If you’ve learned a little bit about me, you probably know that I am a huge fan and advocate of self-care. Since returning from the Summit of Greatness (check out my last blog to learn more about that), the importance of self-care was certainly reinforced. When I say self-what do I mean by that?

Self-care is about nurturing your mind, body, and soul. There are lots of ways to make this happen. You might be thinking that you don’t have enough time to squeeze in self-care with your already full schedule. The reality is, if you can squeeze in Netflix and hours of scrolling on social media (check your screen time if you want hard evidence!), then you can commit to daily self-care.

Mind: nurturing your mind means giving yourself time and space to process and reflect to keep your intentions clear. Reflection seems to be a lost practice these days. Busy is the norm. Pausing to do mindful meditation or journaling (just a few examples) with your favorite beverage next to you can help bring clarity to things in your life that you’re ruminating on. A simple 5 – 15 minutes a day is a great place to start.

Body: this form of self-care is my favorite. I am 100% a hair, nails, massage, skin, and overall beauty fanatic. I like to express myself through nail art and changing up my hair and I am a sucker for all things skin care. I invest quite a bit into my regimen, but this doesn’t have to be expensive if you choose your favorite things and budget for them. You can also save money by doing this kind of self-care at home vs. at a salon or spa and you can make it fun by choosing something you can enjoy with friends or your significant other. I highly recommend a thorough, daily, and consistent skin routine for when you wake up and before you go to bed. This is as quick as 5 minutes (i.e., cleanse, moisturize, and hydrate). How much money could you set aside and what activities would you prioritize?

Soul: soothing the soul is often a biproduct of other forms of self-care such as meditation, yoga, or even putting on music that you’re in the mood to listen to. Really, the mind, body, and soul are a trifecta that are interconnected, so you can hit all cylinders with some self-care activities. Soul self-care is giving compassion to your spirit. Staying in high, positive vibration is about ridding yourself of negative energy, centering yourself (deep, paced breathing is a great way to achieve this) and setting clear intensions for what you want to focus on and achieve in your day. 

An hour a day can go a long way. I encourage you to prioritize giving yourself at least an hour and on one day a week, even a little more. There’s no magic science though. The best thing to do is to listen to what your mind, body, and soul is telling you (this includes sleep – something I am not great at and working on). There may be days that 30 minutes is enough and other days where you may need 3 hours. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being poor and 10 being excellent), how would you score your self-care routine?