Improve your Self Care Ritual without spending a dime
Self-Care Rituals can come in many flavors. Self-Care Rituals can be simple, such as a daily meditation practice, or a soothing bath. Self-Care Rituals can be complex and expensive, such as a retreat or a day at a spa.
On the Art of Healing Podcast, Anabel Oelman (CoFounder of The Healing Company) shares some of her personal tips for Self-Care Rituals.
Start at 23:52 for Self-Care Hacks
It’s easy to think having a Self-Care Ritual is a luxury that requires time, expense, or effort. Self-Care Rituals can, and should be, easy to start, free, and part of your daily life.
Let’s explore a few ways you can start, or step up, your Self-Care Rituals without spending a dime.
1. Self-Care Ritual Hack: Start Your Day with Mindfulness
Anabel advises us to start your day simply by asking your body what it needs to start the day. This could be a workout, Yoga, or breathwork.
I start my day with Reiki or Meditation, then if I have energy I may do Yoga. I used to wake up as late as I could, thinking the extra sleep would be better. I would then have to rush to start my day, and often that feeling of being rushed would never leave.
I have come to embrace my mornings, now waking up 30 minutes or later to allow moments to center myself.
Mindfulness, such as mindful breathing in the morning can make such a difference in how you start your day.
2. Self-Care Ritual Hack: Educate Yourself with Books
There is so much content out there, from blogs, social media, YouTube, to podcasts and magazines. Anabel reminds us that being mindful of what kind of content we partake can affect our health.
Reading can be a therapeutic and healing Self-Care Ritual that can be completely free. Reading as a healing practice is also called Bibliotherapy, and is one of my favorite ways to wind down in the evenings while I expand my mind.
Books have been a invaluable tool in my journey as a physician as well as in my own person healing.
Here is a list of books I highly recommend for healing, wellness, health and growth:
3. Self-Care Ritual Hack: Improve Your Sleep
Anabel advises us to remember that our best Self-Care Ritual is to sleep!
We hear this advise so often, but if you are under a high amount of stress, with no time during the day for Self-Care, your sleep can be your healing ritual.
When we sleep, several important processes occur. Your brain gets a chance to slow, down, generating less electrical activity and doing things like storing memories and clearing out toxins. The liver and kidneys can perform their detoxification best when your body is resting. Digestion is also more efficient when you sleep.
I support my own healthy sleep by adding Melatonin in the evenings.
Check out my recommendations for Melatonin in my Sleep Support Protocol on Fullscript
4. Self-Care Ritual Hack: Use Short Mental Health Breaks
Anabel reminds us that taking just a few minutes throughout the day to check in with ourselves is a Self-Care Ritual that keeps you healthy and prevents stress from building up.
Here are ways you can take a short break throughout the day:
- Journaling-My article on Journaling for Health
- Breathwork-Try this Brief Mindfulness Exercise
- A Mindful Walk-This Art of Healing Podcast can guide your Mindful Walk