10 Simple Ways to Practise Self-Care

We tend to fall into a psychological trap where we start doubting, start comparing ourselves to all those around us and in doing so, we completely forget to take care of our minds and bodies. We also lose ourselves in the midst of making those around us happy and forget to focus on ourselves. So, I have compiled a list of things you could do to boost your self-esteem, confidence and remind yourself that you matter.

1. SELF-PRAISE

Memorizing the bad things about ourselves is pretty easy and that’s one of the ways we actually heighten our self-doubt levels. Switch it up by acknowledging all the good things about yourself. It’s quite challenging to think of anything we love about ourselves sometimes, the aim is to think of at least 3 traits or habits you love and you will find yourself going on and on. Read that list every now and then to get yourself back on your feet.

2. HAVE A MOVIE MARATHON

Treat yourself to a day of snacks and back-to-back movies. Watch your favourite genre or as many genres as possible. Switch off your phone to avoid distractions and enjoy a lovely marathon that doesn’t require you getting out of bed.

3. GET HANDY

Find something you are interested in doing. It could be baking, graphic designing, contouring your face or writing. Anything! As long as you are doing something you will definitely have fun with. Find something that needs effort and creativity and you will experience satisfaction when you see what you have created.

4. EXERCISE

Plan a 30-minute workout every day. Do cardio workouts on one day and let the next day be leg-day perhaps. Do some yoga exercises and practise the yoga lingo and the poses. Don’t limit yourself and don’t stress it too much. Dancing is a form of exercising too so get jiggy with it.

5. TREAT YOURSELF

Go ahead and do your nails, quit waiting for someone to invite you to a formal event or ceremony to get you nails done. Pick a colour, pick a style, pick the length and glam it up. Buy yourself luxury chocolate for no apparent reason. Go all out for yourself, don’t wait for someone to get you those flowers. Go get them yourself, for yourself.

6. LEARN SOMETHING NEW

Expand your knowledge – you can literally learn about anything, books and the internet have all the resources you need. Think of something you want to know more about, grab a book or glue your eyes to your device’s screen and excite your brain with something new.

7. DECLUTTER

Get rid of all the unnecessary junk you have been keeping. Teach yourself to let go of anything you haven’t been using or wearing for the past few months. Decluttering also helps with clearing your mind, so get rid of the stuff you don’t need and get rid of all the toxic thoughts that linger in your mind.

8. DITCH SOCIAL MEDIA

Go a day or two without social media. Do anything else but login on any social media platform. After your mini abstinence, evaluate how that felt. You will find that you focussed more on yourself and didn’t have anyone to compare yourself to.

9. HAVE A DATE WITH YOURSELF

Go out for breakfast, lunch or dinner – your treat of course. You won’t have to worry about having to split the bill 4 ways, you won’t feel the pressure to hasten your eating pace and you will have the whole table to yourself. So, order your 3 steaks, 1kg pork chops and your full chicken – nobody is there to judge.

10. LIST THE THINGS YOU ARE GRATEFUL FOR

Every day, for at least 7 days, jot down 5 things that you are grateful for. There are major things and minor things to be grateful for therefore, make sure you number all of them. It’s a much better idea to focus on all that’s going right in our lives instead of dwelling on what isn’t going right. Get writing.

Self-love is very important. You are important so take good care of yourself. Put your self-love game on steroids and start appreciating yourself more.

Goodbye for now,
Mbalenhle