Taking care of yourself

How to take care of yourself (without spending lots of time or money)

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When you’re juggling a demanding career or business, family responsibilities, and a social life, self-care can feel like a luxury.

You already know that prioritizing self-care is essential for your well-being and overall health. Too often, we think of self-care as pampering, something that requires a day off, money, the ability to disappear to an exotic retreat.

Those types of self-care really are luxuries for many.

But if you think about self-care less as a luxury and more as the maintenance needed to sustain performance, you’ll realize how essential it is. And, how many opportunities you have to proactively take care of yourself throughout the day and week — without retreating to a mountaintop (but if you can, go for it).

You might already block out time in your schedule for more day-to-day self-care: meditation, healthy food preparation, or a spin or yoga class.

But, more often than not, this daily self-care gets bumped down your to-do list.

The result? A tired, cranky, perhaps languishing version of you — not quite well, but not unwell, either. Worse still, your physical and mental fitness may deteriorate.

Fortunately, there are simple ways to incorporate a self-care routine into your life, which is why we’ve created this self-care guide to help you.

Let’s take a look at how to take care of yourself so you can start feeling better today.

Why self-care matters

Let’s get one thing clear: self-care is not selfish. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Self-care has a range of health benefits, including boosting your immune system and energy levels.

It also strengthens your emotional health, reduces the risk of burnout, and makes you more resilient in the face of setbacks.

This means that when you start taking care of yourself, you’re better able to take care of others. You can also give the best of yourself in any situation at work or in any other area of your life.

Therefore, self-care isn’t a luxury or a nice-to-have. It’s an essential component of a healthy, happy, and successful life.

The next steps toward taking good care of yourself

If you’re ready to commit to a self-care routine, follow these three steps to lay the foundation and set yourself up for success.

1. Set realistic goals

Now that you’ve made the decision to take better care of yourself, you might be unsure how to start.

This is why setting goals can be helpful, as they point you in the direction of the first steps you need to take.

Examples of self-care might include stopping smoking, reducing your stress levels, reversing a health issue such as diabetes, or recovering your mental health.

Whatever it is, define what success would look like and set a realistic timeframe within which to achieve those goals.

You might want to consider setting milestone goals along the way. For example, your first milestone goal could be one week without smoking, then one month, then two months. This makes it easier to stay motivated as you work toward your long-term goal.

2. Connect with yourself and others

One of the most powerful healing tools we have is self-awareness. Checking in on yourself regularly can help you identify harmful thought patterns or notice when you start to spiral out of control.

One way to do this is to use the technique described in the book “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. The exercise is called Morning Pages.

Each morning when you wake up, journal for three pages on whatever comes to mind. Review these notes periodically to identify and overcome blocks and challenges.

Connecting with others through a community can also help you stay motivated on your self-care journey.

It gives you a sense of belonging to something greater than yourself and can help you see your own value and reignite joy in your life.

3. Follow your joy

There’s no right or wrong when it comes to self-care practices, but it’s easy to fall into the trap of “shoulds.” This defeats the point of self-care by turning it into another task to check off your to-do list.

Some people swear that getting up at 5 am to meditate brings them joy, but if that’s not your cup of tea, find something that works for you.

Following your joy will lead to greater satisfaction with your self-care practices, as well as making them more effective.

15 ideas for how to take care of yourself better

Now that you’ve laid the foundation to take good care of yourself, choose a few of the following self-care tips to start implementing today.

Consider starting with just two or three, and then gradually incorporate more into your routine.

How to take care of yourself physically

First, let’s look at some ways you can take care of yourself physically.

1. Eat for body-mind wellness

Did you know your diet affects your mood and emotions as well as your physical health?

Aim to incorporate more fruits and veggies while reducing refined sugars, caffeine, alcohol, and highly processed foods. You might also want to consider learning intuitive eating.

2. Drink plenty of water

Dehydration can weaken your immune system and heart health, slow your metabolism, and affect your mood and concentration levels.

Adults should drink roughly 2/3 of their weight in pounds in ounces of water each day. For example, someone who weighs 200 pounds should drink 130 ounces.

3. Get enough (quality) sleep

How many hours of sleep you need varies from person to person. However, the average adult needs somewhere between seven and nine hours per night.

If you struggle with insomnia, try creating a nighttime routine that helps you wind down for the night. This might include trying relaxation techniques, reducing your caffeine intake, or avoiding screens for two hours before bed.

4. Move your body

Movement is essential for maintaining a healthy, vibrant body and mind. Exercise promotes overall health, increases your energy levels, and relieves stress and insomnia.

Look for ways to move your body that bring you joy, whether it’s climbing a mountain or taking a samba class.

5. Get grounded

The term “grounding” refers to walking barefoot, sitting, or lying on the Earth. This simple act calms the immune system, reduces inflammation, relieves pain, and promotes overall wellness.

To do it, simply find a place where you can (safely) remove your shoes and let your feet be in contact with the ground. Do this for at least 20 minutes.

How to take care of yourself mentally

Now, let’s look at some ways you can take care of yourself mentally.

6. Meditate

Meditation can help relieve stress and anxiety as well as promote emotional health and mental fitness. A daily meditation practice can also improve blood circulation and sleep and help to reduce addiction.

7. Practice gratitude

Gratitude journaling can induce a relaxation response in your body. Therefore, it promotes improved immune function, emotional resilience, and better sleep. It can also improve your relationships with others.

8. Set healthy boundaries

Setting boundaries boosts your energy levels, alleviates stress, and helps prevent burnout. Clearly communicating your needs to others can prevent them from crossing boundaries and create greater harmony in your life.

If you can manage your boundaries, spending time with others and getting involved in community-building can improve mood and indirectly help you care for yourself.

9. Spend time in nature

According to research, spending at least two hours per week in nature can promote mental and physical well-being. Even if you live in a city, try to spend more time in the parks and green spaces that are available to you.

10. Manage your stress

There are many different stress management techniques. Here are some you might want to try:

11. Give back

A growing body of research shows that prosociality, or giving back, has both short-term and long-term benefits for physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Look for ways to give back through your money, time, or talents.

12. Journal

Journaling is kind of like free therapy, but instead of talking to another person, you work through your thoughts and feelings on the page. One study found that students who journaled about their feelings daily reported fewer doctor’s visits.

13. Work with a professional

That said, sometimes a professional opinion, such as that of a coach or therapist, can help you see what’s holding you back and get unstuck. Fortunately, through virtual sessions you can find the right match for you no matter where you are in the world.

14. Organize your life

Self-care can also look like getting down to those boring life tasks that you never get around to. It might mean creating a monthly budget, clearing out your closet, or dedicating some time each Sunday to meal prep.

Getting organized isn’t necessarily fun (unless you like that sort of thing), but it will leave you feeling great once it’s done.

15. Prioritize fun

Self-care doesn’t have to be serious. In fact, having fun is an essential component of taking good care of yourself. Make a list of the things that light you up, whether it’s spending time with loved ones or going to see your favorite band in concert.

And if you struggle to make time for fun, schedule it into your diary.

How to take care of yourself: why not start today?

Taking care of yourself doesn’t need to take up a lot of time or cost a lot of money. In fact, a few simple tweaks to your routine can go a long way in improving your overall health and well-being. In fact, learning how to take care of yourself and how to take care of your mental health goes hand-in-hand.

The key to effective self-care is to do it for you. Don’t try to force yourself to do something you don’t enjoy just because you saw someone do it on YouTube. Taking care of yourself should be something that brings you joy.

You can start your self-care routine today by following the tips outlined above. But if you need some extra accountability, get in touch with BetterUp. Our expert coaches would love to support you.

How to Take Care of Yourself

If you are human right now, I’m willing to bet that you are tired. Worn down. Burnt out. Maybe scared and lonely too. And I bet you never feel done. You wake up, work your ass off, collapse, then it all starts again.

At the end of every day, you feel like you’ve given all you have — and every new day asks even more of you. It doesn’t have to be like this.

At the same time, this is not your fault. You haven’t been mistreating yourself — you’ve done everything you could do with the reality you have. With the stories you’ve been given.

All I hope to do is share a new story.

Once Upon A Time…

We humans used to work about 15 hours a week. Biologically, that’s what we’re built for. It’s what we can and should be doing. A little thing called agriculture screwed that up for us and we haven’t been right since. Maintaining agricultural societies requires superhuman work hours.

Agricultural societies also required governance, which became dominance when those that governed realized they could escape the superhuman work week. They built economic structures centered on ownership and dominance, like feudalism and capitalism. They built stories to defend their supremacy, like racism and scarcity. They built governments to consolidate power into fewer and fewer hands.

These systems enforced and glorified work, fighting the natural limits of our bodies by inspiring fear and hope in our brains. Attempts to replace them, like communism, still failed to shed the dominance mentality and the need for impossible labor. Everything we try still centers on work.

And it’s getting worse, even though the scarcity that inspired most of this is now nothing more than myth. It’s expected and accepted that any household will have at least two full-time workers in it. Wages aren’t climbing and inequality is. Burnout is worse than it’s ever been.

And that’s the story so far. What good does it do for us?

The Big Lie

That whole sordid history depends on a lie, a lie that will lead to collapse.

The central lie is that work is morally good and all else is laziness. Work is useful, sometimes, but that does not make it good. And laziness? Laziness is a lie; it does not exist. What we call laziness is a natural reaction to an overwhelming world, impossible environments, and our biological capability.

This big lie leads to many many small ones, and each lie makes it harder to take care of yourself the way you deserve.

“I must work to earn a living” is a lie. You deserve to live because you are alive. The fact that our society will let you die if you don’t work proves that our society is broken — not that work is a moral requirement.

“I can meet society’s expectations if I work hard enough” is a lie. Society’s expectations were created by bad actors — a series of mediocre white men who want you working their farms.

“I am not good enough” is a lie. If you work more than 15 hours a week, you are already superhuman. If you need to work 100 hours a week just to survive, it’s because someone decided that their gold watch is worth your life.

Knowing that these are lies is helpful, but it’s not enough. We live in a culture made up of these lies, and they’re powerful enough to kill.

Our community should be taking care of us. That’s what community is for. But it’s falling down on the job, and it’s hard to fix it while drowning.

So how do we still take care of ourselves in this broken world?

Redefining Yourself

You might be feeling like a victim of humanity’s history right now, but I’ve actually got some good news there.

You are not the victim.

And you’re not a hero either. This sounds like bad news, but it’s not.

By our nature, we see ourselves as protagonists of our lives. Our brains are wired to turn everything into stories, and we’re the obvious choice for the central figure.

As protagonists, our needs drive the plot and our perspective is the one that matters. When we’re hurt, we’re the noble victim. When we hurt others, we’re the rugged antihero. When we help others, we’re the hero. And when we accept help, we’re… we’re…

…we’re not the protagonist any more.

At least that’s how stories work — the protagonist is the one that does things and that things happen to. They do the helping and the hurting. They do the feeling. If they’re saved or rescued, it’s because of their strength as a survivor.

That’s not how real life works. Despite how our minds shape it, it is not a story. We’re just people. We help and need help, we hurt and get hurt. It’s not good or bad, it just is.

You are not your world’s protagonist. Very little is happening to you, for you, or because of you. Someone else is the rugged antihero of the story that victimizes you. Someone else is the noble victim in the story where you heroically saved them.

In every world but one, you are a mentor, a sidekick, a bystander, collateral damage, or an antagonist.

This is a good thing.

Don’t be a hero

Heroics are bad. This is always true.

I’m not saying people shouldn’t save the day when it needs saving. I’m saying the day shouldn’t need saving.

If heroics are necessary, something went wrong.

Heroics are a reaction to an imperfect world. The messes we suffer to fix never needed to happen in the first place. When the messes just don’t happen because of careful planning and hard work, there are no heroes.

And that’s the world we all want.

That’s the world we are responsible for creating. When we mess up, we are responsible for cleaning up after ourselves, which may require heroics.

But all other heroics? Not on you.

You don’t have to save the day. No one is waiting on you to do so.

The responsibility is not with you, it’s with the people who risked the day in the first place. The day shouldn’t need saving and that’s where the problem is.

Resisting Victimhood

We’re going to walk a tightrope together in this next section. See, I don’t know you. I don’t know what you’ve been through. I can bet you have lived experiences where you were a victim of some cruelty.

I don’t want to dismiss or even challenge that. I have no doubt that you have suffered at another’s hands. And I have no doubt that it sucked, and wasn’t fair, and shouldn’t have happened.

But I also have no doubt that that cruelty was not about you. You may have been specifically targeted, you may be the only person your villain ever hurt, and I will still argue that their actions were not about or because of you.

How can I claim this?

It’s simple — your villain was human, which means they were the protagonist of their own story. For them, you weren’t you — you were a character in their own story. Maybe you were collateral damage. Maybe you were their antagonist. Maybe you were convenient.

In their story, they were a victim of circumstance, their hands somehow forced to hurt you. But you weren’t the victim in their eyes— at least not until they re-examine the story from your perspective and start to regret it.

They were wrong to do what they did, so why does this matter? I’m not asking you to sympathize with your aggressor. I don’t need you to do the emotional labor to see their story.

Instead, I’m recommending that you add a new perspective.

Forget that the victim in that story was you. They were an individual. Their tormentor was an individual. The suffering happened, and it should not have.

But you have no special obligation to avenge your past self. And you can’t help them. They’re just another person; another lesson from history.

They aren’t the hero or the victim of the story.

Your next self is.

The Real Protagonist

Sorry to break it to you, but you aren’t one person. There are at least three of you.

We’re gonna get weird, but I promise it’s worth it.

First there was Past You. They existed in the world, and you remember their actions, but you live in a different mind and have no influence over each-other’s actions. Past You is often the default protagonist of your stories. They aren’t you and you owe their memory nothing but love. You can’t help them.

Now there is Now You. You mark the boundary between what was and what might be. You reconcile your memories, your experiences, and your stories, and play the director that decides where attention will go. I write addressing Now You. Now You is one continuous conscious experience that exists outside of time, like a rock that a river flows around. Meditation, spirituality, and mindfulness training largely focus on finding and connecting to Now You. (More on this later.)

Then there will be Next You. They will exist in the world, and they’ll remember Past and Now You, but they are distinct. Due to our neuroplasticity, they will have a different brain and different experiences. They are your invention, and your responsibility, but they are not You.

(If you want to read more about these claims, check out my pieces on time, death, and free will. If you’re still unsatisfied, pick a fight with me on Twitter.)

Past You is almost always the wrong protagonist for the stories you tell yourself. They will never thank you for your efforts. You can forgive them and learn from their experiences and actions, but the only thing that will ever matter is how useful they are to You and to Next You. Past You is dead — no more alive than Marie Antoinette or Plato.

And yes, that includes yesterday You. And two minutes ago You.

Now that we understand these distinct people, it’s a little easier to prioritize who we take care of.

They are a different person. Remembering that makes it a whole lot easier to take care of them.

How Much is Not Enough?

Now that we’ve established who the you is that needs your care, we can start figuring out how to help them. And, importantly, how much to prioritize helping them.

I don’t want to recommend selfishness, but once you realize that you’re thinking about Next You, who is a different person, the priorities become a little more clear. Ask these questions:

Understanding your future self as a distinct, beautiful, and love-worthy person is a pretty great hack.

Since your self-care goes on the same priority list that your care for others goes on, it’s also a little harder to be self ish. By the same token, you’re unlikely to go completely and harmfully self less — Next You deserves care.

So how do we give it to them?

Now that we know who it is we’re taking care of, let’s talk about what care is.

Redefining Care

Imagine you’re working full-time at two minimum-wage jobs just to make ends meet. (You may not need to imagine this.)

If I was to tell you to take a spa day, you would laugh in my face. You can’t afford the day off, let alone the spa fees. If I said to take a nap, you might remind me that 5 hours of sleep in a row is a rare night.

Society is kicking the crap out of you. What chance do you have?

Not much of one. I get that. But I also know that you have a responsibility to yourself. Everyone has a responsibility to you, but it sounds like they’re not holding up their end. It’s up to you. I’m sorry, it’s bullshit, but that’s how it is.

Let’s start with the bare minimum.

The Pause Button

Remember when I said there’s almost nothing you can do for Now You? There is one thing, and it’s incredibly powerful. I call it the Pause Button.

It is very simple. Here are the steps.

You accidentally use this trick all the time, and you’ve probably read about it too. When you read about it, they call it mindfulness practice, meditation, or something else that feels big and hard and cosmic.

But cosmic things don’t need to be hard. You are cosmic. I don’t mean that in a new age, we are all stardust way. I just mean that Now You is a cosmic entity. Time flows around you. Consciousness is an unfathomable mystery. You contain a unique view of an entire universe. You are the eldritch horror you were warned about.

That means that mindfulness doesn’t have to be a big deal. You don’t need incense, or darkness, or more than a minute. The Pause Button gives your vastness a moment to breathe. You give it a moment to think.

Without that moment, we go through our days basically on autopilot — allowing our conditioning and chemicals to automatically respond to our environments. It’s awesome that we can do that, but our autopilots aren’t as smart as we are. Past You can only program them so well.

The Pause Button gives you the controls, just for a moment. It lets you ask yourself how you’re feeling, what you’re doing, and whether you’re doing the right things. You might notice something hurts. Or something feels off.

Your autopilot would’ve rolled with it. It would’ve just let the suffering happen and let a bad story grow.

Hitting pause brings you back into the picture.

Get Your Story Straight

Alright, so, you’re in the middle of a 10-hour shift and you’ve hit pause, and you’ve realized your body aches, your mind is tired, and you can’t smile at one more asshole. Fantastic. What now?

You can’t risk your job. You can’t relax your work. No one is taking care of you, not even you. You just have to push through.

No matter how it feels, you have options. Let’s examine these stories and figure out what’s really happening.

Listen, I’m not advocating against a work ethic. I fully support being proud of how you do something even if you’re not proud of what you do.

In almost all of those new stories, there’s a question. Does work need to be draining by definition?

Managing Energy

I think the answer is no. Work has nuance. Let’s separate what is draining from what is productive. You can be productive, meaning you produce value for your future self or your employer, without draining yourself dry.

As ever, let’s define our terms.

The first variable is energy. Does a given activity charge your batteries or burn them down? As an introvert working at Starbucks, I found washing dishes to be incredibly recharging to my social energy.

Our energy is complicated, but I think of four main batteries:

For simplicity, I will usually pick one kind of energy to manage — whichever is most likely to burn out. Something energizing fills that battery, leading to a net gain in energy.

The second variable is productivity. Does a given activity create something or serve a practical purpose to anyone else, including Next You? When I closed, packing up the food that was otherwise destined for the trash was productive — it’d feed Next Me.

Productivity as a concept is pretty damaged in our current world. I do not use it to mean that it makes money or shows hustle. I use it simply to mean that it provided value. If you’d rather think of it as helpfulness, usefulness, or purpose, I strongly recommend doing so.

When I look at the day ahead of me, I use this lens to categorize everything I’m planning to do. At Starbucks, I was mostly managing social energy.

As I get better at using this strategy, I’m starting to be able to manage each battery better. For instance, right now I’m productively draining my mental battery while recharging physical, social, and emotional batteries.

If you’re lucky enough to get to pick your career, try to find one that works with the batteries you’ve got. But even if you’re stuck in a bad fit, you can manage your energy while still helping people.

While I showed a work context, you can (and probably should) actually apply these principles across your entire day. The burnout doesn’t stop when paid work does, so think about balance all day long.

You Deserve Help

I’ve written a lot of this assuming that you don’t have the help you deserve. The first section explained why you aren’t getting that help. The second explained who you’re helping. The third showed what help looks like.

As we wrap up, I’d like to talk about why that help is necessary.

This should not be news, but you are a living breathing human being who exists and matters. You deserve space on this planet. You deserve food, healthcare, and shelter. You deserve rest. You deserve love.

If you don’t feel like you have what you need, this is not because you have failed. This is because you have been failed. When you are done drowning, you’ll finally be able to take steps to create a world that fails you less.

This is why those in power have been letting you drown. They want their power to stay. They know that rested, energized, and powerful individuals will not allow the continuation of oppression.

Your oppressors point you to those whom they have oppressed even more and say they are why you shouldn’t fight oppression. They paint victim narratives to keep you down and hero narratives to keep you tired.

They might say you shouldn’t accept help because others need help more. They might say you shouldn’t give help because others want what’s yours. It’s the same story with the same goal. No help.

The oppression hides under your exhaustion and distraction.

But you’re no hero or victim. That was Past You. We’re talking about Next You.

And there is enough love, food, space, healthcare, shelter, and rest to go around. The fact that billionaires have more than they need does not mean that there is not enough.

Existence is not a zero-sum game. When you help yourself, humanity is lifted up. When you help others, humanity is lifted up. Humanity is built to care for each other. We are built for community.

How to take care of yourself during stressful times

The coronavirus (COVID-19) has made the world pretty different right now. If you’re feeling overwhelmed or stressed by it all, be assured that this is a normal response. But it does mean that you need to make sure you look after your mental health.

Here are some tips to take care of yourself, learn to navigate through tough times at home while you spend more time with family, and become problem solvers to overcome the challenges, big and small, that we all face in our lives.

TIP 1: DO THINGS THAT ARE GOOD FOR YOUR BODY AND MIND

Your body and mind are connected. Here are some things you can do to keep them healthy:

• Stay active! Being physically active is good for your body and can help your mind feel better too. If you can go outside, try a walk, run, bike ride, or any other sport. If indoors, try dancing, stretching, or any other movement you can do. Find what works for you – and do it!

• Eat well! Try to make healthy choices about what you eat if you can.

• Take notice of yourself and the world around you. This means becoming more aware of your breathing, your body and your surroundings. Try to BE PRESENT in the moment!

• Sleep! Try to get the right balance of sleep each night. This will help you grow well, stay healthy, and keep clear thoughts.

• Find things that make you happy and do those things more! Singing, listening to music, reading, playing games, chatting with friends, growing plants, cooking, playing football, drawing. there are many possibilities! Perhaps even try something new!

TIP 2: STAY CONNECTED TO LOVED ONES

Keep in touch with your family and friends however you can. Use social media, email, phone calls, write a letter! Be creative. And if you can’t connect, then think about a memory of a shared time together.

TIP 3: RECOGNISE HOW YOU ARE FEELING

TIP 4: BE KIND TO YOURSELF

It is okay to feel however it is that you’re feeling. Putting pressure on yourself to always ‘be happy’ or ‘stay positive’ or ‘stay productive’ can sometimes make you feel worse. Instead, if you notice you are experiencing difficult emotions, try telling yourself: “I feel worried and scared, but that does not mean I am not coping.” “It’s been a tough time, it’s okay to be upset.” “I am feeling [insert how you are feeling] and that is okay.” “These are difficult times, it’s normal to feel upset.”

Or think of something to tell yourself that works for you.

TIP 5: LISTEN TO YOUR BODY

Our body experiences and reacts to how we feel. Do you often get headaches? Do your shoulders, chest, or stomach sometimes feel tense? Try closing your eyes, and listening to your own breathing. Notice how you feel in each part of your body, starting from your head down to your toes. Notice if you are feeling any tightness, pain, or pressure in your body. Being aware of where you are feeling tension can help you release it.

TIP 6: TRY USING YOUR BREATH TO CALM YOURSELF

Slow breathing is one of the quickest ways of calming down the body when we experience feelings such as fear, worry or anger. Close your eyes and think of a calm place. Imagine yourself there, feeling relaxed.

• Focus on breathing slowly.

• Breathe in for a slow count of 3 and out for a slow count of 3.

• Practice this for a few minutes.

How do you feel after?

TIP 7: AVOID UNHEALTHY WAYS OF COPING WITH STRESS

When you are experiencing difficult feelings, it is important to find healthy ways to take care of yourself.

It may not be easy, but it is often about balance:

TIP 8: TALK TO SOMEONE YOU TRUST

It isn’t always easy to manage stress, worry, or sadness by yourself. Connect with a friend, a parent, a teacher, or a trusted adult about how you are feeling, and they may be able to help you. Sometimes just by connecting with someone else, you might feel better.

If things are so overwhelming that you have thoughts about harming yourself, reach out to a professional helper.

Sometimes we may feel very overwhelmed or hopeless and have thoughts about hurting ourselves, or thinking that life is not worth living anymore, or wishing that you would fall asleep and not wake up.

These thoughts are not uncommon and you should not feel ashamed if you are experiencing these. Remember: if you feel this way, it is essential to talk to someone you trust or a professional helper who can help to keep you safe. This can include asking this person to help you access support at local services (health, social, community).

TIP 9: LOOK FOR THE GOOD

Spending more time with the people you live with in these stressful times can mean more relationship challenges.

TIP 1: 5-MINUTE CHATS

TIP 2: KNOW YOUR OWN FEELINGS

Be aware of what makes you angry, or frustrated, or sad, or withdrawn. There is nothing wrong with any of these feelings. What counts is how you handle it. Try to think about what triggers these feelings. For example: «my mother always criticizes me,» «my roommates are making a mess,» «my things aren’t working,» «my parents are always fighting.»

TIP 3: RESPOND, NOT REACT

In a conflict, it can be easy to react impulsively. Here are some constructive ways to respond instead: Walk away or disconnect, waiting to talk until you feel calm. Take a few slow breaths and focus on the things around you in that moment. The weather. The sounds. Your breath. Try your best to explain how you are feeling. Ask for help if you have tried and cannot calm down or if the other person is not calming down.

TIP 4: CONNECT WITH PEOPLE WHO SUPPORT YOU

Think about 5 people in your life. How do they make you feel about yourself? How do you feel about them? Choose who you give your time to.

Think about some supportive actions that you can take such as helping with chores around the house or taking time to pause and listen when a friend is in need. How can you still “connect” when social activity is limited or impossible? Are there ways to connect with them even if you can’t see them in the way you would like?

TIP 5: GRATITUDE HELPS YOUR RELATIONSHIPS GROW

Say “thank you” in some way to 2 people that bring light and strength into your life. It could be in person or through a call, SMS, letter, or some other way. If you cannot reach them, you can connect with them in your thoughts by thinking about good memories you have shared together and giving thanks for what they have added to your life.

Life can be full of ups and downs. We all face challenges that we need to overcome, some big and some small. This is why it is important for us to become problem solvers.

TIP 1: CALM YOUR MIND

You may be feeling helpless, angry, worried, and sad, which is completely normal. Actively calming your mind when experiencing these emotions can help. You can place one hand on your chest and the other on your forehead. Take a few deep and slow breaths in and out. Focus on the breath.

If all these emotions and feelings still come to your mind, picture them like a cloud passing in front of you, eventually floating beyond the horizon, out of view. Feeling more calm can help you tackle your problems more effectively.

TIP 2: AVOID BLAME

When something bad happens, our first thought might be to focus on blame: I ruined everything. She made me do it. He started it. I can’t help it. You never listen to me. They don’t understand me. But focusing on whose fault it is will not help you overcome the problem, and can often feel worse. Instead, try to focus on what you can control and act on to make it better. Think about what needs to change, what you can do, or what help you need. You are much stronger and more resilient than you think.

TIP 3: THINK THE PROBLEM THROUGH

Asking questions can help you understand the problem better. Why is this a problem? Why did this happen? Why is this so important to you? Who does this affect? What do you think might happen? What is making you feel upset?

TIP 4: MAKE A LIST OF SOLUTIONS AND TRY THEM OUT

Think about the problem you are facing. Next, try to brainstorm as many ways of overcoming the problem as you can, using a pen and paper if writing things down helps you. They can be any range of ideas, from far-fetched to practical. Then think about the positive and negative consequences for each solution and which ones would be easier to try. Try the best solution. Think about what went well and what did not go well. Sometimes you will need to try more than one solution. Part of problem solving is learning how to adapt your solution and try again.

TIP 5: KNOW WHEN TO GET HELP

If you feel stuck or overwhelmed, know that it is a sign of strength to ask for help from someone you trust or a professional helper. Some warning signs that show you may need to get help include:

• You can’t sleep at night or you fall asleep but have a hard time staying asleep.

• You are feeling a decrease in your level of energy and/or motivation.

• Your eating patterns have changed: either you have lost your appetite or you can’t stop yourself from eating too much.

• You feel nervous, stressed, or worried all the time.

• You are using alcohol or drugs to cope.

• You often suddenly feel panicked. It may feel like you can’t breathe, or that your heart is pounding. No matter how much you try to calm down you are not able to relax.

• You feel that life is no longer worth living and you have thoughts about hurting yourself or ending your life, or you feel like you would like to just go to sleep and not wake up.

• You are experiencing violence or abuse.

If you start to feel this way it is important to get extra support from people working in local health, social or community services, even if it is difficult to talk about or share.

It is especially important if you are thinking that life is not worth living or if you have experienced physical harm to get support as soon as possible to keep yourself safe.

How to take care of yourself

Think about the safety speech you hear every time you’re on a plane. If you’re traveling with other people who might need your help in case of an emergency, the flight attendants tell you to be sure to secure your own oxygen mask before tending to those in your care. Why? Because if you help others without ensuring your own safety first, you might pass out.

The same logic can be applied to your everyday life. When you focus on self-improvement physically, emotionally and mentally, you become better able to pursue your goals and enrich the lives of the people around you. You’re able to focus on the good in life, increase your resilience and see light where you used to see darkness. You become the best version of yourself – the version that can be more, do more and achieve a more positive impact on the world.

Start a powerful self-care ritual today

What is self-care?

Why is self-care important?

Self-care tips

1. Schedule it in

Reserve 20 minutes in the morning to read or meditate. Block off one evening a week to indulge in a long bath or visit with a friend. These are great ways to keep yourself on track and make self-care part of your regular routine. It’s also important to let those close to you know what you’re doing so they can be supportive of your new self-care practices.

2. Get physical

We often overlook our physical health when discussing mental and emotional health, but the mind-body connection can’t be denied. When your body feels healthy and strong, your mood soars, and when you’re in a great emotional state, it shows in how you move your body. Make it a point to regularly engage in physical activities you love as a form of self-care.

3. Change your mindset

4. Meditate

One practice that can help you change your mindset is meditation. Meditation helps you clear your mind and focus on the present. It has many proven benefits including reducing stress, regulating mood and even making you more productive. And what is self-care if not a way to ultimately help you be your best self?

There are many different types of meditation : mindfulness meditation focuses on being present, relaxation meditation physically relaxes your body and loving-kindness (or mantra) meditation focuses on self-love and love of others. You can find plenty of examples of these online, so learn about several types to see what fits for you. Like self-care, effective meditation is different for everyone.

5. Eat nutritious foods

When you think of self-care comfort foods, you might envision treats like cupcakes or huge, rich and savory meals. While it’s certainly beneficial to treat yourself once in a while, envision self-care in the form of more sustainable foods that make you feel good like leafy greens, alkaline foods and items that energize. Instead of viewing food as a reward, reframe it as fuel for your body.

Reward yourself with activities you enjoy, like giving yourself an hour to read or checking out a new workout video. When it comes to food, treat yourself by going to a local juice shop and finding a smoothie that calls to you or cooking a healthy new recipe at home. Understand that the food you put into your body has a direct effect not only on your mood and energy level, but also on the quality and length of your life. Eating a healthy diet is not just one of the best self-care tips you can incorporate, but it can also mean the difference between an active, fulfilling life and one plagued by sickness and limitations.

6. Say “no”

Knowing when to say “no” is one of the self-care tips that people have the most trouble with. Between work and your personal life, it feels like you’re always saying “yes” when people ask you for something. It can be rewarding to have a full calendar, but it’s also important to know when to say “no.” If you’re feeling run down or spread thin, grant yourself the ultimate luxury: downtime.

By taking the necessary time needed to recharge, you’ll bolster your energy and be able to return to your regular schedule with increased energy and gusto. Carefully choose when you say “yes” and make sure you are only agreeing to activities or requests that align with your values or bring you happiness. When following your passion is one of your self-care activities, you seamlessly create a business and life you love.

7. Practice focus and gratitude

8. Do something fun

When we’re stressed, it’s easy to forget that self-care means doing things that bring us joy. With many of our go-to fun activities no longer available to us or shifted online in a socially distanced world, it’s hard to get in the mindset of having fun for its own sake. So step away from the computer. Don’t check your email this weekend. Forget what the world wants you to be concerned about. Go do something fun!

9. Use self-care products

Adding some self-care products such as supplements and nutritional shakes can help you increase immunity and ensure proper nutrition. When you have the right nutrients, you feel better both physically and mentally and have more energy to give to others. When choosing self-care products, do your research and check the ingredients to make sure you’re getting the most effective and safe supplements on the market.

Never forget that self-care is personal and highly individualized. What’s important is incorporating the self-care tips that resonate with you and bring you inner peace. Find activities you enjoy and make the time to luxuriate in them. Whether you find yourself reading a good book in a bubble bath or going on a 10-mile run, know that the way you engage in self-care is yours alone.

Incorporate these self-care tips into your normal routine so you can continue feeling energetic and excited about your goals. Remember that taking care of yourself is not a selfish activity – it’s the way you can best position yourself to help others and add to the world as a whole.

Feed your body, mind and soul

Download Tony Robbins’ free digital Ultimate Health Guide for more self-care tips and healthy lifestyle routines that can help you reach the results you desire.

Taking Care of Yourself

🕓 22 марта 2021 👁️ 267

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Taking Care of Yourself

Longevity [lɔn’ʤevətɪ] долгожительство, долголетие Cholesterol [kə’lest(ə)rɔl] холестерин Diabetes [ˌdaɪə’biːtiːz] диабет, сахарная болезнь Vigorous [‘vɪg(ə)rəs] сильный, энергичный; решительный To digest [daɪ’ʤest] переваривать (пищу) To quit / give up smoking бросить курить To do morning exercises делать утреннюю зарядку To jog in the morning бегать по утрам To lose weight сбросить вес To eat healthy food есть здоровую пищу To avoid fastfood избегать фастфуд To have regular checkups регулярно проходить медосмотр To avoid stress избегать стресс To drink 2 liters of water daily пить 2 литра воды ежедневно Nutrition [njuː’trɪʃn] питание Nutritious [njuː’trɪʃəs] питательный Food allergy [‘æləʤɪ] пищевая аллергия To cut down on cholesterol [kə’lest(ə)rɔl] сокращать объём потребляемого холестерина Fattening калорийный, жирный Balanced diet сбалансированная диета Obese [əu’biːs] тучный, страдающий ожирением Obesity [əu’biːsɪtɪ] тучность; ожирение A snack лёгкая закуска Junk food низкокачественная пища Vitamins [‘vɪtəmɪn ], [‘vaɪ-] витамины Vitamin deficiency [dɪ’fɪʃənsɪ] авитаминоз To be on/to keep a diet соблюдать диету Sedentary life [‘sed(ə)ntrɪ] сидячий образ жизни