Self Care Routines

[jamiexo]

Hey everyone!

I know we have a post already about SAD and how it tends to kick in during the Winter months.

I've been looking into different self care routines that I could start getting into to help me wind down and relax after work, or during a stressful time of the week.

What do you guys do for self care?

[Triz]

I'm more self-destructive than self care.

When I'm upset or sad, depressed, lonely, I listen to relevant songs to make it worse.
When I'm listening to a song that brings back painful memories, I often replay it because the part that hurts me the most, didn't hurt me enough.

Yes, I have issues, but you got em too, So give em all to me and I'll give mine to you. - Sorry broke out in song there.

I guess that is my way of coping though, on the swing side of that, I make sure I have "me" time, a time dedicated where I do whatever I want, whether that be just sitting watching TV alone, or going to see friends. When I'm at work it's often hard for me to distinguish between work time and relax time, as I spend it in the same place 5 days/4 nights a week, which often messes up my bodyclock as sometime I'll be laying on my bed at it'll be like 8pm, and by mind is thinking "Oh, we laying down on bed, must be sleepy time" and I end up sleeping at like 8pm... So I've started not laying down on my bed when I finish work, and instead sitting on the passengers side, so I can clearly distinguish between work, relax time and sleep. Though I understand most of that is irrelevant to you guys unless you're also a trucker lol.

One thing I will say though is you'll always feel like crap if you're always cramped up somewhere, you'll never feel the motivation to do anything in a state like that, so be like a flower, feed yourself, water yourself, and get plenty of sunlight.

[buttons]

Do a face mask and hair mask on the weekends
Get out every day for fresh air/exercise
This might be silly to some people but just washing my face or having a shower daily is a part of my self care, taking that time to do something for myself
Going for a drive listening to some music, finding a nice spot to park up and read
Reading for around half an hour every night before bed
Dabbing some lavender oil all around me when I need to relax

[lawrawrrr]

I’m really bad at self care but a few things I try to ALWAYS (like 90% of days) do:

Have a hot shower (usually a long one)
Moisturise my face & hands
Cook a proper dinner
Watch some fun show or YouTube

Then when things are really bad I’ll try to:

Have a bath
wash my hair (even longer shower!)
Eat JUNK FOOD
Change my bedsheets (clean bed makes me feel so much better)

[-:Undertaker:-]

i sleep to cope

[FlyingJesus]

Washing and eating properly are so so important, I often find it difficult to care enough to do so but it really does make such a difference. Been off my usual diet recently because I had a load of dental work done so had to eat soft mushy crap lol but trying to get back to eating properly again which I know affects my mood a lottttt - "comfort food" does provide comfort, but only very temporarily and then leaves me feeling bad longer term.

Cleaning around the house helps massively too............ that does not happen so often though

[RichBoiSam]

I've struggled A LOT working from home but thanks to the advice from the wonderful jamiexo; I've changed my working routine so instead of working whilst in bed which I used to do all the time, I have a dedicated working space and make lists of things I need to do for work and the increased productivity has improved my mood and mental health so much. I quite enjoy working whilst listening to Spotify now, who'd have thought?!

It's also the simplest of things, taking a shower and getting changed into clean clothes even when you're not leaving the house can go a long way to improving your mood. I try to leave the house each day, even if it's walking down the road for a pint of milk from the shop, just to get some fresh air. I also keep a football in the kitchen and spend a good 10 minutes attempting to do keepie upies every so often which is a work out in itself and that takes my mind off everything which is quite nice.

[Triz]

It's also the simplest of things, taking a shower and getting changed into clean clothes even when you're not leaving the house can go a long way to improving your mood. I try to leave the house each day, even if it's walking down the road for a pint of milk from the shop, just to get some fresh air.

I found this to be stupidly helpful when I was in lockdown v1. Literally just getting dressed did so much to my mood it was unreal

[DJ-Ains.T]

hot bath for an hour and ice skating / ice hockey... cuddles with my cat
honestly if it wasn't for ice skating i don't know if i would be who i am today, got me through some shit times

[FlyingJesus]

I found this to be stupidly helpful when I was in lockdown v1. Literally just getting dressed did so much to my mood it was unreal

I've been trying to remember to wear stuff that's a bit more "nice" recently as loungewear is obviously comfortable but does nothing for your mood and I think wearing stuff that I can't go outside in has made things worse. In March/April when I was still working from home I'd dress the same for "work" as usual even though I was just going upstairs, and that made such a huge difference to how I felt!

Also big one that's been on my list (prob because I've had the aforementioned dental work done lol) is just making sure to brush your teeth when you get up. Even if you're not going to see anyone it starts your day off right, makes you feel fresher like the day is an actual new slot in time, and ESPECIALLY if you've been drinking the night before it really helps out

Have also had some noob yelling at me the past few mornings to get me out of bed so I'm not laying around until 5pm