Self-Care Routine When Staying Home Isn’t An Option

It's so important to give yourself permission to stay home and take care of yourself when you're having a tough mental health day. If you're emotionally drained it's hard to muster up the energy to go out and do what you need to do. However, sometimes life doesn't allow us to stay home every time we could use the break. Often, this happens for me on the days when I go visit my therapist. I usually see her in the morning, and then have an hour or two to get ready to go to work for the rest of the evening. It's a challenge because I often face emotional topics during my therapy session, and we work through a lot of meaningful content, so I'm often exhausted afterwards. I go to therapy every week right now, so it's not exactly an option to call in once a week because I feel emotionally drained - I needed to find a way to give myself the care I needed, but n the time frame I had. So here is what I do:

STEP ONE: PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

For me it's yoga - I can decide if I need something that's more of a workout, or if I want something that's more caring and meditative. As always I will leave THIS link for Yoga with Adriene on Youtube. I find this is a really important part of getting your energy back - it gives me something to focus on and it gets my heart and blood pumping. It's also nice to take care of your body in simple ways like stretching when you're feeling ready to collapse into bed for the night. You could replace yoga with whatever suits you - swimming, gym, a walk, bike ride etc. It should be quick though - 20min tops maybe. Reason being that if you find it hard to motivate yourself, it's a lot easier to convince yourself to do a 20min yoga session than a 50 min one. Plus if you're short on time you still get to squeeze it in.

STEP 2: EAT SOMETHING!

I find when I'm more emotional or tired I forget to eat or I have to push myself a little harder. This is a gentle reminder to give your body the nutrition in needs in order to function! It will help with that energy you're trying to curate!

STEP 3: TAKE A NAP (OPTIONAL)

This is a sometimes one for me. I don't always have time or want it. I find sometimes doing this one will leave me feeling a little more groggy but some days it feels like I won't be able to roll out the door without a little extra boost so I usually set 25min for these - 5 minutes to actually fall asleep and 20 to restore. 

STEP 4: WASH-UP WITH PEPPERMINT

A face mask is usally pretty essential on days that I feel like a zombie. I love...and I mean LOVE Mask of Magnaminty from Lush for this. The peppermint is so stimulating and refreshing. It really wakes up the skin on my face and helps me to feel a little more revivied! I'll put this on for about 20min total, and either rinse it off in the shower or after a bath later. I also think the simple act of washing your face can help you to feel clean and fresh and ready to go - the peppermint is just a little added benefit. 

STEP 5: BATH OR SHOWER

This is usually pretty vital to me for feeling more alive. A shower usually helps more but I will sometimes do a quick bath to save time with my face mask from step 4. If I'm in the bath I'll use a fresh and uplifting bubble bath or bath bomb - something citrusy and invigorating. I'll put on a show on my ipad for a little bit and take some time to sooth before I get my s&*t together. If I take a shower I use shower scrubs that are citrusy  or peppermint-y to really wake my up and get my skin tingling. Lush has "shower bombs" that you might like if your'e not into baths! 

STEP 6: PUT YOURSELF TOGETHER

This is when I get down to business. Sometimes I'm tempted to trhow on the comfiest thing I can get away with wearing at work, throw my hair up, slap some concealer on and call it a day - but I usually force myself to put more work into it. I find when I leave the house looking put together and I put in that energy, I feel a lot better too. It's almost like I'm tricking that last little bit of resistance in me. Telling it that I'm ready to go and I'm not exhausted anymore! This isn't for everyone - not everyone wears make-up or styles their hair in the morning. Do whatever makes you feel put together - maybe shaving, wearing jeans, acessorizing - you do your own thing. Make it your own!