With Spring Break coming up, it can become tempting to rush into planning trips and activities to enjoy over the break. While it can be exciting to travel during your time off, it is important to spend time taking care of yourself. With that in mind, here are seven ways to practice self-love this Spring.
- Go outside! Fresh air has been shown to improve mood, boost serotonin levels, and overall energy levels. Spending time in the sunshine can help reduce stress, lower heart rate, improve calmness, and become more focused. Whether you decide to take a walk, spend time at the river, or simply relax in the sun—going outdoors is a great way to reconnect with yourself.
- Keep a gratitude journal! When life becomes chaotic, it can become easy to get overwhelmed with stressors and focus on the negative aspects of life. Keeping a written reminder of what you are grateful for can improve positivity levels, create an optimistic outlook on life, and help stay present throughout hardships. Creating a daily gratitude list can help you focus on valuable relationships and serve as a reminder to reach out to loved ones.
- Have a spa night! Whether you enjoy relaxing in a bath, completing a skincare routine, painting your nails, or applying a hair mask—practicing self-care can improve confidence levels and reduce stress. Investing time in taking care of yourself is a great way to remind yourself that you are worthy of love. It can help you refocus on what truly matters (YOU) and serve as a reminder to take care of your body and mind.
- Celebrate your accomplishments! Being our own worst critic, it can become easy to focus on the disappointments in life and oftentimes we forget to celebrate our own successes. Rewarding yourself is important to improve happiness levels and boost overall self-esteem. Whether you are buying yourself a new piece of clothing, tickets to your favorite artist, or splurging on a Starbucks coffee—praising your accomplishments is essential to maintaining a healthy relationship with yourself.
- Practice positive self-talk! Our internal dialogue paves the way for how to view and treat ourselves. It is important to be aware of the limiting beliefs we force onto ourselves when we speak to ourselves negatively. Positive self-talk can improve our problem-solving skills, self-esteem, confidence and stress levels. Rather than talking down to yourself or thinking negatively, replace those thoughts with the steps you can actively take to create a lifestyle you want to live.
- Watch your favorite movie or TV show! Life can get hectic and sometimes it can feel like you are constantly working on your To-Do list. Take a break from the list, grab your favorite snacks and put on your favorite film. Taking this time to relax is helpful to ease your mind and remove yourself from the chaos of a busy schedule. Relaxing is important to reduce stress levels and boost your overall mood.
- Take a break from social media! Logging off from the digital world can ease stress, reduce anxiety and improve sleeping habits. It’s easy to fall into a toxic comparison mindset and sometimes taking a break is all you need to reconnect with yourself. Spending time off of social media allows you to devote more time to the activities you enjoy. It can be a great time to take up a new hobby, develop your current skills or spend time with loved ones. Temporarily removing the distractions that social media introduces can serve as an important reminder to focus on ourselves.
While these are just a few examples of the ways you can practice self-care, there are hundreds of different ways you can implement self-love into your daily routine. Self-love is extremely important to prioritize because it completely influences our behavior. This self-love can improve self-esteem, mental health, sleep schedules, motivation levels and overall happiness. Self-acceptance is a huge part of developing love for yourself—knowing your flaws, strengths, weaknesses and aspirations can help nurture the most important relationship you have—the one you have with yourself!