Life can often get in the way when it comes to self care and looking after ourself but that also brings a bit of guilt, when we realise that we’re neglecting our own self care. Sometimes for weeks. Sometimes months. Or when there’s a stressful event happening in our lives. Sometimes, we neglect it for months on end. And it can be hard to know how to bring self care back into your life when you’ve neglected yourself for too long.
But seriously, no shame here. I think we’re ALL guilty of neglecting our own self care, whether that’s physical, mental or emotional at some point in our lives. For me, it was when I was in the midst of the worst period of my anxiety disorder. I could barely function to get through the day, let alone have the capacity to think about self care.
To me, getting through the day WAS self care.
Getting back on track with self care isn’t easy. Especially when you’ve neglected it for far too long. But it’s important. We literally live in a society where we need to be REMINDED to take care of ourselves sometimes… how sad is that? We’re so busy. There’s so much going on around us. We need to be doing all the things, all the time.
And it’s time to stop and reclaim our self care and bring self care back into your life in whichever way works for you.
Here are a few easy to follow steps on how to bring self care back into your life when you’ve neglected yourself for far too long:
Start small and start somewhere
Okay, so the hardest part? Is getting started. Which goes for just about everything in life that seems mildly daunting. So the fact that you’ve even STARTED, is worth congratulating yourself for. If you’ve done nothing even remotely “self care” related in perhaps months and the whole prospect is overwhelming, then booking yourself a full blown spa weekend with no phone, internet or communication probably isn’t the way to go.
Don’t judge yourself
And wherever you DO start, don’t judge yourself for it. If the ONLY act of self care you can manage at the beginning is a having a bath or saying no to that invite that you really don’t want to go to, then that’s fine. I have a habit of feeling guilty about everything (another post for another time) so learning not to judge myself when it comes to self care is hugely important to me. Your journey is YOURS, nobody else’s.
Bring self care back into your life by scheduling it into your day
If you’re not used to self care then you’ll probably make some excuses. Don’t worry, we all do it. “I forgot”, or “I don’t have time”, being the most common. WELL, firstly self care can be slotted into your day in the following ways:
- Reading on your commute instead of checking your phone
- Waking up 15 minutes earlier for your morning routine
- Limiting social media time in the evenings
- Expressing gratitude every night before bed
among many, many other ways that you can start re-introducing self care into your life so that it won’t take up a bunch of time. And by scheduling it into your day, putting it on your to-do list or blocking out time especially for YOU, it’ll give you that little nudge and remind you that it’s just as important as all the other stuff you have to do during the day.
Gather inspiration for self care activities
Pinterest is a great tool for this one as there are countless blog posts and pins on self care activities which cover more or less everyone’s different interests. Just because someone else finds going to a spa relaxing, doesn’t mean that everyone else will. With self care, it’s all about finding what works for you but if you’re struggling for ideas because it’s been so long, somewhere like Pinterest is a good place to start.
If you’re looking for some more self care inspiration, check out these posts:
- How To Use the Seasons For Your Self Care
- 80 Cozy Self Care Ideas for Winter and Christmas
- 30 Self Care Ideas in 10 Minutes or Less
Note down what works and what doesn’t
And speaking of finding what works for you, this is a BIG one. Because not everything you try will make you feel relaxed or happy or better. Over the last 10 or so years when I have been working on my anxiety disorder and then ultimately working on figuring out how my life looked post-anxiety disorder, my acts of self care have changed dramatically!
What worked for me 5 years ago certainly doesn’t work for me now and I expect it might change further over the next 5 years and that’s okay.
Make a note of what works but be prepared to change it if you start to feel like it’s not having the desired effect. Change is good. Change is healthy.
How do you practice self care when you’ve neglected it for a while? Have you ever had a period of time where self care has taken a back seat? I hope this post on how to bring self care back into your life has helped!
