💞 Self Care 💞

Journaling for self-care | Keep a self-care and reflection diary | How to get started ✍️📝📖

SummerLeave a comment

Creating a self-care journal can be such a personal journey that will help you clarify your thoughts and feelings like never before, it can reduce stress and help you solve your problems faster. Its creative and personal and only your eyes will see this journal. Its a little secret oasis, full of thoughts, pictures, drawings, fantasies, ideas and even a whole host of strange things! You can go back and pause and reflect on past expressions, use collages and coloured pens to express thoughts, problems or ideas. Just get it all out.

When you were younger you may have kept a diary, where you record your daily goings on and thoughts and feelings, journaling for self care can be like this too. The difference is with this way of journaling is to ask yourself questions and answer them, delving into your subconscious. You can write poetry, even write out pretend letters to people.. however nasty they may be. It can be a great release to just let it all out. Trust me I have tried it. I once toke 30 minuets to journal out a 3 page letter ( obv it was never sent ) and by god did it feel fantastic. You can write in your journal a few times per week about anything.. and then look back on it at a later date and laugh, smile or cry. You can destroy it so you dont want anyone reading it. Trust me I look back on that letter and laugh now but i was upset at the time. It makes you learn so much about yourself.

THINGS YOU WILL NEED TO GET STARTED

10 minuets free each week to write in ( or more depending on schedule )

A diary or notebook, preferably something that fits your personality

Ball point pens / Markers

Stickers or flowers for decoration

Coloured pencils

Photo by Chimene Gaspar on Pexels.com

To get started you can just begin writing about how your day went and then reread it and ask yourself questions, you will be surprised at your own answers, believe me !

You can also start by using prompts for topics and write answers to specific problems or thoughts you are having. For instance a good one is ” where do i see myself in 5 years time ” You can write a whole page on that topic and draw designs and add images. This will change as time goes on, but its a great reflection tool to go back to look at and make it more definitive.

Self care journaling can help, teenagers and adults with, stress, grief, big life transitions, depression and anxiety. It can make you more self aware about your ideals, your wants and needs and things can vastly improve your mental well-being.

I have compiled a post about prompts and questions you can use in your self-care journal if you are stuck for ideas, click here to see them. Remember its your journal and you can express yourself anyway you see fit inside it, that`s what makes it special.

💞 Self Care 💞

Self care bath

SummerLeave a comment

Set aside some time out of your busy schedule to indulge in a self care bath! Turn off your phone or put on do not disturb and do not let anything interrupt you, the only reason you should have your phone on is if you are playing some soothing music on your phone. Make sure you put your phone away from the water and don`t use it in the tub ! Baths can be relaxing for your body and mind but we can`t add to it to make it even better. You can share a self care bath with a partner or go alone. Alternatively you can set one up for a friend or relative as a luxury experience.

You can create a playlist for your bath time on your youtube account and play it while you are in the tub so you don`t need to handle your phone. This can set the mood! Some people like to listen to podcasts while relaxing in a bath so that could be a good option aswell.

Here are some ideas for the playlist below:

First off you need a bath tray for all your treats, such as a cup of tea! Yes some people have tea in the bath… a glass of wine ( cheeky ) and also all your body wash, soap etc. Make sure everything is in reaching distance… don`t make the mistake of not having your dressing gown handy when you come out. Always have what your slipping into prepared the bathroom with a towel.

Add essential oils into the bath, such as lavender, this can release muscle tension and lift your mood ( it can make you sleepy too )

Do not put on love songs or sad music… this will only make you think of your exes or sad experiences, keep the mood uplifting…. do not listen to adele !!!

Add rose petals !! For a romantic vibe… Rose has a variety of vitamins, antioxidants, and minerals. If you have a rose water spray, Spray it to your skin and face 10 minuets before entering your bath.

Use your favourite bath bombs and play around with them, this can be really fun to watch them fizz away. Alternatively use bath salts like epsom salts. Studies have shown that magnesium and sulfate are both readily absorbed through the skin, making Epsom salt baths an easy and ideal way to enjoy the associated health benefits. Magnesium plays a number of roles in the body including regulating the activity of over 325 enzymes, reducing inflammation, helping muscle and nerve function, and helping to prevent artery hardening. Sulfates help improve the absorption of nutrients, flush toxins, and help ease migraine headaches.

Indulge in some snacks… such as a few chocolates.. or even a packet of crisps.

Use a loofah to scrub at your skin and get the dead cells off, epsom salt can be used for this and also body scrubs you can find online…coffee scrubs are brilliant too!

Let me know in the comment section if you found inspiration from this post, let us know what you do in your own self care bath?