A ritual, a routine, a habit, we can have good and bad. Lets’ try and incorporate more good and healthy self-care rituals into our everyday life.
8 steps to a morning and evening self-care ritual
Morning rituals
Evening rituals
- Skincare
- Meditation
- Be in nature
- Healthy drink
- Journal
- Flight mode 8pm
- Make bed warm and cosy
- Read a book
- Meditation
- Journal
Skin care
A skin care routine doesn’t need to be complicated. You don’t need to do it all everyday. Just do something. There are cleansers, toners, serums, moisturisers, overnight creams, body oils, body lotions etc, etc. Start simple, pick one two and incorporate into your daily routine. I use habit stacking to bring new good habits into my day. After brushing my teeth I use a toner on my face. Stacking two habits together. After that I will use either a moisturiser or a serum. I leave a moisturiser on my bedside table, just incase I get into bed and have forgotten.
Meditation
Focussing ones awareness and attention on the present moment. This can take as little as 3 minutes of your time. You could habit stack meditation and breathing, literally just box breathe for three minutes. Personally I love an active transformational meditation, I use the tapping solution app. These meditations can be done while doing the dishes, decluttering, driving or relaxing. I also enjoy auto suggestion meditation/hypnosis. I listen to Paul McKenna’s, change your life in 7 days cd. Meditation is a great way to relax, recharge and reboot our body mind and soul.
Be in nature
Just get out and get some fresh air, if only into the garden for a few minutes. Being in nature improves your mood, reduces feelings of stress and anxiety. Improves the health of our bones, lymphatic system, brain heart and lungs, to name but a few. I love a walk through a forest or along a beach, but if all you can manage is a wander round your garden or local park then that is great also.
Healthy drink
Start the day with a healthy drink. I’m not a fan of a big breakfast, but realise the importance of fuelling the body for the day. A healthy drink could be in the form of a smoothie, a herbal tea, infused water, a glass of water in the morning can have many benefits, including improved metal performance, mood, skin, gut health and improved immune system. This one is on my practice what I preach list, so I will habit stack. Have a water while waiting for the kettle to boil for my coffee.
Journal
My favourite self-care habit of them all. Journaling. Journaling is an act of self-love and brings so many benefits including, promoting gratitude, forgiveness and personal growth. Exploring your values and motivations. Encouraging you to find what you love. Releasing old negative ideas, fears and beliefs. Creating new positive habits, affirmations and beliefs. The list really does go on. Anyone can journal, anywhere at any time. All you need is a pen and paper, although a structured guided journal really does help.
Flight mode 8pm
I know this may not be possible for everyone, but if you do it can have a huge impact on how you spend your time. We all have the same amount of time, but it’s what we choose to do with it that makes the difference. By turning your phone to flight mode, you avoid wasting time on social media, or playing games or whatever you do. You now have time to read a book, do a meditation, take five minutes to journal or just breath. You are also more conscious of how often you may go to pick up your phone as you would need to consciously turn flight mode off.
Read a book
A book can take us on amazing journeys and teach us great things. Find the time to relax and read either for pleasure or self-development, preferably both. Reading can strengthen your brain, challenge your mind, reduce stress and prepare you for a good nights rest.
Make bed warm and cosy
Or light and cool if that’s what you like. Personally I love my bed cosy, warm, fleecy and comfy. Preparing our bed for the evening is a ritual which can set us up for a good sleep. A good sleep has so many benefits including, reducing stress and inflammation, improving your memory, increasing your energy and alertness and really just benefits every part of your body mind a soul.
8 steps to a morning and evening self-care ritual
You may have noticed I included journaling and meditation into both the morning and evening rituals. The reason for this is to optimise the chance of doing meditation or journaling each day. If you can incorporate two or three of these simple self-care rituals into your everyday, as you can imagine, your body, mind, soul and your future self will thank you.