Best Ways to Practice Self Care

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Best Ways to Practice Self Care – These are the top five methods of self care to incorporate in your single life, to help you embrace yourself and your singleness.

One of the many great life lessons singlehood has taught me, is how to take proper care of myself. When I stopped neglecting me, in favour of caring for others, I started leading a better, happier life. First of all, I learned how to actually put myself first and not always lower myself for others. How to start focusing on me, instead of wasting my time away on people who don’t matter or care. Then I started incorporating more and more self care into my life. More time invested into self care, and more types of self care. Not only did that improve my overall quality of life, the state of my body and personal hygiene… It also made me much stronger and more independant.

Learning how to self care, meant I was spending more quality time with myself, thus I enjoyed that time more. So I was much happier being single, and spending less time wallowing over it. Self care also boosted my confidence and how much I measured my own abilities, I had more faith in them and trusted myself more. And it also boosted my self esteem and helped me value myself and appreciate my own worth in more than just one aspect. Overall, incorporating all of these following self care methods, have been the best investment in me. Because you can’t self love, without self care. And you can’t level up and reach your full potential without self love and care.

1. Personal hygiene

It may seem pretty obvious, and kind of a given to most of you… But you’d be surprised (or not) by how many people neglect their own personal hygiene. Whether it be small things like skipping a tooth brushing or shower. Or bigger things, like barely even showering or brushing your teeth. It can also come in the form of not clipping your nails or cleaning them. Not wearing deodorant or cleaning your clothes. Not washing your hand after you use the toilet. And more. Unfortunately, more often than not, we neglect ourselves before we neglect others. We don’t take care of our basic necessities, so it’s not surprising that so many people find it hard to embrace themselves.

This is the most basic, fundamental self care you need to incorporate into your life. If you don’t it can result in not only others staying away from you, but also you won’t want to be around yourself. Which means you’re less likely to care for yourself. Thus creating a vicious cycle. Having poor hygiene not only impacts the way you feel on the outside, or how you feel about your appearance… But also impacts how you feel inside. If you’re not careful, it can lead to low self esteem, which can in-turn even lead to depression. Which will lead to another vicious cycle, because then you’re also more likely to care for yourself.

Keeping the body clean has positive effects on a person’s social life and their physical and mental health. Personal hygiene is simply looking after the body and keeping it clean and healthy. Developing and maintaining a personal hygiene routine is key to having a healthy body and mind.
Medical News Today

2. Skin care routine

Up until not long ago, my skin care routine was almost non-existent. I would do myself a favour by actually washing my face every so often, let alone actually moisturize. Thankfully, subscription boxes helped me improve that, by providing me with great products. And making it more fun to use them daily. Try out new things. You don’t have to have a whole, full skin care routine, which consists of ten different steps. It doesn’t have to be too complex, and definitely shouldn’t feel like a hardship, or annoying task you have to complete. Find small ways to make it enjoyable, or things that you actually want to use. At least make an effort to get it started, and with time it will get easier and become an inseparable habit.

Besides taking care of your skin, and helping you look and feel better about it… A proper skin care routine is also very good for the long run. Sadly, we do not stay young forever, and one day we will suffer the consequences of today’s decisions. It sounds grave and grim, but it’s the honest truth. Whether or not we take care of our skin, will have implications for many years to come. Not only when we’re old and wrinkly, but also on how our skin looks every day. If it’s super oily and filled with acne, if it’s dirty, or dry and chipping. When you invest in a proper skin care routine, you will also feel so much better with yourself, and is likely to give you a great confidence boost.

Those routines are critical for your overall health, in both body and mind. In a study published in June 2018 in the Lancet Psychiatry, researchers found that people who have less consistent routines throughout the active parts of their day were more likely to suffer from major depressive and bipolar disorders, mood problems, loneliness, and less happiness.
Jessica Migala, Everyday Health

3. Working out and eating healthy

Yeah, yeah, I know! Working out can be such a pain, and most people hate it. One of the hardest things in the world to do, is get up off the couch and get our bodies moving. It’s hard to find that motivation, especially if you’re exhausted from a full day. If we don’t take care of our bodies, we will not only be more unhealthy, but also more unhappy with ourselves. Not only with the disappointment that we didn’t move our bodies, and feel lazy. But also with our overall appearance, because how we feel outside, impacts how we feel inside. And taking care of our bodies can also boost our confidence.

Our bodies are our fortresses, and we need to care for them and protect them. So we need to be very minded and conscious of what we consume and put inside them… And how well we treat, nourish, nurture and up-keep them. Not only so we can feel good about ourselves, but also so we can lead a healthier, better life. Having a healthy, strong body will help us stay fit and younger for a longer time. It will slow our aging process, strengthen our immune system and keep it working better for a longer time. Proper physical activity routines can help us live longer, as a result.

“Our research means we now have strong evidence that encouraging people to commit to regular exercise throughout their lives is a viable solution to the problem that we are living longer but not healthier,”
JANET LORD

and lower the possibility of any chronic pains or diseases. Studies show that it can also reduce stress, and help prevent coping with common psychiatric diseases such as depressive and anxiety disorders. Of course, granted this is all done in proper moderation. Because just like anything in life, it is proven that over exerting yourself and uncontrolled training can also cause harm. It’s all a matter of balance. Not to mention, that there is the added bonus of all the endorphins your body produces that help you build and sustain a general, overall feeling of happiness.

4. Cleansing your life of anything and anyone toxic

Self care is usually portrayed as a warm and cozy activity, something which is pleasant and easy to implement. Like massages, face masks, baths, etc. Which is mostly true, but not quite. Because taking care of yourself also includes painful and unpleasant aspects and deeds. Like working out and eating healthy, which I’ve mentioned above. And like extracting and removing people from your life. Believe me I know how painful it can be. I know that just because someone or something is toxic or bad for us, doesn’t mean it will be easy to get rid of them. It can be someone you’re infatuated by, a harmful habit, a toxic relationship or workspace, etc. There are so many forms it can embody, and we need to learn how to detect them. Then work to part from them.

Perpetuating bad habits, toxic relationships, conditions and more, can certainly have a bad impact and influence not only on your well being, but also on your self love and the quality of your life. In which case, it will be harder for you to embrace yourself and your singleness. When you push through those difficult first stages of cleansing your life, and removing all of those toxins… You will find that life will not only be much better and happier, but you will also attract so much better. Your standards will be much higher, thus you will settle less. All of which will help you practice self love and all of the above self care methods… And in turn, they will help you with this method of cleansing your life.

Certain people and situations in life can trigger us to feel badly about ourselves or engage in destructive behaviors. Identifying the toxic inuences in our lives and taking steps to create boundaries or a new life without them can improve mental and physical health over time.
MHA

5. Pampering yourself

Last, but certainly not least – we have the cherry on top. The self care, of all self cares… Pampering ourselves. When done alone, pampering ourselves probably won’t have much long lasting effects. You can’t expect it to make you instantly happy or fix all of your problems. If you’re not happy with yourself, pampering alone will not help you feel better. Perhaps it will momentarily, but in the long run, it’s just a plaster. When you do incorporate it in your life, make sure that it’s an added bonus to all the rest of the methods we discussed above. It should truly feel like a nice treat, or prize for doing so well with the rest. Or like a nice dessert at the end of a good meal, which tops it off and compliments it.

I don’t think I need to explain why it’s good for you, or why you should be self caring every week, as much as you can. Any of you who have done it before, already know. You know how good it makes you feel, how it just gives you a break… A moment of relaxation to just be and breathe. It can help you feel good about yourself and boost your confidence and self esteem. It can also help you manage your stress and daily pressures by generating soothing and relaxing feelings. By giving you a break from reality. And of course, it’s also a great way to spend some quality time with yourself… Which is essential for having a happy single life.

We are all less able to handle the stresses that come our way when we’re depleted by physical and emotional exhaustion. Or, put in a more positive way, we are more resilient and more able to handle life’s stress when we are feeling our best both physically and emotionally.
Elizabeth Scott, Verywell Mind

Top it all off with – self reflection

Taking the time and energy to focus on your self care, and incorporating all of these methods…. Is not a waste in any way. In fact, if you want to keep spending your time well and being productive, you absolutely need to take breaks. And you need to lead an overall healthy lifestyle and routines. They are what give you the energy to keep going. They recharge you, so you’re fully loaded to face all the tasks and work you need to complete. And they also help you cope with the stress and pressure, which is all around you.

It is also important to not do this mindlessly, and to keep track of it. Also so you won’t overdo it and turn it into a waste of time or a means to procrastinate… But also so you do it effectively and so you can monitor your progress. What methods work better than others, what needs to be maintained better and what needs to be removed. Most importantly, if you’re single, no one else will take care of you but you. And in general, no one can do it as best and good as you can. Not to mention, that it makes it more empowering when you’re the one taking care of yourself.