Georgie May offers her top 5 tips to help you step up your self-care game

2020 was the year of self-awareness, let’s make 2021 of self-care…

Let’s face it, life is pretty stressful right now and with Coronavirus affecting the global population, we need to look at our lives and take responsibility to promote and sustain self-care to avoid ill-health and burn-out. Self-care is defined as “the practice of taking action to preserve or improve one‘s own health”. Benefits include; reducing stress and anxiety, improving self-esteem, protecting your mental health and can lead to better relationships.

As a society, we often deem self-care as selfish– but it’s pleasing to see the perception of this is changing with more people putting themselves ‘first’. The common misconception of self-care is that it’s quite superficial, like getting our hair done or a trip to the spa – and whilst these are all lovely and nurturing forms of self-care, many don’t fully understand how other small simple acts can have a profound impact on our internal environment.

Self-care is all about going deeper: it’s nurturing of the soul that will untimely lead us to living more fulfilled, peaceful and happy lives. Recall the adage ‘Put your oxygen mask on first’ – well the same goes for self-care. With many of us experiencing ‘unprecedented’ (sigh), difficult times, it’s imperative to learn self-care tools and techniques to incorporate a strong sense of calm into our daily lives. We can then be better equipped for what life throws at us – and in turn able to help and relate better to others.

Here are my top 5 tips to help you step up your self-care game:

Date Yourself

Putting ‘me time’ on the backburner can actually lead to burn-out. We all lead increasingly busy lives and it can be easy to forget to put yourself first, especially those have multiple responsibilities and others to care for, but time spent getting to know yourself and how you can best serve your needs will actually help you to be better equipped for dealing with others, strengthening relationships and most importantly, help you holistically.

Schedule a full day once a week or month, or better yet, an hour a day where you dedicate the time totally to your needs and your personal development. Take a long soak in the bath with relaxing essential oils, cosy-up with a book, journal your thoughts, listen to that podcast or take that course you keep putting off -whatever it is you do, consciously make time to dedicate to yourself.

Get that date in your diary, switch off your phone and indulge in unapologetic ‘me- time’ – thank me later!

Tap into your Power

EFT is the soon-to-be buzzword in the wellbeing space. The Emotional Freedom Technique or tapping is a therapeutic approach, backed by science, that works via the body’s energy system to eliminate negative emotions, or traumatic past events. This effective technique involves applying gentle percussive tapping on the meridian points located on the energy channels that run through your body. Through stimulating these meridian points by tapping, you access the body’s energy, which sends signals to the amygdala (our flight/fight response) in your brain to control your level of stress, thus reducing the intensity of the negative emotion from your issue and ultimately restoring the balance to your disturbed energy. The EFT technique is used extensively to work on a wide range of issues, including anxiety, depression, weight issues, or post-traumatic stress disorder. Tapping is a beautiful form of self-care. Spending just 10 minutes a day will help to acknowledge how you feel, then clear any negativity in your life, to bring balance to your mind and body.

For more information see www.totao.co.uk or for free guided tapping mediations follow on Instagram @findyourtao_ 

Glow with Gratitude

Gratitude and self-care go together like wine and cheese! There are numerous scientifically proven benefits to practicing gratitude; it can boost psychological health, reduce aggression, improve sleep and self-esteem – and more.

Gratitude plays a key role in self-care, as when you express appreciation of yourself, others, or the world around you, you let go of any hostility, switch up your vibration, and simply ‘puts a smile on your face’. Change your perspective and implement gratitude as an essential part of your day to realise the profound impact on your life easily – and its free to do! Keep it simple: have a small notebook on your bedside table or use the notes app on your phone, then each night before bedtime, consciously scan through your day and write a list of everything you are grateful for. A study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology showed that participants who wrote in a gratitude journal for 10 weeks experienced better moods, optimism and better sleep – so surely that’s worth a try!

Flow for Freedom

Time to roll out your mat, kick off your socks and get your Om on! We all know moving our bodies and exercising is great for both our mind and bodies, yet this is something we often neglect and it’s easier to “nama-stay-in-bed” (get it?). Yoga is as old as time itself (well nearly) – and helps relieve anxiety, stress and depression, all while boosting energy levels and improving your overall sense of well-being, by actively calming down our nervous system and allowing us to go inwards.

Yoga is a great form of self-care and NOT about touching your toes – the most common misconception! The practice of yoga is all about healing the self through self-discovery and self-acceptance. If you can’t get to a class, there are plenty of online resources, especially on YouTube– do you research, find a flow that suits you, and gently go for it.

Nurture with Nature

Time to move our bodies again, and yes, it’s cold outside, so cosying up on the sofa binge watching Netflix is definitely more appealing, however heading into the great outdoors in ‘daylight’ and getting away from screens, is the perfect way to improve your mental and physical health and arguably, the best form of self-care. We all know exercise is good for us physically, but on an emotional level, getting outside for a walk-in nature everyday lowers stress, promotes happiness and improves productivity. 

Incorporate self-care into your day by adding any combination of these free and easy tips to your mental wellbeing toolkit, and lead a calmer, more empowered life. Go ahead - put on your oxygen mask and take deep restorative mindful breaths from today. 

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