It gets dark at 4:30PM, it’s dreary, it’s windy, it can feel darn right depressing. In fact, on most days in November, curling into bed at 3PM for a nap just feels like the natural thing to do. Hibernation, I think it’s called! November just ain’t one of my favorite months.
I’d take peaceful white snow over the somber November days any day. Do you know that November (and February) continuously sees the highest rates of suicide out of all the months of the year? Fall also sees increased cases of Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) and others, which come out to rear their ugly heads.
Enter Self-Care
What is self-care?
Definition of self-care (noun)– “the practice of taking an active role in protecting and taking responsibility for one’s own well-being and happiness, in particular during periods of stress.”
Self-care is the foundation to your thriving personally and professionally. Burning out ain’t no fun. Trust me, I’ve almost been there.
Last week on Global News, I shared a pie graphic which showed 60-minutes of self-care per day. The goal was to show you: IT’S NOT AS DIFFICULT AS YOU THINK TO GET IT IN.
My prescription is 30-60 minutes per day of self-care -that’s 30-60 mins PER DAY of pleasurable self-care activities. And announcement: you don’t even have to be good at it either (ex: you love golfing even though you suck at it)- if you enjoy doing it and it brings you calm and joy, it’s a yes! You will reep the benefits!
60 Minutes of Self-Care
Here is 60 minutes of self-care per day.
Let’s break it down and show you how it’s done, and why it’s important.
1. Benefits of walking 20 minutes per day
The Harvard research states the benefits of walking 20 minutes per day
- Vitamin D support
- Reduce your risk of heart disease by up to 30 percent.
- Can keep your memory sharper
- Fall asleep faster at night
- Improve mood
2. Benefits of 10 Minutes of journaling
Berkeley University conducted a study on 300 subjects who keep gratitude journals and wrote about things they were grateful for. In summary: those who kept gratitude journals experienced better mental health for up to 12 weeks after writing!
- Gratitude unshackles us from toxic emotions
- Gratitude helps with mood even if you don’t share what you’re grateful for
- Gratitude’s benefits take time
3. Benefits of 10 Minutes Relaxing In Hot Bath of Shower
Taking a hot bath or shower before bed can help you fall asleep quicker at night, and we all know the importance of good restorative sleep. If you add essential oils to your bath and shower to enhance it, like adding Bliss Essential Sleep Easy into the bath, you are really aiding your sleep with lavender, rosewood, roman chamomile, and other pure therapeutic grade essential oils (scientific based research). It’s game-changing, especially in a diffuser on your night stand for 30-minutes after your hot bath.
4. Benefits of 20 Minutes of Mindful Easting No Phones
This is more important than you think.
The importance of disconnecting and being present and eating your food mindfully is all part of self-care care and all part of preserving your well-being.
How to eat mindfully and disconnect at mealtime board:
- Put your phone away and out of sight during meal times
- Eat in a room where there isn’t a TV or a computer
- Slow down. Fully chew your food
- Eat together with friends or family as much as possible
Voila, it’s not as hard as you think to get in self-care everyday, and the BENEFITS ARE SO POWERFUL FOR YOU NOW AND LONG TERM!
I also have 4 free self-care resources for you to get started today. These will help below.
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Supporting you in living well everyday,
Thank you for these helpful suggestions! I deal with Seasonal depression this time of year and it is a great reminder that I need to treat it by caring for myself and devoting time to doing this.