Looking after yourself or 22 Acts of Self-Care

Here is a list of 22 self-care activities that will give you the strength to fulfill all your other roles and stay healthy.

1. If you care about your self-care, surround yourself with people who make you feel good – through thick and thin.
2. Call a trusted friend or loved one to vent – putting your feelings to words can help you see them in a different light. Sometimes we just need validation, to be heard, and to feel like we are not alone.
3. Take a hot shower or bath. Self-care is fun but important!
4. Watch your favourite movie or TV show/listen to uplifting music/get lost in a book.
5. Make checklists – go down 1 by 1 and eliminate the stressors within your immediate control. Let go of what you cannot change.
6. Get some fresh air – clear your head and appreciate the nature and beauty of the world around you.
7. Do some rigorous physical activity – release all of that built up anger and stress.
8. CLEAN UP! When your environment is organized, your brain can follow suit.
9. Do a self-check-in – ask yourself what is TRULY bothering you and why you think that may be. Is there anything you can do at this moment to change it?
10. Look good – get into a flattering outfit or put on your favourite lipstick, when you look good you feel good. Confidence is key.
11. Play with a dog, cat or baby. Aw, how adorable!
12. Create something/start a project – let your artistic side come out through arts, crafts, decorating, or creating something new.
13. Identify your own strengths – look in the mirror or simply write down with a pen and paper all of the great qualities you possess.
14. Remember that you are not the first, last, or only person to be feeling what you are feeling – reach out, you’d be surprised to learn what others are feeling deep down too.
15. Kind gestures, good deeds and helping others is also self-care.
16. Set long-term and short-term goals as part of your self-care. Accomplishment (no matter how big or small) leads to confidence and increased self-worth.
17. Set some time aside to actually DO the things that make you feel better. It is one thing to read a ‘hypothetical’ list, but to actually initiate these activities is another story…. Even if it is only 5 minutes, push yourself! 😊
18. Take responsibility – own up to your actions even if that means saying sorry to somebody else.
19. Don’t compare. Your chapter 1 might be someone else’s chapter 10. We all come from different walks of life and our journeys will all be unique. It is only acceptable to compare when you compare yourself to who you were yesterday.
20. Smile and laugh, even if you don’t feel like it. After a while, it will become genuine.
21. Strive to be the type of person “young you” would look up to.
22. BE KIND TO YOURSELF – whether that looks like positive affirmations or self-forgiveness for past mistakes, you are human! You can’t change the past (let it go!), but you can absolutely take charge of the future. Keep learning, keep applying, keep growing.