A little guide to self care

I’ve been writing and creating content about self love for a while now. My self love routine is one of my most viewed videos on Youtube. I think it’s because people are always looking for ways to make themselves feel better. I believe there is a small difference between love – and self care though. Anyone can practise self care. You can go to the nail salon, go on a beautiful hike, drink lots of water, take care of your skin etc. But self love is something that has to come from within and something that has to grow and be maintained – and of course, self care can help with that.

I honestly think that self care is a form of self love, because you really take the time to do something good for your body and mind.  But I don’t necessarily believe that when you practice a lot of self care, you automatically love yourself more (but it surely helps). We can teach ourselves different ways to practice self care or we can even start with building a small routine. This is what I like to do when I feel like I need a little bit more me time/self care than usual:

– Respecting my needs instead of ignoring them, even if that means I have to cancel something social with friends.

– Being outside. I love being outside, it makes me feel grounded and at peace. Nature is amazing and it has a great effect on body and mind.

– Clear a space to clear your mind. It surprisingly works wonders for me. I love cleaning up and throwing away things that don’t serve me anymore. It helps my brain to feel organised and that makes me feel good.

– Journaling. I don’t do this enough but just like clearing a space, this helps me clear my mind.

– Make something for yourself. You can make anything that’s related to self care; soy wax candles (add some oil to make them smell amazing), perfume (out of essential oils), lip balm, bath bombs, a healthy meal. Anything that will make you happy.

– Have a coconut hairmask. What I like to do is rub organic coconut oil in the ends of my hair (avoiding my roots), and put my hair in a tight bun. I usually do this before I go to sleep and rinse the coconut out of my hair in the morning. It leaves my hair so silky, shiny and smooth.

–  Come up with a self loving morning routine. I do the following  at least once a week: I wake up, put one teaspoon of coconut oil in my mouth and leave it there for 15 minutes. This is called oil pulling and it gets all the bacteria outside of your mouth. DON’T SWALLOW IT. And do it before you eat or drink anything. After that I like to drink some lemon water and start my day with some stretching. I also like to put on some meditation music to have a peaceful start of the day. When I finish my lemon water I make a smoothie bowl with fruits, nuts and seeds. The right routines really help you to be productive and healthy.

I hope you liked my little personal guide, XOXO.