Self Care at Home
I never thought I would be writing about self care tips at home during a COVID-19 pandemic, but here we are.
Being in quarantine these past couple of weeks has had its challenges. Life feels totally off. Routine..well, who is she? Discipline…I don’t think so. Motivation…it’s as inconsistent as my ADHD.
Self care feels like it’s becoming further out of reach, especially at a time when we need it most.
I created a list of things I’ve been incorporating into my life that I think will help you establish a self care routine on a daily basis.
The list goes in order from the moment you wake up to before you fall asleep.
Alright, let’s get to it.
Continue waking up at the same time every morning.
Establish your routine the moment your eyes open and continue waking up at the same time every morning. This will help you maintain the routine you had before isolation and also prepare you for when you do eventually go back to work.
It can be easy to fall into the mindset of “if I wake up early, I have to entertain myself for the entire day. What if I just slept in longer to shorten the day?” I’ve thought this, I’ve done this, and you guessed it. I just stayed up later at night, enforcing a negative change in my sleeping schedule.
Set your morning alarm and wake up when it goes off.
Drink a glass of water & stretch for 10 minutes.
Right when I wake up, I hydrate myself and I stretch on the ground of my bedroom with the lights off. This helps me take care of my body the moment I wake up, slowly wakens my senses, and helps me ease into my morning routine.
Make your bed every morning.
Don’t ask questions. Just do it.
Experiment with new breakfast ideas.
Food is nurturing and cooking for yourself is an act of loving yourself. It’s also a time to get creative and stimulate your imagination!
Lately, I’ve been experimenting with new versions of my typical breakfast dishes.
One of my favorites is making a variety of my peanut butter banana toast with home-made bread, fluffy Japanese soufflé pancakes, banana french toast, fruit salad with cashew cream, or veggie omelettes.
Change out of that hoodie you’ve been wearing for 5 days straight.
Guilty.
Also, I don’t want to pressure you to actually get dressed every day. I think it’s important to be comfortable when you want to be. I only tend to dress up when I need a confidence boost or productivity boost.
Mainly though, my point is that clean clothes are refreshing to put on and wear unlike staying in the same clothes for too long. (Have you smelled your hoodie’s armpits lately?)
Clean clothes will enhance your routine and keep your hygiene in check.
Set alarms throughout the day to get up and move.
I don’t know about you, but I have been laying down a lot and busying myself with online tasks or passive entertainment.
These tasks are absolute time suckers and being in a contorted position for a long period of time causes an increase in back pain and neck pain.
Get up, walk around, stretch, and move your body periodically throughout the day.
Make your movements more dynamic.
This may sound silly, but because I don’t move my body that much, I always make sure to go a little over the top when I do get up…and go to the kitchen for the millionth time.
I make it a point to run up and down the stairs, to do little heel lifts if I’m standing around and snacking, to do arm movements if I’m walking, and to do neck rolls if I’m sitting.
Engage in an activity you haven’t done in a while.
It’s important to allow yourself some time away from work, from worrying, and from “not being productive”.
Try revisiting an activity that you used to love doing. Not only will it bring back a feeling of nostalgia, but it will also help calm your mind from outside or inside stressors.
My activity of choice has been drawing on my iPad and making GIFS for anyone to use on their Instagram stories. I used to draw all the time growing up, it was my first passion actually, and it’s been neat to reengage with it in this new way.
Take a break in the afternoon to tidy up.
Take a moment to access your environment. Is it serving you? Or is it harming you?
Personally, I feel more organized, energized and calm in the head when I clean up after myself. That includes picking up clothes off the bedroom floor, doing the dishes, taking out the overflowing compost bin, organizing the shoes in the hallway, etc.
A clean and tidy environment will do wonders. Trust me. Throw on some music and get to it.
Be mindful of your alcohol consumption.
Coming from a place of care, be mindful of your alcohol consumption during this time. Take note of your intake, if you are forming potentially new and harmful habits, and why you are drinking that drink.
Don’t get me wrong, I love a glass of wine at night. However, taking care of yourself doesn’t mean increasing your alcohol intake because you are bored, helpless, stressed, or because “fuck it, why not. ”
Do an extensive stretching/yoga session as the sun is setting.
I’m telling you, you will feel incredibly relaxed, refreshed, and centered after this. In fact, this has been my ultimate form of self care because of a very specific experience I give myself. Keep reading.
I have been loving this 45 minute total body, deep stretch video by Yoga by Adriene.
And here’s my recommendation for creating an incredible experience for yourself:
Set up a space in your tidy bedroom for your session before sunset
Light a candle, or in my case, four candles to set the mood
Turn the lights off
Close your door
Apply CBD oil to your entire body
Begin the video
Experience how you begin your session with natural light pouring in through your window
Allow yourself to be completely focused throughout the session
Breath into your stretches
Experience the end the session in darkness with your room only being lit by candlelight
Give yourself a face, neck, and scalp massage before bed.
Wash your face (and do your skincare routine if you have one.)
Apply a generous amount of face oil to your neck and face
My favorite non-toxic oils are these ones:
Begin swiping upward on your neck in a continuous motion
Take both your hands, bend your two fingers on each hand at the knuckle, position your knuckles at your chin, and move upward along your jawline. Repeat.
Take one knuckle on each hand and do the same movements but in the hollow of your cheeks toward the top of your ears. Repeat.
Use your finger tips to do quick, short movements upward on the apples of your cheeks
Massage the top of your nose into your brow bone
Use your finger tips to swipe upward along the forehead and then ease into a firm massage from temple to temple
Lastly, use your nails to energize your scalp
Another option is to do this routine but with a refrigerated jade roller and gua sha. When you refrigerate these, it offers a cooling and relaxing sensation to your routine.
I hope these at-home self care tips were helpful for you during this time. If you’ve made it this far, I want to remind you that self care is something you have complete control over. Tap into that. Use self care to serve you. Quiet the outside noise, the stress, the worry. Acknowledge what’s going on in your mind.
Deep breath.
Allow yourself to put you first.