This Is Your Relaxation Reminder
Have you ever noticed yourself clenching your jaw, tensing your shoulders, and struggling to find a moment of silence amidst the demands of your daily life? If you answered yes to any of those questions, continue reading to find some self-care tips.
National Relaxation Day is on August 15 which got us thinking about what relaxation really means and how it can be beneficial to our health. As a company that prides itself on empowerment, it’s important that we talk about how self-care is vital to being the best version of yourself.
This post is to inspire you to learn more about the benefits of self-care and to pick up some tips on how to make it a regular habit, beyond National Relaxation Day.
What Is Self-Care?
Self-care is likely a buzzword that you’ve heard at the office, on the news, or in the media recently. With the rise of remote work and the extra stress brought on by the pandemic, self-care became a central focus in the past couple of years.
Although we’ve heard of it, many of us still don’t fully know what it is or how to incorporate it into our daily lives. For a lot of people, self-care is seen as a luxury—something that they divulge in when they have some extra free time. In reality, self-care should be a staple of your daily routine.
UW Medicine defines self care as the need to care for our physical, mental, and psychological well-being. Notice how their definition defines it as a need, not a want.
It’s easy to put self-care practices on the back burner. The good news is there are many self-care practices that don’t take much time and can easily find a spot in your daily life.
Now that you know what self-care is, let’s talk about why relaxation is so important.
Why Relaxation Is Important
Self-care is a holistic practice that affects all parts of a person.
According to Southern New Hampshire University, self-care is clinically proven to ease anxiety, reduce stress, help with your ability to focus, reduce anger and frustration, increase happiness, and provide you with more energy.
Engaging in self-care can also help your physical health—when you’re stressed, your immune system is weakened and you’re susceptible to catching illness.
Relaxation also has spiritual benefits: you might be able to find your greater purpose and feel more in touch with your intuition when you prioritize self-care.
In addition to all of the health benefits, it’s also nice to just prioritize yourself. You are a person who matters and deserves to be put at the forefront of your life. Engaging in self-care can help you uncover your self-worth and ultimately leave you feeling empowered.
Hopefully we’ve convinced you to start making self-care a priority. Now let’s discuss some self-care tips that you can incorporate into your daily life.
Self-Care Tips That Fit in Your Schedule
There are unlimited possibilities when it comes to self-care practices. Figuring out the best one for you comes with trying out a few and seeing what feels right.
As we mentioned above, self-care has mental, emotional, and physical benefits. There are different practices you can try for each of those categories.
Mental Practices
- Develop a regular sleep schedule. Going to bed around the same time every night and getting up around the same time everyday is an easy way to start engaging in self-care.
- Meditate. Take around five minutes when you wake up or before you go to bed to practice steady breathing and to clear your mind of anything that might be bothering you.
- Set aside "offline" time. Limit your social media usage, turn off email notifications, and commit to being off the clock from work
- Play with your pets. Cuddling with your furry friends makes a world of difference for both you and them.
- Keep your spaces clean. When our homes, rooms, or offices get cluttered, we start to feel cluttered.
Physical Practices
- Exercise. This doesn't mean you have to go purchase a gym membership—you could take a 15-minute walk around the neighborhood, do yoga in the mornings at home, or for a hike in your local park.
- Eat healthy. We feel much better physically when we eat healthy. This doesn't mean you have to ditch your favorite snacks, it just means incorporating more greens into your meals.
- Drink a lot of water. Drinking water has so many benefits. Personally, I like to have my 32-ounce water bottle on me at all times. Drinking 2 or 3 of these a day seems to do the trick.
- Take time off when you don't feel well. Prioritizing your physical health and allowing yourself to heal from illness is incredibly important.
- Listen to what your body is telling you. If you're feeling tired and run down, allow yourself to lay on the couch or take a bubble bath to restore your energy.
Emotional Practices
- Journaling. Writing down your thoughts and feelings on paper gets them out of your head so you can focus on things that are important to you.
- Engage in activities that make you happy. When you do something that makes you happy, make note of it and commit to doing it more.
- Keep track of your emotions throughout the day. Learn what makes you unhappy to try to minimize those activities as much as possible.
- Prioritize spending time with people you love. Spending time with family and friends can boost your mood and make you feel more connected to them.
- Go to therapy. Therapy is something that can be beneficial for everyone, regardless of what is going on in your life. It can be helpful to talk to someone that is seen as a neutral third party and can give your practices that you can do on your own.
Now It's Your Turn to Relax
Hopefully by now you are convinced that self-care should become a priority in your life.
You could start developing self-care habits on National Relaxation Day and test what practices might be for you!
You can also check out our elements that are dropping on National Relaxation Day to remind you of the importance of putting yourself first:
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