Self-care ideas

Self-care is such an important act to do. Looking after our mental health is just as important as looking after our physical health. 

Doing acts of self-care is especially good to do if we have health conditions, physical or mental health as sometimes we’re so busy with appointments and juggling booking appointments, taking care of our medical devices, ordering medication and medical supplies and then putting them away when they’re delivered, staying on top of our symptoms and so much more. This means that our emotional well-being and needs often get forgotten about. Also having a physical health condition will often affect our mental health and vice versa.

Try to do acts of self-care on a regular basis, such as making it a weekly thing in your schedule. 

Here are some ideas:

• Settle down somewhere comfortable such as your bed or your favourite chair or outside if the weather is nice and read with your favourite drink. If reading is difficult you could put some headphones on and listen to a book or podcast.

• Spend time outside. Nature is so good for our mental health. I love to go out for rides outside with my Batec - a power add-on for my wheelchair. You could go for a short walk, or like me go for a ride with your mobility aid. You can stay local or if possible you could go somewhere scenic like I enjoy going to our local country park and in the summer I’d love to go to the woods.

• Paint your nails. For added jazz you could try out some nail art like stickers, nail wraps or using dotting tools to do dots, flowers or animals. Or you could use a matte top coat, or glitter polish or crackle effect polish (I highly recommend the OPI brand crackle polish). MoYou also sell gel nail wraps that you don’t need a UV light for so that’s an easy alternative for jazzy nails.

• Put on a face mask or under eye mask.

• Give your feet a pamper with a foot mask and soak in hot soapy water and give them a scrub to have nice soft skin.

• Have a bit of a pampering bath with a bath or bubble bar and relax in the hot water. If you have sensitive skin you could use Epsom salts to help ease and relax your muscles.

• Put on a self-warming eye mask such as SpaceMasks. You can even make your own if you have a sewing machine.

• If you’re a crafty person why not buy a craft kit to try out a new craft. You could try iris folding, needle punch, embroidery, needle felting, sewing, decoupage and many other crafts.

• Call or message a friend or close family member. Sometimes illness can be very isolating so reaching out to people is really important. I like to write people.

• Talk about how your illness is affecting you. You could talk to a friend, family member or a professional like your GP or a therapist. - There’s no shame in going to therapy and sometimes it can take a while to find the right therapist and type of therapy for you, but don’t give up. Therapy can do wonders. Some therapists offer virtual sessions over platforms like Zoom if you’re unable to leave the house.

• Holistic treatments are great for self-care, our emotional wellbeing and for symptom management. You can book in for a massage or facial or other therapy treatment. If being touched is too much for you could try reiki. There are some holistic therapists that specialise in treating people with chronic health conditions so the focus of treatment is on helping with symptoms as well as having a nice relaxing time. Some of these therapists work in the community and can provide treatments in your own home. Having regular massage therapy myself really benefits my physical and emotional wellbeing; it helps my symptoms and gives me something to look forward to as well.

• Have a little tea party. I have a small teapot and I like to make a pot of tea and drink out of my teacup and saucer. I do the same with coffee too and enjoy a nice cafetière coffee as a treat. If you want you can add cake or biscuits as an extra special treat.

• Another self-care drink idea is to treat yourself to your favourite drink. You could go to your favourite café and either sit in or use the drive through. You can also buy in your favourite drinks to have at home - I have some chilled oat Starbucks coffees and Oatly Matcha Latte.

• You can also light your favourite candle, or use your favourite wax melts. My alternative is to use my aromatherapy diffuser.

• Some people find sensory things good for self-care. You can use things like weighted blankets, sensory lights - I have a Mathmos Space Projector, or sensory toys like tangles, kinetic sand or bubbles.

• Snuggle up in bed or on the sofa and have a film night with your favourite film or a newly released film you want to see if you’re unable to go to the cinema. You could add popcorn or your favourite snack.

• Have a pyjama day wearing your favourite pjs. 

• Eat your favourite meal or snack

Looking after your mental wellbeing over the holidays

The holidays can often be a difficult time, especially if you struggle with your physical and/or your mental health. Here are a list of things to help you look after your mental health over the holidays:

Plan something lovely for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve 

Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve can be two days that are the most difficult. You may have a lot of anxiety on Christmas Eve about how Christmas Day will go and how you’ll cope. On New Year’s Eve you may be reflecting on the year that has been and the year ahead and be struggling with many mixed emotions.

Making a plan ahead to do something nice for either or both of these dates mights be an idea to help you cope and get through those days as well as having something to look forward to.

You might plan a whole day or just a small part of the day, it’s up to you and what other things you have going on on those days. - Always remember too that it’s okay to sit out of events over the holidays if you need to look out for your physical or mental wellbeing.

You could do something like have a cosy PJ evening and have your favourite meal and/or dessert. You could get a takeaway or cook something or buy in your favourite flavour of ice cream alternatively you could make a special hot chocolate with cream and marshmallows and have this while you watch a box set or a film. You could also do your nails and have a go at some nail art. Or alternatively if you wanted to do something in the daytime you could go to somewhere special to you like a park or the beach and go for a walk or a ride (however you travel) out in the fresh air.

Plan some moments of ‘Me Time’

Self-care isn’t selfish; it’s important to spend time on yourself. Planning moments of ‘me time’, whether it be 5 minutes, a hour or a whole evening can really help with emotional wellbeing. 

Some things you could do are:

• Read a book or listen to an audiobook 
• Sit quietly with your favourite hot drink
• Spend time with a pet (if you have one)
• Have a DIY facial 
• Paint your nails
• Watch your favourite box set 
• Listen to music or a podcast 
• Do some crafting like colouring, card making, crochet, diamond art etc.
• Doing your makeup or a nice hairstyle 

Have some screen free time

These days we live with our hands attached to us and on average adults spend 6 hours and 40 on our phones a day with 2 hours and 20 minutes being the average time spent on social media. Research has shown that this time spent social media does have an impact on our physical and mental health.

I know from my own experience that the less time I spend on social media the better it is for my mental health and I don’t actually miss social media if I haven’t logged on for a few days. I personally would rather write a letter to a friend or message a friend if I had to use my phone. 

One way you could look after your mental wellbeing could be to have some screen free time away from either social media or your phone completely. Alternatively you could set up an app timer to limit time spent on social media or what I’ve done is delete the social media apps from my home screen. Especially over the holidays you could use your screen free time to do other things like making thank you cards to give out in the new year to everyone who has bought you a gift, or you could spend the time with your family doing things together such as playing a game or watching a film or you could get last minute jobs done like wrapping gifts.

Spend time outdoors 

Spending time outdoors does wonders for our mental health which research supports.

I know since I’ve got my Batec and being able to go out for a ride with it in the outdoors more often has really benefited my mental health.

Obviously the weather isn’t the greatest this time of year but wrapping up and going for a walk or a ride (if your a wheelchair or mobility scooter user) when the weather is nice even for 5 minutes as often as possible can really benefit your mental health.

If you struggle with the cold you can get thermal hat, scarves and gloves and thermal coats. For wheelchair users you can get wheelchair cosies (mine is very thermal and warm). You can also get reusable hand warmers.

Get plenty of sleep

Getting plenty of sleep is so important for our mental wellbeing. Often when you’re struggling with your mental health it has a negative impact on your sleep. You might struggle to get off to sleep instead you may lay awake worrying about things or just find you have insomnia. Alternatively you might have broken sleep or unrefreshed sleep where you’ll still feel tired when you wake up in the morning.

If you have physical health problems you might find you struggle to sleep because of symptoms like pain, or if you have limited energy and you’re very fatigued you might find it hard to sleep because your body doesn’t have enough energy to sleep. You also might have unrefreshed sleep too and wake up feeling tired too. This can impact on both your physical, cognitive and mental health.

Some things to do to help with sleep are:

• Avoiding screens before bed so doing an activity like reading or laying and listening to a book or podcast before bed
• Having a hot milky drink at bedtime 
• Having some sort of bedtime routine where you get ready for bed and then settle down at the same time and do your screen free activity until you’re tired and ready to sleep 
• Wake up at the same time each morning and have a small morning routine 
• Get ahead of your pain before it becomes your pain levels are really difficult 
• If you can’t sleep don’t fight sleep - if you can get out of bed do this for a short period of and do a screen free activity until you feel able to sleep - if you can’t get out of bed do something in bed until you feel ready to sleep
• If you just can’t sleep at all just laying in bed and doing something like listening to a book, podcast, music or the radio is still allowing your body to rest as often just laying with your thoughts can be difficult for your mental health 

Keep it in a journal

Journaling can really help with emotional wellbeing; instead of bottling feelings up you can write or draw in a journal how you are feeling an it can be a good emotional outlet. 

Writing or drawing (or both) in a journal can also help you work out your feelings and analyse them to make sense of them. You can put how you’re feeling into your journal and keep it in there almost like a container for how you’re feeling. Doing this is especially helpful as the holidays can be a more difficult time of year and can bring up a lot of difficult thoughts and feelings.

You can also make lists in your journal to help you organise what’s in your mind; this really helps if you struggle with anxiety.

It’s okay not to feel okay

Mental health is a topic I’ve recently realised I need to write more about. If I feel okay writing about physical health then why shouldn’t I feel okay writing about mental health. (Maybe it’s because mental health holds more stigma?) Our mental wellbeing is just as important to see to as our physical wellbeing. The same goes for medication: medication for or bodies and for our minds - they’re both just as important to take to be well and to not to feel ashamed of taking or admitting that we take.

Recently I’ve been struggling more with my mental health, to the point where I’ve needed help to manage things to be safe and well - Again there’s there shouldn’t be any shame in admitting that we’re getting support for our mental health; we freely talk about seeing a doctor or nurse or physiotherapist so it should be okay to say that we’re seeing a therapist or psychiatrist or community mental health nurse. 

Anyway, as well as the professionals supporting me my Dad and best friend have been amazing throughout this blip that I’ve been going through and I can’t thank everyone for their support. I’ve also got back in touch with my old therapist and I’m seeing her again which means a lot and it will be good to just have a space to simply be and just let out.

This blip just came on though a mixture of social stressors and my physical health being a bit worse than usual. I do find that the my physical and mental health impact upon one other so when I’m having a bad day physically my mood gets lower. On top of that when I haven’t slept well that affects me both physically and emotionally too, and also when I’m not well physically and especially emotionally I don’t sleep well making things worse. 

 I’ve struggled with my mental health most of my life but for quite a while now I’ve been managing really well and I’ve not needed much support apart from a recent medication increase to help with my anxiety (I’d been waiting for the appointment for nearly a year) I’d also had a couple of sessions with my therapist again in the new year because I was struggling to cope due to anxiety but a few sessions was all I needed compared to the year and half of therapy I’d had the previous time I’d had therapy with the same therapist. It’s good to know that she’s [the therapist] always there for a ‘top-up’ of therapy and it’s always with the same therapist plus the last time and this time when I’ve needed a top-up I’ve gotten a session within a week - the perks of private therapy. It does cost me but it’s discounted as I’m on PIP but it is a medical expense just like a physical health expense but I get what I need which I wouldn’t get with mental health services (MHS) locally plus my sessions aren’t time limited and I get the type of therapy that suits me which is creative therapy which again MHS all don’t offer.

Whilst I’ve been going through this mental health blip I’ve been doing a lot of diamond art which I’ve found helpful to do. My concentration hasn’t been great and sometimes I struggle to distract myself and just listening or watching something wasn’t enough so when I called for support someone suggested doing colouring or diamond art with the television or my audiobook/podcast on in the background. I found her suggestion really helpful initially I did some colouring and ordered a diamond art kit and now I’m on my third kit! I’ve found mini projects easier as they seem more doable compared to a giant picture; I now need to find what to do with all the key rings and bookmarks I’ve made! - I’ve just bought some setting glue so I can fix down the gems and I’m thinking of selling them and putting the sale towards my fundraising? I’ve gifted some of the things I’ve made to friends and a bookmark to my Dad for Father’s Day.

I find engaging my senses helpful for grounding me too. So I’ve had my aromatherapy diffuser on, my Mathmos protector on (it projects like a lava lamp onto my ceiling - I’d love a galaxy protector) and I used to use lollies but I’ve discovered vegan fruit pastels. I also have my fidget ring that I wear or I’ll have a tangle toy. I have other things in my self-care box too like a calm jar, colouring bits, a micro Lego block type kit to built and other things - most of my self-care box is based upon the contents Megan put in my Recovery Shoebox* and my self-care box is the one Megan made for me. My therapist and I also made a self-care jar with little self-care notes in there to remind me of things to do or things that make me smile and feel positive.

Trigger Warning:

*The Recovery Shoe-box Project was started by Megan who has now sadly passed away by suicide. The project was personal to Megan as she struggled with her own mental health but she helped so many people through the project. In her memory Megan's friends and family continue the project to reach out to more people with mental illnesses to help them with their recovery.

Personally recovery for me is learning to live with my mental illnesses. I rather them not be there but depression and anxiety will always be there but it’s about me learning to be the one in charge, that’s what recovery looks like to me and inevitably I’ll have good and bad days and blips and wobbles but that’s okay. It’s okay to not be okay all of the time.

Tips for coping with the holidays

The holiday's can be a challenging time for many people with all sorts of illness, disabilities or impairments. This post comes from my experience of living with physical chronic illnesses. I also write from having lived experience of having difficulties with my mental health and on top of that also having autism. So with a combination of all those things Christmas and New Year poses many challenges for many different reasons both physically and emotionally.

Here are some of the things I find help me cope with the Christmas and New Year period that I feel might help others too:

Ensuring you have enough medication & medical supplies

This is very important especially as over the holidays your GP my be on holiday or your GP Practise may close for the holidays along with other services so it's very important that you ensure that you have enough medication and medical supplies to see you through he holidays.

Making a schedule

From when I was in hospital I developed with the Occasional Therapist a 'Daily Plan' which is a schedule for my day with set times for rest, activity, meals, physio etc. I normally keep to this as much as possible with the odd adjustments which I'll do for the holidays. You may already have something like this, or you may already have a calendar, planner or diary or you may want to create a document on your computer specifically for the Christmas and New Year period. 

On this I'd suggest putting on your schedule events that you are going on that you are going to such as Christmas dinner, games night, when you'll have or go and see friends and family, when you'll be opening presents etc. From there you can then plan rest periods, time to yourself, when you get washing and dressed etc - whatever is relevant to you and what you need to plan for to help manage your symptoms.

I've also made a timetable for Christmas card and gift wrapping and what needs positing to help me keep on track but also to pace myself with this activity and also to ensure that I've got everyone's gifts and that I also don't forget to wrap something.

Make yourself a safe space where you can retreat to for time-out

For me this is my bedroom and I find having a place to retreat to when I need to rest, or I'm in need of somewhere calm or familiar really helpful for my mental health. It's my 'safe zone'. (Unfortunately I'm unable to build myself a blanket fort as in the picture I chose.) 

You might want to add things your safe space such s things that you find comforting or calming such as creating yourself a self-care box*. 

Having a safe space of place set aside can really help you emotionally as it's a place to retreat to when things become overwhelming for example or you're just needing some self-care space and alone time away from hubbub of the house.  

* Link it to a blog post I wrote with a list of 30 things to put into a self-care box

Knowing it's okay to sit out of events

Often you can feel like your missing out if you don't attend certain events. If you know what events are happening you can prioritise and plan which ones you can attend and with your schedule you can plan things like saving up your energy levels or ability to eat. or manage any other symptoms that you experience. Also know that for some events there is always next year.

Try not to feel guilty or rude for not attending particular events; it is an act of self-care and it allows to to pace yourself out to get through the holidays.

Noise cancelling ear plugs/headphones

If you're like me an you struggle with sensitivity to noise I would defiantly recommend purchasing some noise cancelling ear plugs/headphones. I find if I'm needing time-out, needing to rest it helps to shut out the noise around me (especially if there is a noisy event going on). 

Tip: when purchasing noise cancelling earplug/headphones find ones with a high decibel dB cancellation or NRR - Noise Reduction Rating

Make a list of coping techniques

Coping techniques are different for each person and what may work for one person may not feel beneficial to someone else.

Some of the coping techniques I find help me are:

• 
  Mindfulness
• Planning ahead 
• Making 'Now & Next' plans
• Engaging in self-care
• Setting boundaries
• Taking time out
• Using the 5 Senses technique
• Breathing exercises
• Spend time being creative
• Being gentle, patient and generous with myself
• Listening to music
• Telling myself that whatever I'm experiencing/feeling will pass
• Taking time away from social media/technology
• Visualisation

Coping with being housebound

At various points in my chronic illness life I've become housebound or have mostly been housebound only going out for essential trips, mostly for medical appointments and the odd special 'treat'. Most recently though I decided to self-isolate as much as possible during the coronavirus pandemic (even though I wasn't on the governments official 'vulnerable list) because of my different illnesses as I know how vulnerable my body is to infections and how if I where to become ill how my body wouldn't be able to cope. Even just getting a cold can lead to me developing a chest infections which at times have lead complications in the past. 

Being housebound isn't easy. It is very isolating and hugely affects my physical and mental health, but I have found ways to mange it.

One of the things that I hope comes from the coronavirus lockdown whereby most of the country had to stay home is that among the public a greater understanding will come for what it is like for people like myself who are housebound and for us this isn't a temporary measure.

How to manage life when you're housebound 

Establishing a routine

One of the most important things I would say about managing with being housebound is establishing some sort of daily routine. Get dressed each day and have meals and snacks at set times and plan around these. My advice it to alternate between activity an rest periods (if you personally need to do this) - this was the advice my Occupational Therapist gave me.

There will also inevitably be good and bad days where you will have to alter your schedule or when appointments clash. Also have a regular night time routine and practice good sleep hygiene. Having a routine gives your day structure and a sense of achievement as it can be all too easy to stay in your pyjamas all day and do very little.

Maybe also build into your routine some time to get some fresh air. or to sit in a place with sunlight. If it is safe and possible on a nice day spend some time in your garden or out on your balcony, or even just sitting by an open window. Or if your home has one sit in a conservatory or sunroom. From my experience this can help you to feel like you're outside and getting some sunlight can help with your body clock distinguishing between day time and night time.

Set goals and make a to-do list

Goal setting and making to-do list makes you feel like you're getting things done. You can make them as simple or as complex as you wish. 

To-do lists can feel a little mundane. Having to write emails, make phone calls, sort through paperwork, tidy-up, get showered and dressed etc but seeing things ticked off again gives you that boost. To make things manageable break things up. Aim to go through just 5 emails at a time, tidy up for 10 minutes then take a break etc and don't forget to set aside time for yourself. And remember, it's okay to ask for help.

You could also make a more uplifting to-do list of things you want to get done like:

• Write a letter to a friend
• Make a list of the the TV programs or YouTube videos you want to watch
• Crafts you want to make
• Get round to sorting out your wardrobe
• Paint your nails
• Learn a new language
• Start a blog/vlog
• Read a stack of books
• Complete a 1,000 piece jigsaw puzzle 

Whatever takes your preference. When you've completed a goal it can feel so amazing. I know I recently decided to make my own heatable eye pillow rather that buy one and now I've made it i look at it and use it with a sense of accomplishment as I'm not amazing on my sewing machine but I made it and  love it.

Most importantly is to congratulate yourself for what you have achieved. 

Engage in self-care

Self-care is so important for your wellbeing and there are so many things that self-care includes so you're bound to find something that works for you.

 It could be doing your nails or putting on some make-up, giving yourself a DIY facial, saving up for something that you really would like to buy, putting on your favourite outfit, lighting your favourite candle, sitting in your favourite place in the quiet for 5 minutes with a hot drink, going to bed early, and so much more - you can read my blog post 30 Self-Care Ideas for some inspiration.

Looking after your emotional wellbeing

Following on from self-care is looking after your mental health which we all have; it doesn't mean that you have a mental illness.

Being housebound can be very isolating which gives you mind room to overthink and when you're living an dealing with a chronic illness it does inevitably wear you down mentally at times.

It's important to talk about how you're feeling whether to a family member, friend or professional. You can find some helplines on My 'List of Charities, Organisations & Miscellaneous Things'.

Self-Care When You're Chronically Ill/Disabled - Self-Care Week 2019

Introduction

Self-care can be more difficult in some ways when you're chronic illness/disabled as 
A) we get so wrapped up in prioritising in dealing with our health and getting through the day and the demands our of our minds and bodies
B) some things like going for a walk or meeting up with friends may be more of a challenge for some people

Sometimes we're so busy trying to keep afloat with managing our health and all that come with it (phone calls, emails, attending appointments etc) that self-care doesn't become a priority and it can be hard to find a space to take time-out. However, self-care when you're chronically ill/disabled is even more important as it supports our all-round welding. But even if you can find 5 minutes each day to do something like for a mindfulness exercise, do some stretches or put on a face mask.

Self-care, even the small things count

Even though we may not be able to do some of the 'big' self-care things, we can sell engage in self-care in smaller and more manageable ways.

Even the small simple things count for example:

• Drinking plenty and eating healthily
• Ensuring you remember to take the right medication
• Going and sitting out in your garden or local park -  you don't need to walk or wheel to enjoy nature
• Take up new things, like find a mindfulness app that works for you
• Do some simple easy yoga at home or get out your physio exercise sheets and put that into your day
• Pick up a new manageable hobby
• Invite a friend or two round for coffee or a pamper session
• Have a movie night
• Take time out from social media

Even if you can't make it out the house or your are bed bound there are plenty of simple low-energy self-care activities you can.

Self-care is very individual, what might be helpful to one person might not necessarily work for someone else. It's all a case of trial-end-error to find what works for you and try not to get frustrated if you keep trying things and they're not for you. You'll find something eventually. It's important to listen your your mind and body and what it needs and what your limits and and it's a forever learning and evolving process. 

Even I'm still trying to figure out what works for me and trying to get into a daily routine of self-care.

So, how do we practise self-care when you're chronic illness/disabled?

1. Recognising and monitoring your own boundaries

Setting and monitoring blundering and learning to say 'no' when needed is an important part of self-care when living with a chronic illness/disability. You can't prioritise if you don't self clear boundaries.

Make it clear to other people around you - friends, family, carers what you can do and when you need help with; for some people this may change day-to-day. Making this clear to others helps others to know your boundaries so they can give you some independence but support you were and when needed to take the pressure off, and also so you don't get pushed beyond your boundaries. 

2. Reviewing our self-image

Having a chronic illness/disability can often come with a lot of negative feelings which can make it difficult to make self-care a priority as we don't feel we deserve it or it's not a priority.

But it's important to try and challenge ourselves and review how we feel about ourselves and try and achieve inner peace and be happy with our inner selves as well as our external selves and be accepting of the things we cannot change and think of all the things we can do and celebrate those achievements which make up feel more positive about ourselves. It's important to celebrate those achievements, no matter how small they are because you you they are the big victories.

Reviewing how we view ourselves can help us to feel more happy with ourselves and our bodies/minds despite it's flaws. We also need to find ways to value ourselves instead of valuing the things we do.

3. Connecting with ourselves 

When we have a chronic illness/disability we become experts at looking after our physical bodies - attending appointments, taking our medication, doing our physio exercises etc. However, it can be harder to nurture our inner self. As mentioned before, this may be because we feel inadequate or have a poor self-image of ourselves or we may feel that we have little value or that you may never be "good enough". It may also be because we are so wrapped up in looking after our physical selves that looking after other aspects of our holistic self don't become a priority.

It can be good to take time-out to connect with ourselves and try not to feel guilty about this. If you're going through a rough patch, whether it be physically or emotionally it's important to recognise that, connect with ourselves and ask ourself what we need. This may be doing something like prioritising our diary, rescheduling to a later date non-urgent medical appointments, planning a free day/week off of nothing in your diary to rest and recharge and reconnect with ourselves.

To try and connect with yourself you need to try and not hide your feelings from yourself. Try and find way to take care of your mind like creating a positivity jar or journal/scrapbook, notice and name your feelings, accept thoughts and emotions, practice self-compassion and being kind to ourselves and enjoy activities that just involve yourself such as arts and crafts, meditation or mindfulness, yoga/pilates, doing a jigsaw puzzle or activity book like sticker-by-numbers, dot-to-dot or colouring books, or sitting in the garden or local park or green space. Here's a blog post I did yesterday on 30 Things to Put into a Self-Care Box and tomorrow I'm publishing 30 Self-Care Ideas.

4. Pacing, planning, prioritising and rest

Often, and I'm guilty of this, when we're having a good moment we often use that moment to get things done, but then we push ourselves too much until we're running on empty adrenaline leaving us feeling utterly crashed which can for some of us set us back hours, days or even weeks. And then we do the same and we get stuck in a 'boom and bust' cycle.

This cycle is both damaging to our physical, intellectual/cognitive, mental and emotional states. But, great news, this cycle can be avoided with the practise of self-care and pacing.
I did a whole blog post on Pacing, Activity Management and Rest which you might find helpful if you want to read more.

30 Self-Care Ideas for Self-Care Week 2019

1. Go for a walk
2. Spend time in nature like watching the bird in the garden
3. Have a pampering bath/shower
4. Give yourself a DIY facial
5. Have a digital detox
6. Practice mindfulness, meditation or prayer
7. Enjoy a quite cup of tea/coffee
8. Ask for help if needed
9. Eat healthily
10. Drink plenty of fluids
11. Give yourself permission to have a nap
12. Reassess your priorities
13. Let go of perfectionism
14. Put exercise/movement into your daily routine
15. Treat yourself to a massage or a manicure
16. Read a book or magazine
17. Do some colouring
18. Attend a social or worship group
19. Create an enforce boundaries
20. Go and see a film, either own your own or with a friend
21. Treat yourself to a drink from a café
22. Have a clear out of your wardrobe
23. Get into a good sleep hygiene routine
24. Give permission to treat yourself to something like a new handbag
25. Listen to some music, a podcast or audiobook
26. Go to a yoga class
27. Take up a new creative hobby
28. Keep a journal 
29. Know it's okay to cancel plans
30. Reflect on the day that just been

30 things to put into a self-care box - Self-Care Week 2019

Self-care boxes are a great tool to keep to hand for when we need moments or prompts to keep calm and look after yourself. Anyone can benefit from having a self-care box. From things that bring us comfort, bring up special memories or help ground up and calm our mind in a moment of crisis.

1. A mini comfort blanket
2. Headphones
3. Tangles or other fidgets
4. Aromatherapy oil or aromatherapy oil roller to put on pressure points or aromatherapy oil spray
5. A weighted lap blanket
6. Tea, hot chocolate or coffee sachets
7. Colouring book
8. Felt-tip pens or pencil crayons
9. Puzzle books, sticker-by-numbers or giant dot-to-dot books
10. List pad to write down coping skills as a visual reminder or to write a 'now and next plan'
11. An elastic band - this can help those who struggle with self-harm
12. Lip balm and/or hand cream
13. Fluffy socks
14. A packet of tissues
15. A list of numbers and people/organisations you can contact such as friends, local crisis team or organisation like the Samaritans, Mind or Papyrus UK
16. A 'Where's Wally' book
17. Special memories such as a card or letter or photographs
18. Mindfulness activities
19. A tea bag to smell and hold to help with grounding
20. Miniature puzzles like a miniature lego figure you can concentrate on and build
21. Kinetic or magic sand
22. A small soft toy
23. A notebook to write and draw how you are feeling
24. A favourite DVD or CD
25. Your iPod or MP3 player
26. Nail polish
27. A 'Calm Jar' or snow/glitter globe
28. Sensory tactile items like a spiky ball, play-doh, a koosh ball, squidgy mesh ball or glitter slime
29. A favourite book or comic
30. A favourite snack or hard boiled sweets or a lolly

A photo of some of the things in my self-care box