Building habits that feed your mind, body, and soul are essential to living a healthy, fulfilling life. In an ideal world, we’d have all the time we needed to take care of ourselves. Soak in luxurious bubble baths, regularly travel to yoga retreats, or just stay in bed and rest for a full day. But that isn’t always realistic.
We’re busy moms, wives, employees, students, friends, entrepreneurs, volunteers, artists—and the vast majority of us wear more than one hat. And despite a lot of our energy being put into so many places outside of ourselves, we must still make time for self-care.
This, of course, means being practical and working self-care methods and techniques into the mundane parts of your daily routine. Here are 5 wellness practices to reconnect with your mind, body, and soul.
Intuitive eating.
Many of us know what it’s like to attempt to eat healthy, but after a while of putting forth our best efforts, it doesn’t really stick. The truth is, eating in a way that makes us feel nourished and whole doesn’t require us to restrict ourselves. We just have to be in-tune with our bodies.
Cue intuitive eating. Intuitive eating is exactly what it sounds like: using your intuition (which is just a combination of rational thought and balanced emotion) to make the best eating choices for yourself.
Am I actually hungry? Will I feel healthy and strong—mentally, emotionally, and physically—after eating this? Does this food give me both what I want and what I need? These are a few of the questions you’d ask yourself when eating intuitively.
The main goal is to completely ditch the diet mentality and embrace the idea that true healthy eating means eating in alignment with your body’s needs, and not categorizing your food as “good” vs “bad”.
Weekly digital detox.
Life is a constant stream of stimuli, and stimuli is our soul food. Everyday, we’re tapped in to other people’s thoughts and opinions, music, movies, and whatever issues and concerns are being amplified on the news. It’s super easy to take all of this in, and allow it color our moods and overall feelings about life.
This is why it’s important to unplug from it all, at least once a week. This way, you have an opportunity to cleanse yourself of energy that doesn’t even belong to you. You really get to see if everything you’re locked into is any good for you.
Once your digital detox is over, it gives you the chance to better curate your experience. Unfollow some people, change your playlist, limit your news intake—whatever you have to do to make sure this new week is healthier than the last.
Picking up a hobby.
Capitalism has done a number on us, chile. It seems like everywhere we go, we’re being taught how to turn something into a money-making opportunity. And while there’s nothing wrong with making a living for yourself based on your interests, it’s also not wrong to just do things solely because you enjoy them.
Hobbies are a good way to unwind while also learning more about yourself and what you enjoy. Painting, gardening, yoga, arts, sewing, dance, photography, hiking—the list is truly endless. The best part? You don’t have to be particularly good at your hobby, it just has to feel good to your soul.
Having a hobby or two does require you to have a little room in your schedule, but making the time for yourself is so worth it. Life is for the living, right? So extend some grace toward your life and your schedule—and live it.
Soul-healing showers + baths.
We all have to take a shower at some point in the day. This is just a fact of life. So it’s not a bad idea to infuse an unavoidable part of our day with self-care techniques and methods. You don’t have to much too much work into it, either.
Treat yourself to a luxurious body wash. Soothe your skin and calm your energy by hanging a eucalyptus bundle around your showerhead. Do a shower visualization meditation where you envision the water washing away your stresses and concerns.
Do whatever you need to do make that shower count as viable self-care for the soul. Remember not to just go through the motions, but to be present in the moment.
Creating a calming corner.
There’s a lot of practicality involved in caring for the mind, body, and soul. Of course we’d like to go all out for ourselves, but sometimes we have to make do with what we have. I personally would love a whole room for meditation and yoga, but it’s not exactly possible at the moment.
So for now, I’ve created a cozy little self-care nook in the corner of my bedroom; Complete with warm throw blankets, a floor pillow to sit on, a few candles, a stack of books I’m currently reading, and a bottle of wine in the tuck for when I really need it.
It’s like an adult timeout—but amazing. Go ahead and make one for yourself using all the elements that make you feel at home with yourself. It might take a little time to put together, but remember—you’re worth the effort.
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