When was the last time you checked-out you Instagram account and saw hashtags like #selfcare? As more and more people get their mindset open to the idea on the importance of Self-Care, others are still left with the same old thinking that Self-Care can only be achieved by going on vacation or to the spa.

In hopes to change that way of thinking, here’s a list of easy and cheap ways on how Self-Care can be done and achieve without costing you much:

BREATHING EXERCISE

One doesn’t require much tools to know if a person is alive or not. No matter how much innovation in technology people are making this days, it still simply takes one to check a person if they’re breathing or not to know that a person is alive. How ironic it is that more and more people alive aren’t aware that they are still breathing. They let days simply slip into weeks, then months, and years without them noticing.

One way of taking care of yourself is by simply noticing that you’re still breathing. Listening to how you breathe is easy to do, can be done anywhere, and almost at any time of the day. Got a minute or two to scroll in Facebook or Instagram? Why not use that to do some breathing exercise instead and appreciate your existence? Read from this article the benefits you can get from doing breathing exercises.

CLICK HERE to try doing breathing exercise. It only takes a minute to do it. I hope you spare a minute to do so.

DRINKING WATER

Do you know that a man can only live up to 3 days or as others claim, 7-8 days without drinking water WHILE live to about 52 to 74 days if they do so? That’s how important drinking water is to our body.

We all are thought that we should be drinking 8-10 glasses of water each day to keep ourselves hydrated. The question is….do we do it? As humans, we always want facts to be pin-pointed to us before we follow, so I hope this list of the BENEFITS OF DRINKING WATER would shed you some light if you’re one of those who don’t drink water that much.

FUN FACT: I myself isn’t a water drinking as well. As I strive to do better with my water drinking skills, I’ve found ways to make things easier by setting an alarm as a reminder. On different times of a day, my phone (which is usually with me) would then remind me, DRINK WATER🚰

If you’re struggling as well, maybe this tip of mind could help you too!

SLEEP EARLY

I know that I’d be getting a lot of rolling eyes from all my nocturnal friends out there but still, this article won’t be complete without me including this on the list. Yes, we all need to know the importance of sleep.

If you love watching in NETFLIX, I’m guessing you’ve come across this movie called “AWAKE” already. This movie depicts clearly how important sleep is in our daily lives. Knowing How to Prioritise Sleep and include it in our daily schedule is a need for us to function well as a human being.

EXERCISE

With so much ways available on the internet on how we could exercise, there’s no doubt one could find one that fits their interest. The BIG question though is….are we interested enough to check out on those ways? And if so, do we try to make it a habit in doing so? That’s for you to answer.

There’s so much things we can benefit from simply doing a simply exercise daily. Releasing of the chemical known as endorphins is one of it. This endorphins is responsible to interact with the receptors of your brain which helps you to reduce feeling pain. So if there’s something in your body that you feel is aching, do some exercise. Endorphins also help trigger positivity within us. So that makes not only your physical pain go away but even your emotional pain as well.

Take note that contrary to what you usually see in Social Media, exercising doesn’t mean going to the gym nor having any necessary equipment at home. The simplest exercise you can do everyday is to walk. Just make sure you don’t stroll but brisk walk to make sure your heart beats as it needs to and make that walk count as an exercise.

MINDFUL EATING

Not everyone is blessed to choose the food that they can eat. Sadly, despite having the opportunity to choose, many still fall victim to those marketing ads which do not tell you the truth. Want to know the truth? Always check those Nutritional Fact Labels to see how much sugar or salt the food you are buying does have. I’m pretty sure you’ll be shocked at what you see on it compared to those “less sugar” or “all natural” advertising words they put in the front of each product is.

Don’t get me wrong, mindful eating doesn’t mean depriving yourself from eating. You won’t be able to enjoy life as much as you could if you are deprived of something. The word “mindful” is the key to doing it right. By being “mindful” of your portions, “mindful” of how you savour each bite, and “mindful” of the nutrition your body gets from the food choices you eat, then you’ll surely, without a doubt be eating healthily without effort at all.

FIND SILENCE

When was the last time you find yourself in complete silence? Where was it and how long are you able to stay at that moment before you felt it uncomfortable? Living in this chaotic world gives us less and less opportunity to be on that state of mind. Add kids to the formula (if you’re a parent) and you’ll get twice as less of that opportunity.

With that in mind, the only way to do it is to add this few minutes of silence to your schedule. One of the best timing I can give you is the moment you wake up. That few minutes after you turned off your alarm and before you say your gratitude for the new day that has been given to you.

In this moment of silence, you get to think nothing yet be awake and in a state of awareness. By simply doing this for 5-10 minutes can help you enormously as you face your day.

SMILE

The world may be filled with cruelty yet a simple smile can make a different story. When was the last time you smiled at someone? Having masked faces due to precautions to Covid makes this more difficult to do so smiling with your eyes can help too.

I personally love doing what the Japanese does to spare myself from being though of a crazy woman. I do a short bow with a smile whenever I do it. Making sure to pick on the people you do this though so you don’t get the wrong impression on what you’re doing. The bus driver whom you pass by every time you ride the bus is one great example on who you can do this. The person you buy food from is another.

STOP PROCRASTINATING

This is one trait most of us have yet fail to recognise. I myself fell victim to this for the longest time as well and it took me a long time of adding mindfulness to my lifestyle to get over it.

Procrastinating is an action of unnecessarily or voluntarily delaying on doing something despite knowing the negative consequences of it, according to Wikipedia. When we’re faced with something we find difficulty in doing or don’t want to do, we often find excuses on doing it.

As humans, we’re very good at doing this. In all honesty, how many tasks have you chose not to do at a given moment you’ve been given to do so just because you don’t feel on doing it?

If only we try our best to JUST DO IT, whatever that task is, then we won’t be left with a long list of to-do’s, end our day feeling unsatisfied, and make a day slip from our hands without accomplishing anything.

Try a day doing what is needed without giving procrastinating, you’ll surely feel accomplished, important, and increase that self-esteem.

CLEAN UP

Keeping your surroundings tidy makes a big difference. You’ll quickly have this feeling that your brain work is better. Even the act of cleaning up your space also counts as Self-Care as it gives you time to focus brain to focus on one task and make you finish a goal in just a couple of minutes/hours.

If you’re reading till this part, THANK YOU! I hope you’ve learned a thing or two and get to realise that doing Self-Care doesn’t really need to cost you much. All you need is the determination and mindset to do it. A simple Self-Care habit a day can help you improve your life and lifestyle.

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