inwards. The author talks about how when you do this, imagine a pitcher of water being poured in the same way your breath is flowing. It can help you learn the process more off belly breathing more efficiently.
Mentoring
Getting a mentor means that you are investing in yourself by bettering yourself in one or more areas. This is such a great act of self care and self love because the more you better yourself, the better your life becomes. As well as the more value you can bring to others, which the more value we give, the more value we get back from the world.
There is a great article about how a mentor will make you happy, which is the ultimate goal of self care. The article is called 7 ways a mentor will make you happy talking about how they will do that by giving you objectivity looking at things in your life without bias.
They will give you encouragement and scrutiny. They will also challenge you as well as give you a different perspective on things. Depending on what the mentor is for, they will soon introduce you to people in his/her circle who can have a great impact on you because you will be around more positive people.
Self Care Books
What better way to start and/or end your day with a chapter or two about how to integrate self care into your life? A great site talks about some of the best books on self love providing titles such as
- The Gifts of Imperfection – Brene Brown
- Love Yourself Like Your Life Depends On It – Kamal Ravikant
- The Mindful Path of Self-Compassion – Christopher Germer
- Heart Me – David Hamilton
- Choosing Me Before We – Christine Arylo
You don’t have to be limited by books, you can always buy these books on audio and listen to them in your car on the way to work. Or you can jump on Youtube and listen to great self car audios.
Self Love Retreats
Often times there are self love and self care retreats, usually lasting a week where you get away and focus on things such as self trust, self compassion and self-acceptance. Here is an example of one here: A Self Love Retreat
Hiking/Adventure
One of the most peaceful and active experiences we can have is a hike. A great article talks about 5 ways adventure ensures self-care talking about how it allows you to get physical with a good amount of strenuous exercise, it awakens your inner child since it is pretty much adult play time, you become one with nature and it allows you to become mindful getting a healthy dose of meditation during your ascent and descent.
Allow Yourself To Cry
Often times we are walking around with the weight on our shoulders. We need to let this pent up energy out. Allow yourself to cry or simply experience the stress fully so you can process it and let it go.
Spend More Time With Pets
I read a great article about how pets make us happier backed by science. It talks about how one study involved 217 community members where pet owners exhibited greater self esteem, were in better physical shape, less lonely, had better sex lives and were more outgoing compared to those who didn’t have a pet. The study also talked about how the owners saw their pets supporting them just as much as their actually family members and being often times closer to their pets as compared to family members.
The next study consisted of 56 dog owners who felt that their pet fulfilled their social needs in a more effective way in a sense of belonging, meaningful existence, control and self esteem along with being less stressed.
These studies simply show that having a pet and spending time with it can better your life. Physically, mentally and emotionally. Plus it feels great to come how to a pet who is simply ecstatic to see you! So if you don’t have a pet, get one now!
If not offer to walk someone else’s dog once a week! Or start a dog walking business!
Get Together With Supportive Friends
This one seems obvious but we need to be reminded to do so. Make it a point to spend quality time building better relationships with the people that mean the most to you. Be vulnerable with each other. Simply put, we all need someone or multiple people to lean onto as well as celebrate our victories with. Get your crew together and survive and thrive through life together.
Create Art
A great article talks about 9 ways to use art to practice self-care a couple of them talking about how you can do so by
- Collaging your emotions with clippings from magazines
- Draw your mood in a journal, every day drawing a small picture
- Playing with clay since it is kinesthetic and grounding helping you feel more in control of your life
- Draw without looking as this gives you an exercise that helps you let go and and become less attached to outcomes
You don’t have to just limit yourself to just art, you can also channel your creative energy into things like sowing, knitting and crochet to engage your hands, allowing you to quiet your mind and focus your creative energy through your hands.
Schedule Time For Exercise
This outlet will bring you a ton of self-love. By scheduling the time to workout, you are creating time for you that is going to better your health and wellness. It will create higher self esteem as well as give you purpose.
Acupuncture
There is a great article talking about why acupuncture should be part of your monthly self-care routine stating that it helps better your sleep patterns, disease prevention by lessening stress, more rejuvenation than a great nap even inducing a lucid sleep state and treatment of emotions through Chinese medicine as it breaks up stagnation in the body allowing it to function optimally.
Martial Arts
Enrolling in a martial arts class can allow you to chanel emotions as well as learn to protect yourself. This can give us a high sense of self-empowerment which translates to a deeper level of self-care. This can cause our self-esteem to rise in large amounts as well. Even just starting with a beginner combat and protection course can be a great self love activity.
Go To A Movie Alone
Shape.com has a licensed mental health counselor interviewed about how beneficial it can be to go to a movie alone or do other things like eat or cook meals alone with a nice glass of red wine. She says it can give one clarity about everything from their relationships to their career. It allows one to get out of acting on auto-pilot like most of us to when we go to work, social gatherings or on dates with friends or our partner. Lastly it reawakens the feeling of independence as well as confidence.
If there is any reason you want to avoid certain places alone, the author states that you need to ask yourself why you want to avoid these places and to challenge the negative and self defeating thoughts that arise. This can be a great growth opportunity for us along with integrating self care.
Visit A Support Group
There are many support groups in local communities usually held by a licensed therapist. They deal with all types of issues from depression and anxiety to other things like bipolar or lonliness. These groups are anonymous and can help you feel the sense of belonging as well as that you are not alone in your challenges. You can also join online support groups if you don’t want to go in person, or you can’t find one in your area. A great resource to do so through is mentalhealthamerica.net.
Positive Morning Affirmations
The way you start your morning dictates how the rest of your day will flow. Good morning habits will give you a jump start and make you feel productive and positive. A couple great morning mantras are talked about in an article called 40 Self Care Mantras, a few of the best include
- I choose to be blissfully happy and healthy in mind, body and spirit.
- Everyday and in every way I am learning to embrace my imperfections.
- I choose to let go of negative self chatter
- I am free from expectations and criticism
- I love, accept and appreciate myself and others unconditionally.
Get A Massage
There is a nicely written article titled what getting a massage taught me about self love talking about how loving yourself requires the occasional splurge without dwelling on how much it costs. Since massages can be tough on the finances. Also the author talks about how she got a massage with her sister and how sharing is caring. Talking about how the two were able to talk out their nervousness about getting a massage and helping them see that it wasn’t a time for worrying but instead release.
Also she talks about how it is being vulnerable enough to let others help you when we live in a world where we feel like we need to do it all alone.
Practice Random Acts of Kindness
When you do things for others you feel good, this allows you to feel better about yourself. A great way of injecting a health dose of self care into your life 🙂 A great site offers 101 of the best random acts of kindness, some of them including:
- Putting change in a meter that is low or ran out so someone doesn’t get a ticket
- Bake cookies for the elderly
- Letting someone go in front of you in the grocery line
- Compliment a stranger
- Pick up litter
- Write a thank you letter to a soldier
- Pay for someones cup of coffee behind you in line
- Read to kids at a library for story time
- Help tutor a struggling student
- Help sick animals find homes
- Feed birds in your local park
Take A Swing!
Swinging on a swing is one of the best ways to revert us back to childhood allowing our inner child to come out again! It also puts us in the moment and by some magical way, allows us to temporarily forget the problems of the world. So find a swing and go big a big kid!
Volunteer Your Time At An Animal Shelter
This can be a great way of helping your community and being around tones of furry love!
Hug Yourself
Hugging releases oxytocin, the feel good hormone! So if you don’t have anyone around that you can hug, simply hug yourself and put a big smile on your face while doing it! If you really want to shake things up, do it in public and have fun off of the reactions you get! Use hugs as a way to get a natural high. When you meet people, embrace them with a hug instead of a handshake. It will build a better neural connection with people allowing you to create better and deeper relationships right off the bat. It has also been shown to elevate our immunity 🙂
Watch A Self Love Movie
Who doesn’t like watching movies?? How about allowing yourself to get into a great movie that is all about self love? A great article is written on 9 movies to watch when you need some self-care, the list includes
- Pretty Woman
- Bad Boys
- Jersey Girl
- Wedding Crashers
- Dirty Dancing
- The Hangover
- Clueless
- Something New
Being a fan of Harry Potter, I have to give a shout out to the best series of all time. Nothing allows me to feel better than hearing the Harry Potter theme music come on, knowing I am in for a 2 1/2 hour journey through magical world far far away.
Walk on The Beach
The beach is a magical place. If you ever need to get away and forget about your problems, there is almost no place better to do so. Allow yourself to become one with the sound of the tide. The seagulls chirping and the sound of children playing. If the water is flat enough, try to skip some rocks off of the water!
Gratitude
“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” – Melody Beattie
There is a great article called how to use gratitude to boost your self love talking about how you can use gratitude to focus on improving any area of your life, just by being consciously grateful for things in that particular area. Some of the areas of focus the author talks about honing in on are:
- Kindness Towards Others
- Your Achievements
- Your Work Ethic
- A body part you love
- Your role in the family
Essentially any area that makes you feel good about yourself. Put more gratitude into that area! It talks about how thoughts are like seeds and what you place your focus on will create grow those seeds and they will bloom. So use gratitude to grow a lush mind garden!
It allows us to stop looking for love somewhere else other than within ourselves. A powerful exercise that you can do in a journal allowing you to transfer reiterate these powerful thoughts onto paper into the material world where they are even more likely to manifest themselves in.
If you can, go kayaking, canoeing or paddle boarding 🙂
Another way you can do this is to simply write down 100 things you love. Showing you how much in your life you have to be grateful for!
Go Shoot Some Hoops
No matter how bad we may be, it is always fun and centering to go shoot some baskets! If you can, go grab a buddy or family member to do so with you and play a good ole fashion game of H.O.R.S.E.
Go See A Comedy Show
Laughter has been shown to be a healer and a great article talks about how the 5 reasons to laugh our way to self love talking about how it burns calories, reduces stress hormones, increases dopamine, increases oxygen uptake, reduces hypertension and can help you manage blood sugar levels. They talk about how the average person laughs 17 times a day. Well you can blow that number out of the water and reap all the benefits mentioned above by hitting a comedy club, watching a comedian on Netflix or even Youtube!
Go To A Theme Park
Whether it is rides or water slides, a healthy dose of self-care can come from hitting a theme park. Allow yourself to scream as loud as you can at the highest point of rides or splash around the water park like you are a child!
45 People Watch
Why not take an hour out of one of your days and go to a place where you feel like you can get the best people watching in. Malls, coffee shops, Walmart! Just go and let yourself laugh and be enamored by all the funny and peculiar types of people and their habits.
Garden
Psychologytoday.com talks about why gardening is so good for mental health talking about how it gives us a sense of responsibility looking after plants, it allows us to bring out our inner nurturer, it helps keeps us connected to living things as well as shows us how to let go and settle our mind through working healing though our hands.
The article quotes Frued saying that “Flowers are restful to look at. They have no emotions or conflict.” We can learn from this in a big way. Also, gardening releases happy hormones like serotonin and dopamine. Lastly, it helps reminds us of the cycle of life helping us come to terms with the ultimate and last test we go through, death.
Ride A Bike
A great article talks about why biking can be a great example of self care talking called pedaling towards happiness. It talks about how it is a lifestyle exercise which improves subjective mood, it can lessen depression and anxiety and it can get you out in the world and let you soak in Vitamin D as well as meet people in the community.
Have The Awkward Converstation
We all have at least one person that we need to forgive or tell you are sorry to. Maybe before an event happen you were the best of friends, or even lovers. But then something happened and it was never the same again. Well you can change that and free yourself up, feeling lighter about that event and person for the rest of your life.
Call the person and simply tell them that even though you had that bad event, it doesn’t change the fact that they were such a big part of your life and growth and happiness. That they don’t have to say anything back. Then tell them that you hope they have a great life. It can be that simple my friends, but such a powerful act.
Be Brutally Honest
There is a great article called honesty is self-love talking about how lie and re-frame situations and scenarios to manipulate people in our lives to get what we not. We lie to ourselves as well instead of facing up to facts that could really tell us what we don’t want to hear. But they are stopping us from growing as people. This self-preservation tactic that can protect us from shame. But it is simply victory of pain replacing courage with pure fear. But in order to love ourselves, we need to act with integrity. When we do so we act in line with our values.
Through treating others with compassion and telling them the truth, we liberate our true self and access our power. It can also allow our shadow to emerge, which this courageous act can deepen relationships with others but most importantly with ourselves.
So we need to ask ourselves what you need to be more honest about. Is it that we want more in the bedroom with our lover? We need to leave our jobs in order to find true happiness? Or we need to end a relationship even though we know it is going to leave the other person devestated? By allowing us to do some introspection on these tough questions, we can exhibit self love that will be painful at first but will set us free in the end.
Dress For Self-Love
How we dress says a lot about who we are and how we feel about ourselves. A great article what to wear for self love where the author interviews a body positive boudoir photographer. She talks about how she wears jewelry and piles it on because she feels more positive and powerful. She says the main thing is to absolutely love everything you are buying or don’t buy it.
Try to create your own signature look, experiment with your makeup. Make sure everything fits just how you like it or don’t buy it! Create a wardrobe that makes you look like a powerhouse.
Write Yourself A Love Letter
This is such an intimate activity with yourself. There is a great article called a letter of self-love talking about how it is essentially a pep talk from your best friend, but this time it is you. The author talks about how doing so can be a re-frame in your inner dialogue. It is changing the narrative and showing ourselves that we truly believe in our own capabilities showing that we really do love ourselves. Because our inner being truly desires to hear this. The author writes their own self-love letter if you want to check it our here: A letter of self love.
A Self Love Diet
If we respect our temple, we will nourish it with what it needs to thrive. If we haven’t been doing so than a great article called a self-love diet talking about trusting your body in this diet creation and eat what works for you, not just for the masses or a fad diet.
Let go of perfection because we all miss the mark, which makes us feel less than. But the fact of the matter is that we should aim for being good enough, creating a sustainable diet.
Notice your feelings when you start to shift the way you eat. It can seem impossible to create a new healthy lifestyle through food, but notice how good you start to feel. Feel those feelings fully and recognize how much better it feels compared to not following a diet plan. This will allow you to press on in a positive and hopeful manner for a new future.
Take More Selfies!
You got to admit once we get over the fact that people are rolling their eyes (which who cares??) we can have some fun with these babies. There is a great article called I tried to take selfies for self-love. The article talks about the authors experience starting off by saying that it made her feel a bit egotistical to be nice to herself.
But the days went on and things started to change. The author talks about how the whole process turned her into a body positive warrior. She took mostly raw photos without makeup and she felt beautiful in every single one of them.
So break out that self stick my friends and start snapping!
Remind Yourself You Are 1 in 4 Trillion!
These are the chances of you being born! Think about that for a second! You beat out 399,999,999,999 others swimmers! A great article talks about this telling us how we need to start acting like the miracle that we are. It is like we are the alpha amongst all the betas fell in the pursuit of living this life. Let us remind ourselves that we are a walking miracle. This realization can show us how much we really are worth and how strong we are regardless of how we feel in the moment.
(Sorry for getting graphic but it had to be done ;))
Un-follow Toxic Social Media “Friends”
You know the type! Who are always feeding your feed with negative news or drama about their life. They always have comments just as negative on them! Just go ahead and clear your life of these dark clouds so that when you go through you feed, you will only see positive stories that will brighten your day.
Now how about doing so in your real life too? In order to feel great about ourselves, we need to get the toxic people out of our lives. If they aren’t changing with you, then you need to get rid of them in order for you to grow to your full potential. Don’t let people drag you down, from this day forward take a stand!
Go To A Farmers Market
You can get out in your community on a nice Saturday and support some of your local vendors. Getting a nice tan and walk around knowing you are helping your community. It feels good to give!
Order In!
You are probably slaving in the kitchen all the time! Why not take a load off and order up some Thai food or a big pizza and watch a good movie!
Take Yourself Out On A Date!
A great article called on self love: the art of dating yourself. It talks about actually penciling it in on the calendar and sticking to it. Plan on going to places like museums, an art gallery or simply a stroll though the park. The keys the author emphasizes is to show up for yourself, putting on lipstick, using some sparkle and sporting your favorite pair of high heels! Next is to enjoy yourself without shame or feeling like someone is watching. Loosen up and enjoy yourself! This part of the date is to get to know yourself better, being in at peace with your own company. Lastly, reflect on how your solo date went! A couple questions to ask are:
- How did you feeling during your time with yourself?
- What things would you do differently on your next date?
- What did you learn about yourself if anything?
- What made you uncomfortable and what can you take away from that?
Now it is time to learn from the questions and plan your next solo date! Also during this process, if you can leave your phone at home, do!
Make Kombucha At Home
The whole process can be very gratifying, where you really get to devote yourself to the process of creating a very healthy drink! The whole process can allow you to be immersed in your creating, allowing you to forget about other stress and allow you to relax into the moment. To get the process rolling check out this awesome site: How To Make Kombucha
Getting A Haircut
A great article titled the life changing magic of cutting your hair talks about how getting a haircut is a total self-care move! The author talks about like a bad outfit, a bad haircut can have a big effect on our mood. The article talked about how your relationship with your hairstylist can be like going to the doctor, it is at first awkward as they get to know you. But when you keep going back, you can really get great advice on styles that suit you, allowing you to have higher self esteem as your hair will only look better and better. Also they can offer you advice on hair products that support your look and of course help you talk through the ups and downs in life! It is great therapy for under $100 as well as getting a whole new makeover!
Face Masks!
Nothing says self-care and relaxation like a face mask! There is a great article titled self-care face masks talking about how they can help prevent breakouts, boost your skin radiance and add good moisture to your face. So put on your pajamas and apply your face mask with your favorite self love book as well as a scented candle!
The article talks about making your own face mask at home saying that it is pretty simple, just use 1/2 of a mashed avacado, 1/4C of Greek Yogurt and some honey and apply it for 10-15 minutes!
Drop A Bad Habit
This is one of the highest forms of self-compassion. Giving up a habit talks about how you are believing in your power to drop something that doesn’t support you and your well-being. It shows that you have the power to change your life. If you need a hand, no shame. There is an artice called the quickstart guide to quitting a bad habit saying that in order to get the ball rolling, put it on your calendar 3 to 7 days from now and tell everyone about it so you have some skin in the game.
Next have a deeper reason why you are putting yourself though this and make it emotional. Like the article gives an example of how the author wanted to quit smoking because if not it would lead to their kids smoking as adults. Also, understand your triggers which every habit has and work on on you are going to get away from or handle those triggers in a different way. Or better yet have positive replacements for those triggers.
Since triggers are simply us coping with negative feels with a negative habit, writing out these triggers and creating solutions before they even happen again can help us navigate through these triggers more efficiently on our journey to breaking a habit.
Try An Exciting Fitness Class
What kind of fitness classes would get your engines reving? If you are going to the gym it can get boring, doing the same exercises and seeing the same people. How about doing a spin class, a kick boxing class or even a swim fitness class.
A great article talks about how self-care is carving a place in the fitness industry talking about how these gyms are encouraging members to stay longer, offering things for recovery as well, like massages and spas. The article talks about how there are many gyms combing self-care with fitness because most women are prioritizing self-care and mental health over fitness. So many gyms are offering the solution for both, like SoulCycle, a gym where they offer restorative off the bike classes as well as meditation classes.
The key is finding a gym offering more than just fitness, so you can develop a self-care routine within your fitness pursuit.
The gym can be a great place to be around positive people as well as regenerate and heal with the amenities they offer. Allowing you to combine self-care with creating a better bod!
I wrote an article on good habits if you want to some more ideas on how to better your life with better habits 🙂 Check it out here! 333 Healthy Habits
Bucket List
Creating a bucket list is the most selfishly selfless activity you can engage in when it comes to self-care. If we care about out life, we shouldn’t be wasting time. We should be living it! This can start by creating your bucket list of all the things you want to do in this life and starting to do them! Don’t hold back. What are your true hearts desires?
A great article by FastCompany talks about how to create a great bucket list saying how you shouldn’t just pick a time to do so, but instead give yourself a couple of weeks to create your bucket list. That way you draw off of internal inspiration instead of putting on generic answers. Next is to be specific and within your sphere of influence and with bucket list ideas that improve your daily life, upgrading it from the mundane.
Next you need to find some accountability. Doing this online or with friends can both spark new good ideas for your bucket list and increases your odds at checking off bucket list items as you now have someone who is supporting you. Lastly, know that it is going to expand, so keep adding to that baby!
Self Love Apps
If I didn’t include a self-care example by talking about an app, then it would be evident that mentally, I am not living in this century! There is an app for everything. Some of the best apps for self love include:
Getting Your Finances In Order
A great article talks about how self love in the key to financial freedom. IT talks about how the sabotaging process begins by using seek approval from people, which ultimately leads to our downfall in the financial arena. We worry about what others think about us so we buy expensive things to impress people and to fit in. These acts lead us to spending too much and not saving enough. We need to reverse the cycle. But getting a hold of your finances and not spending money where you don’t really need to, you take back power. The feeling of power will permeate self love throughout our being.
Tapping
Tapping can be seen as a bit new age, but if you come into it with an open mind, it can bring you much benefit. Here is a video to get you going on how to to tap for self care and self love.
A great article called self care and eft, talking about even before tapping you can use an exercise to really hone issues, that you can tap on when you start your tapping session. The exercises consists of 4 parts
- Making a list of the things you know will be beneficial for you like healthy cooking.
- Listing reasons why you don’t do them. It could be you don’t have enough time.
- What are the related events that happened in my life that made me feel this way, for example it could be with healthy cooking it could be you were rushed through dinner at a young age.
- Lastly list conclusions your drew from the first 3 questions. For example you don’t eat healthy ultimately because you don’t feel like your worth the time it takes to nurture yourself.
Ultimately this exercise is making us ask some of the deeper questions that call allow us to target the emotional source of us not taking more proactive action towards bettering our lives with the activities we should be doing.
It is a tough exercise, but if you have the bravery it takes (YOU DO!) then do so and reap the benefits of eliminating a bad habit right in it’s tracks for good!
Self Love Spells!
I had no idea that these even existed before coming across the article called 7 surprisingly simple spells to supercharge your self-love! A couple of them include:
- Venus Beauty Spell – Stand in front of the mirror and hone in on all the parts of your body that you love. Focus on how amazing your body is and how it has supported your through this life. You then proceed to light a pink candle that is anointed with rose oil.
- Ditch The Dirt Spell – Release unwanted negative energy in the way of journaling out your feelings of anger, worry and frustration. Proceed to light a black candle which is to absorb all the negativity, then burn the paper with that flame. Next spark up a white candle which is too increase your levels of positivity.
Check out the article for even more awesome spells for self-love!
Do Something That Scares You
There is no better way to grow than stepping out of your comfort zone. In order to do this we need to make that bold career move, ask someone to marry us, apply for a job we have always wanted or stand up for ourselves. Whatever it is that scares the hell out of you is the biggest growth opportunity. By continuing to think about it, you will have a level of stress that is either conscious of subconscious. Which can take a toll on our systems. Make it a point to do something do so. Life is too short. Act now so you don’t have any regrets when you reach your time to leave this world.
Self Love Podcasts
If you are more of an audiotory learner like myself, you can get massive value out of podcasts on self-care! You can also play them while you workout, in the car or while you are cooking. A great article talks about 8 amazing podcasts on for becoming your best self. Some of which include:
- The Lively Show – Jess Lively teaches us how to live with intention and trusting your intuition. The author feels as this would be her number one go to referring to her as a self growth queen!
- Let It Out – Katie Dalebout puts this one on and it is about wellness and working on yourself. S,he has fully recovering from an eating disorder, which she talks a lot about along with a ton of great self-improvement tips.
- Happier with Gretchen Rubin – This is one offers tips on every podcast on how to be happier, which the author of the article talks about how she always leaves the podcast feeling inspired!
Put Up The Buddhist Symbol (Or Tattoo It!)
We need to have reminders in life to keep us on track. In order to do so with our self-care routine, we can remind ourselves to stay on track with the Buddhist self-love symbol below! Put it everywhere in your life! In your car, on your bathroom mirror, in cupboards, on the door so you see it when you walk out! Remind yourself constantly to integrate self-care 🙂
81 Self Love and Self Care Quotes
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“Self care means giving yourself permission to pause.” – Cicilia Tran
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“An empty lantern provides no light. Self care is the fuel that allows your light to shine brightly.” – Unknown
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“You have permission to rest. You are not responsible for fixing everything that is broken. You do not have to try and make everyone happy. For now, take time for you. It’s time to replenish.”
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You are loved for being who you are just for existing. You don;t have to do anything to earn it. Your shortcomings, your lack of self esteem, physical perfection, or social and economic success. None of that matters. No one can take this love away from you and it will always be here.” – Ram Dass
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Love the mess, love who you are. You’re worthy even with the blocks. There is no “there”. We’re forever deepening into who we really are – our true selves minus all the wounds. Because that’s all a wound or block is. An injured part of you that needs love. Through love, the wounds dissolve. Not because they need to be gone so you can be worthy to have what you want but because you are whole and beautiful and loved exactly as you are. And in that knowing healing comes.” – Suzzanne Heyn
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“Life is too short and I’m Italian. I’d much rather eat pasta and drink wine than be a size 0.” – Sophia Bush
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“Caring for myself is not self-indulgence. It is self-preservation and that is an act of political warfare.” – Audre Lorde
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“Self Love is the greatest medicine.”
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“True self-care is not soft baths and chocolate cake. It is making the choice to build a life you don’t need to regularly escape from.”
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“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” – Anne Lamott
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“You alone are enough. You have nothing to prove to anyone.” – Maya Angelou
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“As I began to love myself, I freed myself of anything that is no good for my health. Food, people, things, situations, and everything that drew me down and away from myself. At first I called this attitude a healthy egoism. Today I know it is “Love of Onself””
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“Self-love isn’t always so poetic, sometimes it’s a nice big triple back flip kick in the ass. You’ve got to call yourself on your own nonsense, on the incredibly efficient way you can be self-destructive.” – Steve Maraboli
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“Self-care is so important. When you take time to replenish your spirit it allows you to serve others from the overflow. You cannot serve from an empty vessel.” – Eleanor Brown
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“Taking care of yourself doesn’t mean me first, it means me too.” – L.K. Krest
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“You can’t pour from an empty cup. Take care of yourself first.”
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“By choosing healthy over skinny you are choosing self-love over self-judgement. You are beautiful. – Steve Maraboli
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“Work on being in love with the person in the mirror who has been through so much but is still standing.
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“The true goal of self-improvement is not perfection, but to be better than we were before.” – Dougall Fraser
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“Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others.” – Christopher Germer
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“Dear self, today and for the rest of my days I choose to love you, to cherish you and to accept you just the way you are. Love me.”
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“When you are compassionate with yourself, you trust in your soul, which you let guide your life.” – John O’donchue
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“Not everyone you love is going to love you back. That is why it’s important to love yourself.”
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“Be messy and complicated and afraid and show up anyways.” – Glennon Doyle Melton
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“Self-care during pregnancy is the first gift that a mother can give to her child.” – Mary Thompson
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“There is nothing more rare, nor more beautiful than a woman being unapologetically herself; comfortable in her perfect imperfection. To be that is the true essence of beauty.” – Steve Maraboli
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“When you say yes to others, make sure you not saying no to yourself.” – Paulo Coehlo
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“You know those people who believe in you? Believe them.” – Tanya Geisler
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“Carve out and claim the time for yourself and kindle your own fire.” – Amy Ippoliti
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Self care means giving the world the best of you instead of what is left of you.” – Katie Reed
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“Self love ins’t selfish, it’s important.”
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“Self care isn’t always oils and baths. Sometimes it is seeing who you are and giving yourself permission to be. It is setting boundaries and saying no. Self-love is knowing your worth and not having guilt about doing you.” – Simi Fromen
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“Self-care is a deliberate choice to gift ourself with people, places, things, events and opportunities that recharge our personal battery and promote who healthy – body, mind and spirit.” – Laurie Buchanan
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“I’ve come to believe that caring for myself is not self-indulgent. Caring for myself is an act of survival.” – Audre Lorde
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“Sometimes it’s Ok if the only thing you did today was breath.” – Yumi Sakugawa
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“If you’re struggling you deserve to make self-care a priority. Whether that means lying in bed all day, eating comfort food, putting off homework, cry, sleeping, rescheduling plans. finding an escape through a good book, watching your favorite TV show, or doing nothing at all – give yourself permission to put your healing first. Quiet the voice telling you to do more and be more and today, whatever you do, let it be enough. Feel your feelings, breathe, and be gentle with yourself. Acknowledge that your doing the best you can to cope and survive. And trust that during this time of struggle, it’s enough.” – Daniell Koepke
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“There is enough time for self-care. There is not enough time to make up for the life you’ll miss by not filling yourself up.” – Jennifer Williamss
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“Above all be true to yourself, and it you cannot put your whole heart in it take yourself out of it.”
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“If your compassion does not include yourself, it is incomplete.” – Jack Kornfield
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“When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.” – Jean Shinoda Bolen
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“Self care is the main essential to manifesting anything in your life.”
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“Self-care is never a selfish act – it is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have, the gift I was put on earth to offer to others.” – Parker Palmer
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“Being extremely honest with oneself is a good exercise.” – Sigmund Freud
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“You owe yourself the love that you so freely give others.”
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“Lack of forgiveness causes almost all of our self-sabotaging behavior.” – Mark Victor Hansen
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“When self care in your life becomes a priority, everything else gets a little easier.” – Michelle Farris
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“Without self-care and outside support, relationships can suffer and become the target of your happiness. Don’t give up what makes your life work for anyone. Maintaining balance is easier than starting over.”
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“Self-care is not a luxury. Indeed not. It allows us to show up in this tumultuous world as the best versions of ourselves.”
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“I can’t possibly heal if I don’t take care of myself.”
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“Self-care is different for everyone. You don’t have to be a vegan eating, yoga doing, meditation practicing Buddhist. Self-care is simply making time for yourself to do the things that make your soul shine. Whatever those things are.” Dominee
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“Just a reminder that self care is not something you have. It is something you claim.”
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“Self care is about how you take your power back.”
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“Owning our story and loving ourselves through the process is the bravest thing that we’ll ever do.” – Brene Brown
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“Be proud of who you are not ashamed of how someone else sees you.” –
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“Love yourself first and everything else falls into place.”
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“How you treat yourself is how you are inviting the world to treat you.”
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“Put yourself at the top of your to-do list every single day and the rest will fall into place.”
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“It’s not selfish to do what is best for you.” – Mark Sutton
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“Do something today that your future self will thank you for.”
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“Sometimes self care is exercise and eating right. Sometimes it’s spending time with loed ones or taking a nap. And sometimes it’s watching an entire season of television in one weekend while you lounge around in your pajamas. Whatever soothes your soul.” – Nanea Hoffman
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“Self care is a divine responsibility.”
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“Self care is not a luxury, Indeed not. It allows us to show up in this tumultuous world as the best version of ourselves.”
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“You are aloud to be a work in progress and a masterpiece simultaneously.”
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“You have to believe in yourself when no one else does – that makes you a winner right there.” – Venus Williams
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“Self-care is never a selfish act. It is simply good stewardship of the only gift I have. The gift I was put on earth to offers to others.” – Parker Palmer
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“I think everybody’s weird. We should all celebrate our individuality and not be embarrassed or ashamed of it.” – Johnny Depp
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“Never be ashamed of how much you love, or how quickly you fall. Love fully, love completely but most importantly, love naturally – and don’t ever apologize for it. Don’t ever be sorry for loving the way your heart knows.”
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“Be patient with yourself. Self-growth is tender, it’s holy ground. There is no greater investment.” – Stephen Covey
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“Our bodies are our gardens to which our wills are gardeners.”
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“Just let go. Let go of how you thought your life should be and embrace the life that is trying to work it’s way into your consciousness.” – Caroline Myss
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“Find what makes your heart sing and create your own music.” – Mac Anderson
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“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two breathes.” – Etty Hillesum
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“It really is ok for there to be times when you stop putting everyone else first, and just do what’s best for you.” – Tracey Leech
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“There are days I drop words of comfort on myself like falling leaves and remember that it is enough to be taken care of by myself.” – Brian Andreas
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“Lighten up on yourself. No one is perfect. Gently accept your humanness.” – Deborah Day
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“The gift you’re here to share will only flourish if you feed it. The trick is to nurture yourself. Yourgift only flourishes when you do.”
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“Close your eyes and imagine the best version of you possible. That’s who you really are, let go of any part of you that doesn’t believe it.” – C Assaad
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“Document the moments you feel most in love with yourself – what you’re wearing, who you’re around, what you’re doing. Recreate and repeat.” – Warsan Shire
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“Instead of indulging in comfort food, indulge in comfort mediation, comfort journaling, comfort walking, comfort talking, comfort manicures, comfort reading, comfort yoga, comfort hugging.” – Karen Salmansohn
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“As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” – Maya Angelou
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“When you honor how can show up for yourself and your gifts, you honor a higher purpose.”
Conclusion to Self Care Tips
So there you are my friends, ideas that you can integrate to bring more self-love, self-esteem and self-care into your lives! Share with me below what your favorites were as well as if you have any good ones to add! Have an awesome rest of your day!
Chris
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