We all need to make time for self care, yet many times I have a conversation with people who do not put themselves first or say “I don’t have time”. What is it about our inability to put ourselves first?

Self care doesn’t have to be hard or take up lots of time!

Remember when you are on an aeroplane and they do the safety talk? Aside from the YMCA hand actions they remind us that if we need to use the oxygen masks we must put it on ourselves first before attending to children or others. How true! If we do not have basics of oxygen then it will be impossible for us to care for others. The same applies to taking care of ourselves.

What easy ways can you build some self care into your days?

My Top 6 Easy Self Care Tips to build into your day

1. Schedule Relaxation Time.

Plan a walk or a trip to cinema, make these easy, achievable things. Remember “less is more”! Sometimes it’s good to schedule in empty days, days with no plans, no-one to see, no-where to go, nothing to do, then see how you are on the day.

2. Say NO to people

Really! Practice saying NO. Go on, do it now. Out loud.

• There are loads of people on the office or school PTA who are already saying No every time they are asked.
• Say No when you are stressed or overwhelmed. You may feel better right now by doing that and then you may also be able to say yes next time. If you have already got a lot going on (whatever the reason) say NO.
• Say NO when things are someone else’s issue / if you don’t want / if you feel you are being taken for granted. This is all part of looking after you and prioritising your self care.
• If you struggle to say NO, then say “Let me think about it”.  Then do actually go away and think about it – ask yourself questions:
  • is this your issue or responsibility?
  • Can someone else do it?
  • Is this a direct request to you or broadcast to request to many?
  • Will doing this make you more stressed or rushed?
• Then go back to person and say NO. You don’t have to apologise or give a reason.

3. Get support, ask for help, delegate

Include family, husband etc. Sometimes people need to be asked, they wait to be asked! Doesn’t always matter how well they do it, or if they do it the same way as you. For example: my husband will do the ironing sometimes (when I’ve said it needs doing or that I’m struggling to keep on top of it). I can’t stand to see him do it, it drives me mad, he looks awkward like he’s doing it back to front in some strange way, however, I know that and make sure that when he is ironing, I’m in another room doing something else! Then it works. Ironing gets done, by him, I do other things. Result!

4. Take care of your health.

Look after your body as well as your mind.

• Stay hydrated and drink lots of water (and I don’t mean the tonic water in your gin!).
• Eat well. We know this, right? Yet even if you feel like making meals from scratch is too much for you, there are still ways to incorporate healthy, good, nutritious food like smoothies or a stir-fry.

5. Sleep.

This is the time when your body has most time to recover, and allows your brain to organize or file away thoughts and memories. This sets you up to be ready and energized for the next day.  Have an afternoon nap if possible or give yourself an early night.  The body recovers best when you are asleep before midnight.

6. Connect with yourself

There’s loads of different ways to do this and a whole load of different names for them too!   Relaxation, meditation, mindfulness, self hypnosis, me-time, call it what you like.  Essentially, it’s all self care; it’s that little bit of time to focus on you, be aware of how you are, how you feel, and just recognise that.

As a hypnotherapist of course I use self hypnosis!  You can record your own, ask me to record one specially for you (individual recordings done on request), buy an app or use the complementary one you can get from my website.

Hypnotherapy and coaching are fantastic ways to help you to incorporate self care into your life and enable you to prioritise yourself and let go of the stress, doubts, worries that stop you putting yourself first.  See more information about hypnotherapy here and coaching here.

In these times of busy, demanding lives, fitting in self care doesn’t have to be hard, yet is amazingly beneficial. Can you really afford not to take a little time to incorporate some of these?

Emma x

I work with people in a private therapy setting providing clinical hypnotherapy, NLP, EFT, EMDR and Coaching.  I am committed to helping people with a variety of issues and enable my clients to make positive changes in their lives.

If you need help incorporating any of the above book a call for a complementary telephone consultation and learn how I can help you incorporate easy things in your life.