5 Self Care Tips to Implement Now

For most of us, being crazy busy is just another day in life. Whether you have deadlines at work or kids to shuttle all over the place, taking care of yourself usually ends up at the bottom of your to do list. Missing out on self care however can be damaging both for you and your family.

While it’s okay to keep busy and work hard, you also need to take time to enjoy life. Here are a few tips I recommend to help you get the most out of your life, so you can be happy and healthy even when life gets stressful.

1. Exercise every day

Exercise does a lot more than just keep your muscles toned or help you lose weight. Exercise helps boost your mood, gives you energy, and refreshes your body from head to toe. Take the time for a gentle walk, yoga, or a favorite type of exercise every day for the happiest, healthiest you.

2. Eat right

When you’re constantly zooming from one place to another, it’s tempting to just grab something from a drive-through for lunch. While this is fine on occasion, too much junk food will do you more harm than good.

Make your lunch in advance, or keep some healthy snacks in the car so you can say yes to better nutrition.

3. Get enough sleep

Lack of sleep can effect our health in surprising ways. Not only do we feel bad the next day, but long term lack of sleep can cause heart problems, diabetes, and even obesity. Getting enough sleep is important to your health, so make sleep a priority and get enough of it.

4. Set boundaries

It’s natural to want to please all of the people around you, especially if they are friends or family. Unfortunately if you say yes to every single sport or event your kids want to go to, yes to everything your boss and coworkers want from you, yes to every chore, you’ll quickly find yourself in over your head.

Set doable goals, and don’t be afraid to say no. Your needs are important too.

5. Schedule time to yourself

Remember that book you’ve been trying to read for ages? Make an appointment for yourself to read it, and stick to it. The things we really want to do are important, and missing out on them because you are too busy isn’t just disappointing, it’s unhealthy.

What ever it is you want to do—go hiking, chill on the beach, or just work in the garden, schedule yourself time to do it and stick to that schedule. You’re just as important as everyone else.

As women we often play the role of the glue that holds everyone else together. When we don’t take care of ourselves, that glue becomes weaker. It’s vitally important that we learn to take care of ourselves, so we can remain strong for everyone else as well. You can do it, and even if you feel uncomfortable taking time for yourself at first, you’ll feel so much better after you try.

“When you own your own breath, nobody can steal your peace”.

Cheers! Monique Stephanie