It's only volume three of Self-Care Sunday but I'm already beginning to feel the benefits of starting this series! I have a little section in my notebook where I jot down 1-2 ways I've practiced self-care each day and it's always something I think about during the day. Now that I've set myself the target of sharing every other week (or however often I post these) I feel I'm holding myself responsible to make sure I self-care so I, in turn, can prompt you to do the same. This practice what you preach malarkey is doing me the world of good!
Seven little ways I've practised self-care this week...
1. Managing my appointments and prescriptions. On Monday I had a doctors appointment and I put in my new prescriptions at the pharmacy. I made sure I had plenty of time to get there (although I was late which stressed me out to no end) and I was able to talk over some new options with my doctor. My current doctor is maybe the sixth or seventh GP I've tried to talk to about my mental health and she is wonderful. I'm incredibly grateful that I have her in my corner.
2. Lush baths & walking. After my appointment I went home, had a Lush bath (as is tradition after my scary appointments), had some lunch and then took myself on a little walk. I pushed myself really hard and I felt really anxious but I had my earphones with me and I listened to The 1975, which helped a lot.
3. Asking for help. Tuesday was a bad day for me. With a surge of hormones and an anxiety-hangover from the previous day, I spent most of my time crying or trying not to cry. I ended up getting in a bit of a state and forced myself to email the Samaritans. I tend to email them instead of calling because I don't like to talk on the phone, plus I find that writing out my thoughts and feelings helps me to untangle them and arrange them into some kind of order. It was the first time in a long while that I've felt the need to contact them but I'm seeing it as a little victory. Instead of allowing myself to drown in my thoughts I packaged them up and shipped them off for someone else to deal with.
4. Cycling. On Wednesday Luke and I had to cancel our cinema plans because my sister was home ill from school but we still wanted to go somewhere together so we went for cycle around the local park. It made me remember how much I love my bike!
5. Time with Luke. So much so that on Friday we went out cycling again! We went to the little high street near us that has a few charity shops as well as a bakery and a florists. I scored some amazing things from the charity shops - including a gorgeous jewellery box I'm going to refurbish - and it meant I got out for an hour or two. I always have the best time going out with Luke.
6. Signing off. Yesterday my IBS flared up and I was in a lot of pain so I signed myself off for the day and watched two films plus read as an entire book in one sitting. It's been so long since I've watched / read something new and it was v good for me! I think I need to do it more often.
7. Realistic goal setting. Finally, a new technique I've been trying out: allotting a specific focus for each day. For example, on Thursday I did the food shop and I made it clear to everyone that that was the main thing I needed to do that day, so if the washing didn't get done or I didn't go out again then it was okay because I did what was most important. As I'm able to cope with more I'll start choosing maybe two or three main focuses for each day but for now just one is enough and it means I'm able to calm down and recharge between each task. I'm finding that I'm a lot more productive when doing things this way rather than loading myself with lots of things and burning out as a result.
How have you practised self-care this week? As ever, allow this post to be a gentle reminder to schedule in some time for yourself! x
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