If you feel like you’ve entered a mid-year slump, Wednesday 24 July is the perfect day to relook, reboot and re-energise your self-care routine.
Self-care is the biggest gift you can give yourself. Defined as “the practice of activities that are necessary to sustain life and health, normally initiated and carried out by the individual for themselves”, it is a deeply personal and often profound exercise that can bring about positive differences to how you look, feel and experience the world.
Beauty, mind, and exercise experts give guidance on how we can invest time and energy into simple wellness practices for long-lasting and effective stress-relief.
Curate a healthy home
A primary self-care practice is ensuring that your home is a nourishing environment, as the space you live in has a significant impact on your psyche. Curate the spaces to suit their purpose, with the result that the atmosphere is serene and nurturing. Listening to music from your favourite playlist, brewing a cup of tea, lighting candles, or simply getting some Vitamin D in your backyard, are all ways of incorporating self-care into your day.
Create a To Be list
Life and parenting coach at Voema.biz, Meike Lovemore, says that there is truth behind the adage ‘one can’t pour from an empty cup’. “An easy and practical way of taking care of yourself and filling your cup is to start the day with a TO BE list instead of the well-known ‘to-do’ list. Have a focus and set an intention for how you want to feel today. For example, I want to feel playful or calm. Write down three To Be’s and automatically your mind will start looking for ways to feel like that.”
Talk to a friend
Another healthy self-care practice to soothe emotions is to share worrying and unsettling feelings by talking to a friend or writing them down. “Sharing what is on your mind will open things up. Talking to ourselves in our heads is a monologue with the same answers and solutions over and over again. Only when we begin to share out loud can we enter into a dialogue and the energy around the problem can shift and change,” says Lovemore.
Move and fuel your body
When it comes to self-care, there has been loads of emphasis on physical exercise and nutrition, and for good reason. Exercise elevates mood, raises heart rate and keeps your body working well. Sharon Harris, pilates instructor and owner of Flow Studio, says, “moving your body in a way that brings you joy is beneficial for body, mind and soul. Exercise pulls you immediately into the present, which is great for the mind, it tones muscles, improves mobility and generally makes you feel good.”
Group exercise has the added benefit of being social. Numerous studies have shown how socialising diminishes stress, increases longevity, and makes life that much sweeter.
Replenish
For Health and Beauty entrepreneur, Nandi Ndlovu, self-care is being able to come back to her personal centre. “I let go of everything around me, and honour my emotions and where I am. I find essential oils are great for enhancing my mood - for my morning shower I place a few drops of The Body Shop Boost essential oil onto the floor and let it rise with the steam, it really sets me up for the day. And when I experience a midday slump, I drop some Breathe essential oil onto my wrist and inhale the wonderful scent of eucalyptus and rosemary, it opens me up and I feel like I can take on the world. At night I use the Sleep wellness range, which is enriched with lavender and vetiver, and aids slumber. This type of self-care allows me to replenish,” she says.
The Body Shop Wellness range is designed to help you recharge, reconnect and re-energise. Sleep, Boost and Breathe are the three routines, enriched with 100% natural essential oils and made with at least 90% natural-origin ingredients.
Whatever self-care practices work for you, be sure to incorporate them into your day, week and month - your older self will thank you for it.
