Mental health is so important. Prioritize your personal wellness. Take time to nurture yourself. Don’t do things that you’re not happy with. Don’t rush your healing. Relax. Don’t judge where you’re at or where you think you should be. Just be kind and patient with yourself.
Swim. If you, like me, are lucky enough to live by the sea, swim in it. All year round. Get used to the cold. If you are landlocked, find a local pool.
Practice swimming with your legs together, like a mermaid. Even better if you can afford a monofin. And even better if your local pool allows it.
Use sites like Noises Online to listen to waves crashing or water running, close your eyes and let yourself be entranced by the rhythm.
Brush your hair once you leave the sea and shower after leaving the pool. Trust me.
Buy a boss-ass swimsuit that makes you feel amazing both in and out of the water.
Light candles that smell like the seaside while you bathe.
Get a fish tank. Put some fish in there. You have new friends,, take care of them. (Do your research before buying fish!! Make sure the tank is big enough and has what they need.)
Walk with your head high and your shoulders back, as if the waves are carrying you to your destination. You are the crashing of storms on the coast, and the softness of calm shores on a sunny day.
Thank you for reading! My Ask Box is open- let me know what self-care post you’d like to see next! Here are the other posts in the series so far!
This is a blend for those days where you feel like crying or have all those negative emotions bottled. This tea will help release everything you’ve been feeling.
INGREDIENTS;
1 tsp Lemon Balm
1 tsp Lavender
½ tsp Rosemary
¼ tsp Thyme
1 Rose Petal
Boil water, then let the herbs steep for 7-10 minutes. Add honey or sugar to sweeten.
After you’re done making the tea go sit onto your bed or your comfy place where it’s nice and quiet. Take a sip of the tea and the let those negative emotions go.
the other day, one of my newer friends told me that she knew she wanted to be friends with me when a group of us were talking in a big circle and i backed up a little bit so she could be apart of the circle instead of outside of it. i didn’t even remember doing that and it just goes to show that small gestures and acts of kindness go such a long way and can completely transform someone else’s life. the cherry on top is that these things tend to have a snowball effect, and it can transform your life in ways you could never imagine, so go make someone’s day
Here’s the thing. Practical self-care, such as showering, feeding yourself, talking a walk, cleaning your space, getting rest, ect. will not solve every problem you have. Especially the big, serious ones. But it will solve a ton of smaller problems that are building up, adding to your stress, and using the energy you need to cope with those big serious problems.
You can feel as awful as you want, just eat a sandwich first.
…I wonder if this is a response to growing up in a culture where you constantly have to prove your pain level.
I’ve had to work very hard on this mindset with chronic physical illness. For years I would show up somewhere feeling awful JUST to have my condition validated. If I have Valid Witnesses tell me that I look/sound awful and shouldn’t be at work, or I have a manager tell me I should go home after I pass out on my register or spend a whole meeting with my head in my hand, then I have Earned my illness and can rest. And if I earn that, then I wouldn’t let myself do relaxing small things like play video games. Because if I feel good enough to play Halo with my friends online, I feel good enough to work.
That’s a bad mindset.
But I think it translates to mental health as well. Mental health is harder to prove than physical, and people discount it so much more. If you’re taking care of yourself, you can’t be THAT depressed.
And many of the “just go for a walk” people are the same people that will see you go for a walk and go “great! Aren’t you all better now?” And expect you to act “normal”. Which…no. you’re not. And having to face that expectation and argue with them is going to zap any serotonin you got on your walk. So you feel like it’s better to have not done it so you can justify feeling awful.
Unlearning this has been really hard for me. My impulse is still to apologize for my condition (physical or mental) and try to push through it if I feel like I can’t prove that I need rest and self care.
You don’t need to prove it.
You do deserve self care no matter what anyone says.
…towards better mental health and in trying to prioritise ourselves, it’s very easy to lose touch with empathy.
kindness is essential. both towards yourself and others. put yourself first but make sure you’re not hurting your supporters in the process. you and your loved ones, both deserve love and care ✨
… remember that time changes. circumstances change. life isn’t constant.
all the efforts you’re making. all the tiny steps you’re taking. all the healing that you’re allowing yourself to go through. it’s all going to come together.
it’s going to give you a new, brighter and happier you. keep going. keep trying ✨
