Self-care can be a hard concept to wrap one’s head around. Particularly for folks who are living with ADHD, chronic illness, and/or other cognitive or mental health challenges. We’re often focused on living a life that doesn’t “disappoint” those we love, keeping up with our friends, or trying to mask or hide what we’re dealing with so we fit in. Yet self-care is vital to our existence. You can’t get nourishment from an empty garden.
Self-care isn’t just about your mental health—it means taking care of your physical and soul health too.
No matter what you’ve heard, overwork isn’t a good look on anyone. Remaining in constant motion, running to meet friends or continually trying to reach someone else’s ideal standard of ‘best’, is pretty unlikely to produce positive outcomes. The accompanying stress and exhaustion actually make you less productive, more disorganized, drain your emotional well, and can make you more vulnerable to physical and mental illness.
Self-care is essential to maintaining a healthy relationship with yourself. It produces positivity and boosts confidence and self-esteem.
Life is an exquisite gift. So why waste it? Take care of this one, wild and precious life.
12 Self-Care Strategies
for your
Mind, Body, and Soul
1. Create Joyful Rituals
No matter how chaotic our lives become, ritual keeps us grounded.
Create rituals that are easy for you to do.
Ritual ground your day and help you find your way home, no matter what comes.
2. Accept What Is
Sometimes you have to accept things as they are.
Take a breath. Wait it out.
Trust that you will get to where you need to go.
3. Know Your Strengths
Focus on your strengths. You have so many.
List them and look at them often so you never forget what they are. The more you live in your strengths, the less your weaknesses matter.
4. Exercise Regularly
Regular exercise can is transformative.
Exercise is good for your brain, boosts your immune system, and so much more!
Make time for exercise to stay healthy, grounded, and more productive.
5. Stop Over-Thinking
You don’t have to have all of the answers to life. Life is a journey. Sometimes overthinking can get you in trouble.
If you’re always stuck in your head thinking, you’ll miss the journey and the answers that are right in front of you.
6. Embrace Your Imperfections
Your imperfections are your unique perfection. Embrace them.
Perfectly perfect is unattainable and boring. Behind every imperfection is a strength.
7. Eat Healthy
Eat a balanced diet. Choose My Plate is a good place to start.
If you can, talk to a nutritionist about the best nutritional balance for your body.
8. Forgive Yourself, Forgive Others
Forgiveness is powerful.
By forgiving, you free yourself from negativity. Negativity hurt no one more than the person holding it.
9. Fight for Your Self-Esteem
Know what your values are and honor them. Find approval within.
Fuel confidence and strength. Let go of things that don’t serve you. Treat yourself with kindness, patience, and forgiveness.
10. Unplug
Take time in your life to unplug from everything. No emails, internet, nothing.
Create a sacred space where you can relax and tune back into you. Unplug regularly or you’ll burn out your emotional hardware.
11. Breathe Deeply
Deep breathing relieves anxiety and eases overwhelm.
Cleanse your energy, expel negativity, and breathe in calm.
Your breath is one of your superpowers.
12. Just Be You!
You are one of a kind. There is no replacement.
You have a purpose. You are invaluable. You are wonderful, You are beautiful.
You are enough.
For more
self-care Strategies:
Love yourself enough to set boundaries. Your time and energy are precious. You get to choose how you use it. You teach people how to treat you by deciding what you will and won’t accept.
– Anna Taylor
English
עִבְרִית
العربية
Deutsch
Español
Français
Italiano
简体中文
Nederlands
Português
Русский