Alright teachers, tell me about your self care routine. (Wait…what self care??)
I wake up, get ready, take the baby to daycare, go to work, pick my daughter up, make dinner, do the bedtime routine for the baby, work on my side business or work on school work, and fall into bed.
Sound familiar?
Life is busy, and it’s easy to drop self care off the list of things to do because there just isn’t enough time in the day. But here’s the thing: if you aren’t taking care of yourself, eventually, you won’t be able to take care of anyone else. You’ve heard before that you can’t pour from an empty cup, and I find that to be pretty true. As caregivers, we are taking care of everyone around us all day, every day. Of course we should take time for ourselves, too!
Self care is not selfish, and it certainly doesn’t have to be an entire day at a fancy spa getting the works with a massage, manicure, pedicure, and facial. Could it? Of course! You do you! That sounds like an amazing day to me! But I also want to offer you some easy, budget friendly options that can still leave you feeling refreshed.
Use a Facemask
Use an at home face mask. There are a lot of options, but here are a couple of my favorites:
Origins Clear Improvements Charcoal Honey Mask– This mask makes my skin look amazing and so refreshed! A little goes a long way, so it lasts for a long time.
Karuna Antioxidant+ Face Masks– I got these in my Causebox a while back. These sheet masks feel amazing and take about 15 minutes. I love that Karuna focuses on using materials that are better for the environment and they donate back to various charities.
These four DIY face masks– The Hydrating Honey Oat is my favorite, especially in the winter when I have extra dry skin!
Read a Book
When’s the last time you read a book for fun? If you are like me a couple of years ago, it’s been a while. These days, I make a point to read as much as possible. I gravitate toward historical fiction and personal development, but also love high fantasy, some science fiction, and mystery. I listen to books with Audible and through my library any time I drive, cook, clean…even when I get ready for work!
Exercise
Honestly, this one should be higher on my list. It’s not my first choice for self care, but I know how important it is and am trying to make it more of a priority! I do try to stand and walk at work a lot and we usually take a family walk after dinner before the baby’s bedtime to wind down. A family walk is a great chance to catch up and get everyone outside.
Take a shower or bath
This doesn’t sound like self care to some people, especially if you’re not a bubble bath type of person (I’m not!), but sometimes it’s just nice to take some time at the end of the day to take a shower and get away from the other things on my list.
Learn something new
Take up cross-stitching (I love this one! It’s relaxing once you get the hang of it!), knitting, coloring, guitar, or enroll in a course or program covering something you are interested in.
Play the ukulele
I love ukulele. It doesn’t hurt my fingers and has fewer strings than a guitar, it’s light and portable, and you can still play any song that you would play on a guitar. I sometimes practice chords while I’m sitting watching TV!
Go to bed early
Put down the work, and go to bed a little earlier tonight! I’m definitely an early-to-bed kind of girl.
What is your favorite form of self care? How often do you do something for yourself?
