Self Care is one of the most valuable tools you can inject into your soul! If you feel out of balance, your self-care routine is most probably out of whack.

Think about the ways you take care of others, run your household, work countless hours each week, exhaust yourself for other people, or feel under-appreciated.

Now think about the way you take care of yourself and the time you set aside to do them.

This is the gold nugget!

What is self-care?

Self-care is something that you consciously do for the purpose of taking care of your mental, emotional, and physical health. It sounds simple but it’s something we very often forget to prioritize. When your self-care is high on your “live-my-best-list” I can guarantee your mindset will be calm, focused and you will feel balanced. As an added benefit, your relationship with others and even yourself improve because you’re in such a beautiful mood all the time!

One thing I found interesting was that people set self-care aside because it feels selfish to do, especially mothers, carers, and parents. The mum guilt is real right?!

You must drill this into your mind. Prioritising your self-care allows you to take better care of those you love because you have filled your cup and are at optimum mental, emotional and physical health and you will be in a much better space to take care of others as well.

How do you start? Here are my top tips:

▪ I’ve taken the hard work out for you! Print out my Self Care List, and add in any other activities that make you feel abundant on your self-care list which I have provided - YES! You’ll have your own! Laminate them and do one thing off either list every single day!

▪ Slow and steady. Over time you will be amazed at the things you learn about yourself. You will always have your own list to re-print and fill out as you discover what other self-care activities really light up your days. How exciting is this process!

▪ Be wise and prioritise! If you are a go-go-go type who puts yourself second a lot (this was me too, ugh!) at first it will feel a little odd putting yourself and your health first, but you must make time. Repeat after me: I must make time to do one thing for myself each day. And guess what? On your really full days, pick something that only takes a few minutes, easy.

▪ Stay open-minded. At the forefront of your mind stay conscious and present as to why you are carving out time for yourself. Think of the outcomes that you will receive such as: being a more patient mother or partner, a more compassionate person, a better friend, a more productive employee, a more efficient business owner, more in control of your over-thinking mind, a happier person to be around, etc. It’s a great idea to write this down: What will you gain?

▪ If you miss a day, take 10 slow, deep breaths before you sleep and you’ve caught back up! Keep it simple, care for yourself at every opportunity you find.

Try this and tag me on each activity on my Instagram @hol_health. Your 7-day self-care challenge and see how you feel before and after. This will definitely set you on the right path to self-care! I can not wait to see your photos!