#relax

Seriously my self-care has more to do with the purpose I do things, than with what I do.When I allow my-self to binge-watch Netflix because I've had a hard day/week, I consider it self-care (in opposition with when I binge-watch Netflix because I don't want to exist and I extra-charge my-self with guilt).When I'm really down and can't get out of bed and decide to take a shower, I consider it self-care (in opposition with when it's a normal day and I just showered because it's what you do before going to college). I take the garbage out. I buy things I need. I dress warmly when it’s cold out. I walk my dog because having him be happy makes me happy. I grocery shop and meal plan. I track my vitamins so I can be sure I’m eating properly. I brush my teeth and floss. I shower. I take time to do nothing at all. I make time for a good night’s sleep. I listen to ASMR at night to relax. I drink tea. I drink lemon water. I make sure I drink enough, period. I pay my bills. I call my family. I watch YouTube videos cause it’s fun. Etc.
For me, getting dressed is a big one. I know it sounds like such low hanging fruit, but I always am proud of myself when I can get dressed in the morning. I have a lot of deep hatred surrounding my body and self image, and usually a simple jeans/t shirt/flannel outfit takes me up to an hour because I have meltdown after meltdown. Even if half my closet is on my bedroom floor, and I may not feel THAT much better by the end, at least I put some clothes on and felt good enough to leave the house.
Knitting is one of my big ones, along with cooking. Something soothing about making an involved meal that requires a lot of work in the kitchen. Otherwise, taking a big warm bath, and reading a book until my skin gets all wrinkly is a good one too.
Getting regular haircuts, sticking to a skin care routine, keeping up with laundry. All of these things were hard for me when I had depression and bad social anxiety but now that I’ve worked through those these are my regular.
Many of these are not things I necessarily enjoy in the moment, but they all keep me physically and mentally sound. Sometimes they are even hard work; eating well takes effort, and sometimes getting a run in is the last thing I WANT to do, but always thank myself for when I’m done. The last week or so, I’ve made a snack and wrapped myself up in a hoodie and blanket to watch a cheesy or funny movie. I’m also starting to get monthly facials to take better care of my problematic skin (not so much for the spa). I’ll also be trying out knitting and pottery throwing as creative hobbies and I hope they’ll stick.

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A lot of stuff, actually! Exfoliating, cold showers, regularly wearing good perfume and deodorant, paying real attention to the songs I'm listening on the public transport, eating some healthy stuff so I feel good about myself, and the most effective for me, moisturizing after shower (especially before bed!), it makes me feel so good about myself and so productive!
On Sundays, I never work anything. I won‘t clean my room, won‘t study for university, won‘t go to the gym. I‘ll just enjoy myself, spend the time with my best friends and my family, and take a bath in the evening. Like that, I usually get everything important done by saturday and the rest can easily wait until monday.
If I have a full day or night where I don’t work, I either do errands all day or spend the day in bed to relax, Once every 1-2 weeks. Whenever I get the chance, every few weeks I’ll take a bath, shave every bit of my body (also sleeping with no hair that first night is life changing). Then I’ll pluck my eyebrows, and check my lil girl stache, etc. My biggest thing is keeping up with my appearance and hair is one thing I’m not uncomfortable with having, I just feel more fresh without it. I don’t do it for anyone but myself, I like to look at myself and have my eyebrows well shaped, my nails painted, and occasionally cover myself in cocoa butter. I end with smelling good and feeling soft, being more confident overall. I have a morning routine which consists of making my bed, practicing yoga and meditation and eating a healthy breakfast (oats and stuff). I'm a neat freak so my room is always super tidy. Cleaning my room always makes me feel better. I try to go for a walk and listen to inspiring podcasts almost every day. I write a journal every day in an app called Daylio. I try to write down three things I'm grateful for every day. Most of the time I listen to some relaxing sounds in the background. I always make sure to get at least 7 hours of sleep and sometimes take a half hour power nap if I'm tired or bummed during the day. I'm doing much better since I developed those habits! I still have bad days but I recover from them much faster, which is invaluable.
I’ve picked up a fun little essential oil hobby, and love all the new scents and combinations I can make with them. I also do my nails once a week, love a good long hot shower, a relaxing epsom salt bath, listening to guided meditations or sound baths, and turning on my heater blanket when it’s cold :)
I only buy fancy chocolate bars. Like $4 each and get one square before bed. I love to find afternoons free to have a long hot bath and spa time; mud mask, deep hair conditioner, extra time to pluck my unibrow.

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Crying. I feel so relieved afterwards.
Sleep hygiene. Gym has helped out greatly. That alone has helped with confidence and even just feeling good and having more energy. I've never really liked working out, but I found some consistent excercises I actually enjoy. And I decided being fit and in shape is better in the long run, so I just suck it up. If anything, it's gotten a lot more enjoyable as I've been building more muscle and seeing results. I'm really into stretching at the moment. Not yoga or anything like that, just stretching. Stretching my arms and my legs. Feels good. Feels really good to have a warm bath, stretch while you're in the bath and then just relax. Sleep like a log after that, never fails.
Female but I did a self care night last night. I was stressed from work and all the after work plans I had made. I cancelled them all, ate a cannabis edible and went for a pedicure. Turned my phone off. Then I picked up some Sushi and went home and ate it my bed naked while watching difficult people. Went to sleep early and woke up feeling much better
When I have the time, I take a long shower with all of my favorite things; products, clothes afterwards, etc- and take my time. In the shower, I imagine the water washing away any bad feelings I have, and when I use soaps and lotions I appreciate everything my body does for me as I go along- the way you clean or appreciate for something you care about. The tending to my body as something special and helpful really helps my headspace. Lighting a candle or burning incense kicks it up a notch too.
Every Sunday that I am going into the office the following day, I make a list of what I want/need to get done for the week. Usually the list includes laundry, cleaning the house, meal prepping lunches for the week and usually one other meal, planning my outfits, and the budget stuff I mentioned earlier. Occasionally other things get added in the mix. I usually end the day relaxing on the couch either reading, playing video games or watching tv. I find that knocking out a whole bunch of stuff the day before my workweek starts make my week smoother. Also when I was in a job I really didn't like, this helped me deal with the Sunday Scaries a little bit. I have daily and weekly self-care routines. Daily is washing my face 2 times a day, with a full routine after. Morning routine includes makeup most days even though I'm not going anywhere, I find putting on a face makes me feel like things are more normal. I then style my hair or toss it in a headscarf if it's a royal mess. Once or twice a week I do a face mask (sheet or tub depending on what my skin needs, I have a collection of masks). While I do the mask, I soak my feet in the tub with some epsom salts. Once the soak is done, I usually exfoliate my feet with one of those amope callus grinder things, throw on some foot cream then some fluffy socks.

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I get longer mornings. My favorite part of the day is drinking coffee while browsing today's headlines and catching up on podcasts. Waking up earlier gives me more time to do those things and relax before starting my day. Also I'm more productive in the morning. After I eat my cereal and shower I'll carry my cup of coffee around and tidy up while listening to podcasts. Cleaning seems less like a chore early on in the day to me so I'm more likely to get it done. It's really relaxing to me when I walk around in the cool air while everything is still wet. My favorite part of farm work was irrigating, which involved being up early and waking around. If I could do that the rest of my life I would but that's such a small fraction of the work that gets done. I get up early during the week so I can start work early and leave early. I love being home by 330 or 4 while everyone else is still has a few more hours of work. I get up early on the weekends to be productive or beat the crowds. I dont understand people that sleep till 2PM to start their weekend. My roommate and his girlfriend are like this. I will be getting back from lunch or running errands and they are just barely getting up and around making coffee. While I have already done laundry, grocery shopped, and went for a bike ride. When I sleep till 10 I feel like I have wasted the whole day. I like to wake up early because it's the time when I have the most energy to do stuff around the house. I'm in spring cleaning mode right now and have used about 1.5 hours every day to go through my stuff or clean something.
I am so not a morning person. If I could sleep in until ten every day, I would, and the days when I work at 3 and don't have an audition or something before work, I don't set an alarm to wake up. That being said, working in the morning is nice because I get out mid-afternoon, so I can get a lot of stuff done. I like working out after work more than before because my hair take a zillion years to dry naturally.
I'm up super early and don't mind that in itself , but I do mind that I'm absolutely worthless and exhausted by 7pm- earlier if I don't have a nap or another caffeinated beverage by 3pm. It has effectively destroyed my social life. I don't remember the last time I went out with my friends to a taco Tuesday or a romp downtown because everyone else gets off work at 7pm and I'm already getting ready for bed.
I'm definitely not a morning person, especially in the winter. The only thing I like about getting up crazy early in the winter is that it can be sort of peaceful wandering around under the street lights at 6am with hardly anyone else around.
If I have to work, YES
if I have the day, doesn't bother me but it also depends how well I slept the night before.
Always have. The early beaver gets the best wood.
Yes. I get up around 5:30am and have coffee and my alone time with my dog and nature. I have done this for so many years I can't/ won't change.

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Okay so this is going to be super long, but you're Boomie, so I have faith this will all make sense.

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When we find ourselves being impatient, it can be a blessing in disguise. That emotion that we feel is predominantly negative, so why would it a blessing to be negative? Because it gives us insights as to where we currently stand with regards to our mind. We may be impatient because we haven't meditated, or haven't eliminated a suppressed emotion, or we consumed too much negativity, etc. Not saying any of that is true, but it's all possibilities.

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Also, it's a blessing because if it's one thing we can control -- it's our mind. So we just got a front row seat of where our mind is currently located. It's not where we want it to be, so now we need to work on fixing that. Because if you try fixing the outer world, it will not work. That work is all done from within. We are the ones who need to fix that emotion.

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Now, how we fix this emotion is dependent on us. We can either fix it creatively - like writing a poem or a song - thus releasing the negative emotions that are inside of us at that given time. We can fix it effectively - like yelling, screaming, crying, etc., which can yield good results. Or we can fix it ineffectively - like harming someone. Obviously we avoid the last one at all costs.

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Whenever I get impatient, I don't usually see it until later, but it's only reflecting the fact that I'm impatient with myself more times than not. Or I believed that I am going to become impatient. It's like whenever I get angry. I am not angry at anyone but myself - even if I say things like "you angered me". No, that's not true. Because nobody else can anger me with their words; that's just myself. So I anger myself, and incorrectly give my power away by pointing fingers and saying someone angered me.

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So going back to impatience, it's more of the same thing. You're believing that you'll be impatient, so you become impatient. You're presented with scenarios in which people play their part to fulfill that belief. Or you're in certain situations that fulfill that belief. It could be anyone or anything to do that, really. Then they succeed, and thus, you become impatient, and then you feel that emotion.

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I would say this: don't look at anyone or anything. Don't give your power away. Instead, meditate. Try to relax, calm yourself, and think of the opposite. You don't wanna be impatient. You wanna be happy. You wanna be calm. You wanna be fulfilled. So you give those emotions to yourself. Perhaps you can visualize being in a really beautiful location - overlooking the mountains, feeling all of the emotions you wanna feel. Think about how good the scenery looks. Think about how calm your body feels. Think about how amazing it is to be patient, to be calm, to be relaxed, etc. Then, when you're ready, open your eyes. If you notice a mental change - it worked. That's usually the subtle sign that your mind shifted.

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I hope this can help.

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