July Self-Care Challenge

Getting the hang of this.My food for dinner yesterday.Sorry the picture is a bit out of focus.

For me, I do have to agree with you that time at the spa does not relax me, even after an hour massage. So what does? Sitting back and watching my bird feeders. Seeing everything fly in as big as blue jays and doves down to as small as humming birds just calms me down in a way I can't explain. But may explain why I have 6 different types of bird food/feeders LOL

Light is my first level of self care. I spent the money to buy a good daylight goose-neck lamp and it is directly over my desk. I turn it off in the evening and get my screen to darken on my computer so I have a slowdown into night time and I go to bed less jittery. In Seattle we have vitamin D and depression issues so I make it an effort to get outside when it's not raining and just soak up some sun. Used to call those smoke breaks but quit smoking so now it's "sunshine breaks".

Sleep is my second level of self care. I'm a retired stay at home mom... I'm allowed to sleep! Finally! I have myself a routine of listening to an audiobook with a sleep timer at night so again I can settle my mind in darkness without a tv or phone flicker. I'm slowly turning my bedroom into a nice retreat, plants and more daylight bulbs and music. I never had a room designed just to feel good before.

Music is my third layer of self care. Whenever I'm really down my daughter asks me what music I've been listening to and it's always been days or weeks since I put on music I love to sing along to. Recently my son instigated Happy Music Time when he gets home from work. We put on our favorite songs and sing along... now my fitness goal is to be able to dance all the way through Farrell's Happy. Musicals are another great choice around here because we all burst into song and movie quote at each other. Great for a day of housecleaning.

Laughing would be my fourth layer of self care and another thing I tend to ignore when I'm down but it's such a simple energizer to just put on a comic you like and then just laugh to split a gut. Yet inevitably when I'm down and my son notices I have to then I have to watch a comic he picks. Try any comic that might be funny especially when you don't feel like laughing. And comedians energize me more than silly movies so I like seeing stand up or improv.

Shopping is another self care layer that doesn't have to be expensive if you keep in mind that you're looking for treasure... you aren't spending a set amount but you will know when you find the needful thing. Sometimes the treasure isn't even for me. Might be a candle, might be a picture of an elephant your husband would love. Could be your sister's next birthday present. Could be your present to yourself on your birthday. Just stroll, browse, wish or fantasize about whatever, how many houseplants you'd want if you could have all you wanted or oh I'd do those drapes in my bedroom.

Meditation is another layer of self care and it took me quite some time to really get what I'm supposed to be doing, you know your mind is like a restless puppy when you close your eyes but don't go to sleep. My cat helps me meditate. When he gets up on my desk I push the keyboard away and we have a snuggle for a good ten minutes and I practice the mindful meditations by Jack Kornfield. He has a great voice and a great empathy. Then either me or the cat gets restless and I shoo him away and I'll do another ten minutes with him later.

Creativity is another layer of self care that I figured out in the hospital. Coloring, drawing, kids watercolor sets, glitter pens, you don't even have to make it a huge project but get yourself a nice coloring book and some cheap gel pens to start and channel your inner 5 year old and color everything in glitter!

Been working on scents as a layer of self care. I found a body spray I really like and I spritz myself now and again. My daughter found these little tins of balms you rub on your hands and face before bed because it's a light relaxing fragrance. There's cucumber toner facial spritzers for the summer. Scents are so powerful. What's a better start to self care than to buy yourself some fresh flowers!

So that's like my baseline of self care. I'm sure I can think of other things. A gratitude journal, for instance, can be very helpful if you have a nice list of ideas to fill it with. I'm bipolar and I've tried everything and been in and out of hospitals and they always want a self care plan before you leave so that's how this list got built over the years.