3 Self-Care Practices You Need in Your Routine

May 31

Has your self-care routine felt a little incomplete or unbalanced lately?

Here at gmichelle.com, we see self-care as the acts and behaviors that help you show up as your best self and your self-care practice as the intentional practice of identifying and addressing your needs on a regular basis. While your self-care plan will grow and change as you do, there are a few core practices that are helpful to keep in mind so your self-care routine is balanced, fulfilling and efficient.

Here are 3 practices to consider adding to your everyday self-care routine:

1) Practices to help you feel calm:

Every person is subject to feel anxious, nervous and stressed. This also includes overthinking, being over-stimulated and having difficulty concentrating.To help take care of these feelings, it helps to include grounding or calming practices to your self-care plan. To discover the calming practice that helps you the most, take a second to reflect:

What helps you calm down when you feel anxious?
What practices, techniques or resources help you relax?

A few grounding practices that you can add to your self-care routine are:

Breathing exercises like these, explained by Mako Mindfulness: deep belly breathing or 4-7-8 breathing
Journaling and releasing your anxious thoughts out loud using a voice recorder or writing them out. Our guided journal, Self Explore, Self Restore, has a variety of writing prompts to help release anxious thoughts.
Guided meditation can also help manage anxious and overwhelming thoughts, like this guided meditation led by Koya Webb.

2) Practices to help you feel recharged:

The saying goes, "you can't pour from an empty cup". It helps to have a couple of go-to self-care practices that help you refill your cup when you are tired, feeling burnout or have low energy. Consider reflecting on:

How do I know when my energy is low?
How does my body let me know that I'm tired?

A few ways you can refill your own cup are:

Building your mindfulness on what burn out looks like for you. Listen to this episode of the Balanced Black Girl Podcast with guest Davia Roberts to reflect on how you can prevent your own burn out.
Including opportunities to rest in your day. As advocated for by The Nap Ministry, resting, taking naps and/or giving yourself space for inactivity can do your mind and your body a great service.
Creating a bedtime routine to make sure you're getting enough sleep at night. Here are some ideas from Psychology Today that can help you refresh your sleep routine.

3) Practices that help you feel joy away from work:

It is important to have self-care practices that are connected to your personal life. For many adults, work is a major part of life -- and we spend a considerable amount of time and energy working. Including self-care practices that (truly) give you a break from your professional and/or caregiving life, bring you joy and have fun can help you feel more balanced. Think about:

What gives me joy when I'm not working and/or caregiving?
What are my favorite hobbies, activities and past-times?

A few work-free ways to practice this type of self-care:

Spend time with your friends and loved ones.This gmichelle blog offers some ways for you to practice self-care with your friends.
Take a break from adulting with some of these childhood-centered self-care activities.
Try a social media detox and try a new hobby or pastime that you enjoy

There are many, many to take care of yourself this day and age. Make sure that whatever you choose to do for self-care, that you are prioritizing taking care of your needs first.

What are your essential self-care practices?

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