It might sound obvious but these days most of us are busy! This doesn’t leave much time to just be, relax and do nothing (an art in itself) or spend time doing, creating and enjoying something of value to you.

In terms of self care: caring for yourself as you would a loved one, it is important to make the time to do things that make you feel alive and fulfilled.
Add to this spending time with people who love you and you love them, people who make you feel good, make you laugh and encourage you in all your lives ups and downs. Avoid the opposite!

Here are some ways to practice self care & love:

– Sleep – if you are tired follow your body, check back into your natural rhythm and go to bed earlier – 8 hours is optimum for health and wellbeing
– Nature – get outdoors and into green spaces proven to relax and destress
– Animals – get a pet, walk a dog, you get the idea
– Eat well – wholefoods natural from the earth getting a balance of protein, healthy fats, complex carbs
– Water – drink it!
– Speak to friends/family ideally face to face or on the phone (less text, more speak)
– Move your body – anyway that makes you feel good – I recently started doing handstands and cartwheels, just for the fun of it
– Healing arts – treat yourself to a massage, energy work, osteopathy, hypnotherapy and so on…
– Talking therapy – as and when needed
– Meditation – mindfulness is everywhere, but also more on youtube for a different experience, find what works for you
– Visualisation – have a look on youtube for inspo
– Practice Gratitude, and begin a daily gratitude diary to notice moments of happiness and appreciation throughout your day
– Take a hot bath and add Epsom salts: magnesium soothes aching muscles, draws toxins out of the body and will help you sleep πŸ™‚

I love to walk outside every day, ideally in nature: walking calms me and acts as my daily meditation. I practice affirmations, being present, I get ideas and tap into my intuition. This is now part of my daily self care routine.

Written by our Natural Cumbria member Delyth Johnson. Find out more about what she does here.Β