Establishing a Self-Care Routine

7 Self-Care Routine Ideas

1.  Start self-care the night before. While we’re asleep, our minds may be unconscious, but our brains and bodies are hard at work, keeping us healthy and making sure our bodies are functioning at optimal levels.^[1] It’s recommended that adults get seven to eight hours of sleep each night,^[1] and not getting enough quality sleep can affect both your physical and mental health.^[1] Making sure you’re getting quality shut-eye is an important foundation for your self-care routine. Grab your coziest blankets, blackout curtains, ear plugs, or whatever tools you need to settle down, and make getting those zzzs part of your everyday wellness routine!
2.  Greet the day with a tall glass of water. You may be familiar with the statistic that water makes up about 60 percent of our body weight, but what you might not know is that every single cell, tissue, and organ requires water to function.^[2] The average adult man needs to consume about 15 cups of fluids via water, other beverages, and food each day, and the average adult woman needs about 11 cups.^[2] Get a head start by beginning every day with a glass of water as part of your daily wellness routine.
3.  Practice gratitude. Self-care isn’t only about taking care of our physical health, it’s also important to take care of our emotional health. Try starting or ending each day by writing down a few things that you’re grateful for—whether they’re big things like your family’s health and your job, or small things like a beautiful garden you saw during the day or your favorite band releasing a new album. Turning practicing gratitude into a daily ritual can encourage us to become more mindful of our surroundings, and help us start or end the day with a positive attitude.
4.  Spend time in nature. Especially for those of us living in big cities where glimpses of greenery are few and far between, taking some time during the day to get outside for a walk around the block or a few minutes of bird-watching at the local park can help us slow down. If you live by a lake or an ocean, take advantage of warm weather with a daily swim. If you live in a more mountainous area, hiking up the peaks can give you a new perspective.
5.  Cut down on stress with meal-planning. Whether we’re cooking for the whole family or simply trying to find time for breakfast for one before work, mealtime can feel like a race to the finish line. Practice self-care by planning your menu on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Not only can this help save you time at the grocery store, it can also help save money—no more panicked takeout ordering! While making a grocery list and game plan for a week of meals might seem like just another task to add to our to-do lists, the time, money, and stress we’ll save in the long run is worth it. And if that’s not self-care, what is?
6.  Sweat it out. Helping improve our mood,^[3] reducing our risk of heart disease and improving circulation,^[3] improving our sleep and sexual health,^[3] helping with weight control^[3]—the list of the benefits of exercise goes on and on! Make exercise part of your self-care routine, whether it’s by kicking around a soccer ball with a few friends, taking a walk around the neighborhood with your dog, doing an online Pilates class, or having a dance party with your kids.
7.  Limit screen-time. From laptop to smartphone to TV to tablet, sometimes the day can feel like a ping pong game from screen to screen. Set aside some time every day for a short technology detox—yes, you can put down your phone for thirty minutes! Get outside, cook dinner, write in a journal, or simply enjoy some face-to-face time with a family member—your digital detox activity is up to you.
8.  Eat healthy, balanced meals. Incorporate a variety of foods and beverages from all five food groups—fruits, vegetables, grains, proteins, and dairy—to get the nutrients your body needs to stay healthy.^[4] Talk to your doctor about adding a dietary supplement, like a multivitamin, to your routine to make sure you’re getting adequate amounts of all essential vitamins and minerals.

We hope this article has given you some ideas for starting your own self-care routine or daily wellness ritual. For more helpful resources on health and wellness, be sure to visit the Learning Center.