Hi guys! I’m back with another blog and I’d like to share self care activities for a busy schedule.
Many of us have very busy schedules and sometimes we have to wait until we have free time in order for us to take care of ourselves but that shouldn’t be the case, we can still take care of ourselves even when we are busy, and here’s how:
Have a morning routine
Morning routines are the first step to our busy days and why not make it the best thing to start your day? You can start the day by stretching, reminding yourself for what you’re grateful for and have your favourite breakfast or have your favourite tea, it’s guaranteed to make you feel lighter.
Do not neglect yourself
You shouldn’t neglect yourself because you are busy, give yourself 5 minutes to take deep breathes, give yourself water breaks and try to take small walks in between your schedule.
Switch off your electronic devices after the day is over
The time you have most to yourself is when you finish with the day, when your day ends; your work also ends. Prioritize your alone time where you can process your thoughts, you can sit by yourself and be still. You should allow yourself rest when you need it.
Reward yourself
You can reward yourself in anyway you see fit after a long day. You can binge watch your favorite show, you can run yourself a bath, you can play video games or treat yourself to a movie night with your favourite dish and wine. Do what feeds your soul.
Get enough rest
Try to get enough rest, it may be difficult because you might have anxiety about the next busy day, but meditate before bed so you can try to fall asleep easier, getting enough rest will grant you enough energy for the day, so you can show up for yourself.
Hi guys! I’m back with another rant, now what will this blog be without a rant here and there? So in this post I just want to touch on how social media has had an impact on my mental health over the years.
So I started using social media in my last two years of high school because I really wasn’t big on the popular messaging apps that people were on. So the first social I was on was Facebook and for the first time in my life I would consume at least 100 thoughts and opinions I saw on the timeline and I thought to myself after a long day on the app “wow that’s pretty exhausting” and it was until I got consumed by it and I started forming my opinions and taking a lot of pictures to get the most perfect looking picture (yes, it worked), my opinions were getting traction and that made me feel so validated, hundreds and hundreds of likes all directed at me? I loved that. Until, I didn’t any longer, I saw increased conflict on social media and I’m not a person who likes conflict in reality and social media so that set me back and I started holding back.
But also I started realizing that my opinions were no longer mine? I was always influenced by the most popular opinion on the timeline so my thoughts no longer felt like mine, like I was a clone of the internet.
The internet has such an interesting way of filtering out what’s wrong and what’s right, you either have to be for or against – no in between. And I won’t lie to you, that put a lot of pressure on me so much so that I would take other people’s opinions and just run with them (I’ll regret this for as long as I live lmao!).
Fortunately I got the courage to leave the app after I was catfished (I’ll explain another day, pls!). And I focused more on your Twitters and Instagrams thinking it will all get better… and was I not in for a surprise?
My first experience with joining these apps was that I loved how I was exposed to worlds I’ve never seen before, occupations I’ve never thought existed and opinions I never knew existed. I got addicted to these apps (we all have, don’t judge me) and I’ll spend hours and hours just scrolling through hundreds and hundreds of opinions and pictures of lifestyles I never knew South Africans could live. Seeing 19 year olds in mansions and driving the best cars and 25 year olds who have their lives figured out.
And it started, the self doubt, the pity that I might never live their lives and the constant thoughts that my opinions are not good though. As time went by social media just started raising my anxiety, especially on Instagram, because I couldn’t separate social media from reality. I always felt inferior and I felt like I haven’t achieved anything in my life.
This is a perspective of a 19 year old, of course I’ve barely achieved anything! And still I was so harsh on myself and very unappreciative of my life and who is around me.
This happened until I just couldn’t allow it to happen any more, so I closed down all my accounts and I came back and started over but this time on my terms, we can control what we see on social media, I started by following simple and caring people who think and look like me – I needed some relatability. I started following content creators because I was so fascinated with that world and I was surrounded by people who reminded me that my life is okay the way it is, I don’t need to live like a luxury influencer to feel a sense of belonging.
I remind myself daily that my life is okay as is and I make the best out of it and I’ll continue to live according to my means and terms. And that has helped me detach from social media, I use social media now to relax and not to catch up on a life I wish I had.
If you have social media anxiety, please log off all your apps and take some time to yourself. You need to listen to your soul and remind yourself you’re okay as you, you genuinely don’t need to prove yourself to strangers.
I hope August treats you well and that you get all that you desire this month.
I’d like to start with month with affirmations to help you start the week.
These help me keep focus and also get through the week on a good note.
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I usually sit in a comfortable position, take deep breaths in to get me started and I start saying the affirmations out loud, I usually repeat this process 3 to 4 times.
I hope they help you in anyway!✨ you can let me know in the comments!
Meditation plays a huge part in my spiritual path and who I want to be in emotionally and mentally. Meditation has helped me with relaxing and calming myself down when I needed to the most. As somebody who goes through a lot of depressive and anxious episodes, mediation, yoga and music have helped me through the darkest times in my life and I will always be grateful that I can look and applaud myself for overcoming those feelings of self doubt and inadequacy.
These are the methods that I use to stay calm and help process my thoughts and feelings better:
Yoga
I am no yoga professional 🙂 but I love how it makes me feel so much connected to my body than I usually do. I love moving my body (but I hate gym, pls), I love how I can caress my body and give it the most attention and still feel active and sane doing it. It relaxes my thoughts, my body and my muscles. Lovely way to reconnect with your body.
Listening to your surroundings
It’s always amazing to be in touch with what makes you feel alive and whole again, and sometimes, listening to the birds chirp, people laugh or just pay attention to the breeze, or catching the sunset can help feel whole with where you are and feeling more present and being in the moment.
Take a walk
You probably thinking the “take a walk” brigade is up and you probably just want to log off but give me chance? Please? Thank you🙂. This is probably the most used grounding technique and you know what? It works each and every time. Walking and feeling the ground on your feet can help you process your thoughts and your days better. It can help you introspect and feel better.
Use Breathing Techniques
Breathing techniques really help keep me calm, I do deep breaths in and out, focusing on my breathe to release any tension or negativity that I want to get rid of! There are a lot more techniques you can find on the internet or YouTube!
Laughing
Laughter is the best way I relieve stress, we hardly take for granted what little laughs here and there can do for our mood and mental health. You can always get those best chuckles by watching your favourite comedy show, or just having great chat with people that you love. Laughing is really the greatest thing ever.
Imagine myself at a place of peace
I always imagine myself at peace, through meditation, I always want to see myself living a still calm life. I always want tranquility, peace and a lot of love. And I try to surround myself with that and I want that for myself so I’ll keep imagining it and actively act towards the peace and love that I want.
These are just some of the ways I try to improve myself and my mental health. I hope they can help you in anyway!🌱✨
It has always been my favourite thing to say “Step into your highest self” but now it is definitely “Step into your favourite self’’ I felt as though this saying gave me space to be whoever I wanted whenever I wanted, and in this season I wanted to be the best version of myself so I started giving myself more time to breathe and feel, I explored new fashion trends like bold knitwear (shopping for fluffy knitwear online is my new obsession right now),meditating more and buying and reading new books (those are two different types of hobbies I would like to clarify!😊), but without further ado let me get into the post!
Giving myself more time to breathe andfeel.
Life has been hectic the past few weeks, but for me it has been hectic since this year has started, I have been focusing on the next big thing and not really giving myself time to take in life and just ow much I have achieved as a person and I have been doing more of that celebrating myself, cheering myself on, and being grateful. Clearing your mind and space, while being kind to yourself in the process does wonders to how you look at life further and it can help with new challenges and setting new goals for yourself.
Exploring new Fashion trends
I am not exactly a fashion trendy person, but this winter season has been amazing fashion wise, seeing fluffy knitwear online, chunky boots, fluffy loungewear, pastel colour sweatpants, crewneck sweaters, all new obsessions!
The saying “when you look good, you feel good” is quite true and I have been experiencing that myself, putting effort into your image will do wonders to how you feel about yourself and how you look at yourself, it helps manifest that favourite self you want beyond who you currently are. Investing in yourself is the best thing you can do for yourself, start small and choose yourself every chance that you get.
Meditation
This method of calming myself down has been the best at improving my mental health and clearing myself of negative thoughts and self-doubt. It is so easy to get caught up in everything like being on social media more than you should, taking in too many thoughts and opinions and it gets harder for you to distinguish what is real and what is not.
So, grounding myself through mediation has been my best alternative to better happy thoughts and more intentional days. I always thrive to be a better version of myself emotionally and honestly, it does make me happy that it helps me emotionally and mentally too.
Reading and Buying new books
Oh, my goodness, before we go any further can we just agree that buying books and reading them are two different hobbies? Please, for my sake? Thank you.😊
Now I can continue, I have been the biggest fan of reading but as I got older and life got hectic between university life, work life, social life I have been doing less and less of that and as time went by, I just felt like I am just losing a part of myself and I just knew I had to decide.
So, I just started collecting electronic books (no, I did not read them – they were collected to make me feel better about myself! 😊) and luckily that worked but no – it wasn’t enough I needed more, I needed more responsibility, and I started buying hard copies and daring myself to read them in a certain period of time and that helped me regain my time and also, I felt more in control of what I want to consume and what I do not want to consume, and that helped me reconnect with the “me” that I thought I had abandoned.
And that is how I have been able to reconnect with myself while improving my emotional and mental state and I hope that you do the same, I hope you give yourself a break, celebrate yourself at every season of your life, be kinder to yourself and others, take walks and get in touch with your friends, buy those clothes and sneakers, but most importantly remember that you are human and that you have to chance to reinvent yourself whenever you need to –make that change and be the best person for you.
