Self care. We hear the term thrown around so often, yet most of us just ignore it and go about our days as usual. You aren’t one of those people though! Instead of ignoring it. You have taken the time out of your day to investigate it and hopefully invest a whole days worth of your time into looking after yourself.
Dedicating a whole day to self care is so good for you! Fun fact, there is even such a thing as International Self Care Day (which is on the 24th of July). So, this post is dedicated to helping inspire you to have a self care day.
Why should you have a self care day?
Life can be a lot, it can get overwhelming, and in those moments sometimes ordinary self care isn’t enough. Plus, when your schedule is going crazy and you feel like time is slipping through your fingers, what is the first thing to take off of your priority list? I’m guessing a number of you would say self care… which isn’t ideal.
Having a self care day is about giving yourself a chance to step away from the hustle and bustle of your everyday life and take a moment to focus solely on yourself and your needs. It gives you a chance to rest and recharge in way that you determine is best. After all, it is your day and you get the beauty of deciding what you do with it. It is a day where you get to potentially attend to your physical needs, emotions, organise yourself and your spaces, and the list goes on.
How to organise the perfect self care day
- You need to commit to the idea of having a self care day
- Pick a day to have a self care day
- Clear your schedule for that day (give yourself a whole interrupted day to enjoy)
- Say no to anything that pops up that might interrupt your day (you need to prioritise yourself)
- Gather some ideas for things you would like to do on your self care day
- When the day comes, go with the flow of your emotions, mood, and energy levels in terms of what activities you do choose to do
- Remind yourself to not put pressure on yourself and just enjoy your day (this can be in the form of time pressure, pressure to feel like you are making the most of the day etc.)
Ideas For Activities To Inspire Your Self Care Day:
Enjoy a moment of sunshine
Start your perfect self care day by inviting some sunshine into your day. If you are a morning person, how about getting up early and watching the sunrise? You could watch it from a comfy spot around home or start your day with little adventure and go find a beautiful spot to watch it rise. Not only will you get to have a peaceful moment to admire mother nature’s beauty, but you also get the added benefit of syncing up your circadian rhythm to the day.
If you are not a morning person and dread the thought of getting up at the crack of dawn to watch the sunrise, that’s not a stress! You can still invite some sunshine into your day in other forms. Maybe try to start your day (at whatever time you decide to rise) by sitting outside in the sunshine and enjoying a cup of your favourite hot drink.
Alternatively, you could have a little sunbath later in the day. Get out in that mid-morning or afternoon sun and just take a moment to soak it in. Close your eyes even. Enjoy the feel of it warming your skin. Smile!
Get moving
Keeping active is a great way to look after your physical health, so why not add some movement into your self care day? You could plan to do a sport you love or go for a run – if you’re a runner!
If you are not a runner, maybe try putting on earphones and going on a walk, even if it is just around your local neighbourhood. You can either let your mind wander as you walk, pick a positive topic to think about or simply let your mind go blank and enjoy your surroundings. If you want to make your walk a little more adventurous, take a coin with you on your walk. Every time you reach an intersection, flip the coin. If it lands on heads, take a left turn, and if lands on tails take a right turn. This adds a bit of excitement to your walk and allows you to explore in a new way.
If the weather is not playing along and it’s not a great day to get out and about, try doing some yoga or stretching at home. I cannot emphasize enough how good it will make your body feel. It is such a calming form of exercise and will really help your body to feel a bit looser and your muscles to feel less tense.
Get lost in something creative
When was the last time you did something creative? Drew a picture, painted something, knitted something, baked something or built something?
Allow yourself to get into a different headspace by pursuing something creative on your self care day. Spending your day doing a creative hobby that you love but might not always have time to do will be so good for you. Allow yourself to feel the joy of doing something that you love and creating something beautiful for yourself to enjoy.
If you don’t want to get lost in doing something creative, how about getting lost in appreciating something creative? Why not spend the day wrapped up in a book? Books can offer you so much: skills, education, entertainment, or an escape. Spend your self care day filling your mind with new knowledge or give your mind a break living in someone else’s story for a moment. If you are an avid book reader, you could even go on an adventure to a second-hand book store and find a couple of gems to add to your collection.
Put some calm into your spaces
It is honestly crazy how much your environment can impact your mental space. When your space is cluttered and disorganised, it can make your mind feel that way too. Whereas having a clean, tidy environment is not only visually appealing for most people, but it can also have a positive impact on your emotions, stress levels, and obviously your health.
If you are feeling a bit mentally overloaded and know your space could use a touch of attention, why not do your mental health a favour and spend some time attending to your physical environment? There are so many ways in which you can do this. You could rearrange a space in your home so that it is more functional, has a better flow, or feels more refreshed. You could clean, do a bit of redecorating, re-organise, or declutter your spaces. Do whatever your space needs to make it feel better for you.
I know for some people the thought of spending their self care day cleaning or organising makes them tense up inside, but I am telling you now, it doesn’t have to be a dreadful task. Try to make it fun for yourself. Put some of your favourite music on and dance your way through it. If you get tired of it, have a break and come back to it as you please (it is your day after all). Any progress you make, however, will do great things for your mental load. You also never know, once you get started you might get into the mood for it (it can happen, I promise).
Get out and about in nature
Give yourself a detox in nature. Getting out in some fresh air and surrounding yourself with some greenery does wonders for the soul. Despite this, the majority of us spend most of our day indoors, bathing ourselves in artificial lighting and breathing far from fresh air.
So, what better way to reconnect and reground yourself (no pun intended) on your self care day than by spending some of it outdoors, in a particularly green environment?
Great ways to get out and about in nature on your self care day:
- Take yourself on a picnic to a local park or botanical garden
- Curl up under a shady tree at your local park and read a book
- Take your craft supplies to a beautiful location and do some drawing or painting
- Go for a run or walk along the beach
- Pick yourself a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers
- Go on a day hike/walk
- Spend some time gardening
Keep yourself hydrated on your self care day
Water is literally one of the things you cannot live without! It does so many great things for our physical health and functioning. So, hydrating throughout your self care day is something you should definitely prioritise! Sip at a bottle of water throughout the day or have a glass every hour, however you would like to do it. If this is something you struggle to remember to do, then set yourself a reminder or alarm on your phone to remind you to have a glass of it. If you struggle to drink water because it tastes bland, try adding some mint leaves or lemon juice to give it a natural flavour.
Social media free day or social media cleanup day
Give your mind and yourself a break. Choose to have a social media free day and hop off the bandwagon of endless scrolling for a day. Let your mind have a break from the comparing, the overstimulation, and the time wasting. Have a day where you focus on the life you are living and the world around you… not someone else.
Help yourself clean up your mental space by taking some time to declutter and refresh your social media accounts. Go through all the people you follow and analyse how their content impacts you. Don’t be afraid to unfollow any account that makes you feel bad or whose content no longer serves any benefit to you. Then, once you have decluttered, you always have the option of refreshing your feed and making it a nourishing space for you. Add accounts that give positive, motivating content, accounts that give you advice that you need in your day-to-day life, and accounts that help you learn and grow. Take control and transform your feed into something that is a positive space to be in (both mentally and emotionally) and that will help inspire you to reach your goals.
Do some writing
Take moment in your self care day to do some writing! It is a lovely way to slow down your thoughts and spend an extra moment paying attention to them and processing them.
Here are some ideas you could choose to write about:
- You could write a list of all the things you love about yourself
- You could give yourself an outline of how you see yourself in the current moment (try focusing on words to describe yourself, your personality, things you enjoy, or things that you think make you up as a person).
- You could write about what you value currently and what you want to focus on in the upcoming year
- You could write a letter to your past self (choose an age) and talk about what you have learned or experienced since you were that age
- You could write a letter to your future self that you could hide away and only be allowed to look at after a certain amount of time has passed
- You could write a pick-me-up letter to yourself to read when you are having a bad day
- You could choose to focus on one of these journal prompts for self discovery
Alternatively, writing without limitations can be also such a wonderful activity. Simply start writing and see where the flow takes you. Once you get on a roll, it can be such a beautiful headspace to be in. So, go ahead and unleash your mind.
Cook a nourishing meal for yourself to enjoy
Part of self care is looking after your physical health. Why not show your insides some TLC by cooking yourself a nourishing and delicious meal for you to enjoy?
If you are feeling adventurous and motivated, you could try cooking a new recipe or cooking with ingredients you normally wouldn’t cook with. This can also be a great way to potentially add a new recipe to your everyday cookbook 😁
Sometimes trying to find a new recipe that appeals to you can feel like too much of a mission… believe me, I get it. So, if this feels like too much to add to your self care day, you could alternatively cook one of your favourite comfort foods…. of the nutritious sort of course.
Put on some music and dance
It’s definitely recommended spending even just a few minutes of your self care day doing this! Simply pop on your all-time favourite song, turn up the volume, and let loose! Unleash your inner you and seriously dance like nobody is watching!
Truly feeling and connecting to a song through dance can be such an awesome mood booster and it is a great way to clear your mind and feel a sense of freedom. Simply listen to the music, truly feel it, and then move your body in whatever way feels right to you. Don’t judge your dance moves, you are in no contest and nobody is there to judge you either. Allow yourself to experience the beauty of letting go of your inhibitions and just dancing.
If you are not feeling in the best of moods at any point during your self care day, put on your favourite sad song and dance out those emotions. Again, connecting to a song can be the perfect way of channeling your emotions and being present with them for a moment. The music will most likely intensify your feelings, especially if you really move with the song. That s okay, it might be highlighting feelings that you didn’t know were lingering inside of you that needed to be addressed. Use this as an opportunity to express them through movement and process them while doing it. Try to have a look at what might be the source of the emotion you are feeling (other than the music).
Create a self care Spotify playlist
Music is such a powerful tool! It can seriously have an impact on our emotions. It can enhance the emotion you are already feeling or it can change your mood completely. Make your music work for you and spend a bit of your self care day creating the perfect playlist to inspire you! Create one that’ll boost your mood and be the one that you turn to when you are happy, sad, or anything in between. Fill it with all the songs that speak to you! Future you will thank you for creating this beautiful resource.
Spend some of your self care day with a pet
If you have a furry friend, go on and give them a bit of TLC. Give them a pat or give them a hug. Spend an extra few minutes snuggling with them in bed or maybe curl up on the couch with them to watch an episode of your favourite TV show. Spend some time with them outside or take them on an adventure with you!
Pets are great for relieving stress and boosting your mood. What better way to do some self care for your emotional, mental, and spiritual health, than spending the day with your furry friend? Their company is always a nice addition to the day.
Take a moment to breathe
Stop. Take a deep breath. Okay, continue reading…
Life can be hectic! Therefore, there is nothing wrong with slowing down on your self care day and allowing yourself a moment to catch your breath. It is so easy to get caught up in that hectic everyday life and let your emotions dictate your behaviour. Taking the time to practice breath work, and practice being in the moment, can help you better control your behaviour. What goes hand in hand with taking a breath is meditation. If you are feeling like going a step further than a moment of purposeful rest, then why not include meditation in your self care day as your way of taking time for a breather?
Taking a moment to breathe is extremely beneficial for your mental health and dealing with emotion, so make sure to set aside time in your self care day for this!
Watch the clouds go by
When was the last time you sat and watched the clouds go by? Probably going way back into your childhood I imagine? Well, little you had the right idea. This self care activity is all about taking some time to slow down and enjoy those simple things in life. If you are a busy person and your life is normally go go go, then this may be the perfect activity for you to add to your list!
Taking the time to stop, slow down, and let the world pass by can be such a relaxing activity. Let your thoughts quieten, and just relax! You don’t need to be anywhere or doing anything other than enjoying this simple moment.
Allow yourself to take a nap
Part of self care is listening to the cues your body is giving you. If you start feeling tired during your self care day, allow yourself to take a short nap.
I know this can make you hyperactive, overachievers out there feel a little guilty for wanting to do this. Especially if you felt the obligation to jam-pack your self care day with enough self care activities that you don’t feel like you have the time to rest (definitely guilty of doing this). Just know that it is important to give your body the rest it needs. Honestly, it could be the best method of self care for yourself. Also, to make you feel better about the whole nap situation, the most optimal amount of time for a short nap is around 20 minutes, so you’ll still have plenty of time for all your other self care activities.
Give your body the rest it deserves so that it can maintain enough energy to power the awesome life you live!
There you have it, folks! This post was all about how to have a great self care day and hopefully got you started with some ideas of activities to add to your self care day. You are the only one who can truly look after yourself, so make sure to schedule some proper self care from time to time.
If you are looking to extend you self care to more than just a single day, why not try creating a self care routine?
