17 Ways To Practice Self-Care During Challenging Times!

One thing I do as a coach is help people get out of their heads by empowering them to choose better things to focus on, like self-care.

When COVID started, we understandably suffered with worry and anxiety with so many unanswered questions:

Are we going to get sick?
What if COVID lasts for a long time?
How long do we have to wear masks?
When will the toilet paper and sanitizer be back in stock?
Why aren’t they wearing a mask?
Is it safe to go to the doctor?
When can we socialize in person?
When can we travel again?

We watched the news searching for answers, watching the daily number of cases and how many people were dying. Talk about stressful!

It’s best during times of stress, to minimize exposure to upsetting things such as watching the news or TV shows with negative tones.

Being exposed to constant negative information, can cause worry and anxiety.

Choose To Be Productive!

Find ways to enjoy yourself by practicing self-care and being productive, and choosing to not worry about things you can’t control.

Practicing self-care isn’t just exercising and eating right, it’s more!

It’s taking care of our mental, physical, spiritual, emotional and social health, which comes in quite handy during challenging times.

Here are some examples of 17 ways to practice self-care!

Use Your Imagination!

Being productive and practicing self-care habits, keeps us from focusing on worry.

By practicing self-care you are not only healthy and strong for yourself, it allows you to be well enough to take care of other things like your family, friends, animals, or job.

Deepak Chapra says “The best use of imagination is creativity, the worst use of imagination is anxiety”.

Being in a creative space, allows us to think about all the possibilities, and the next thing we will construct.

Thinking about creating something is more exciting than thinking about future unpleasant circumstances.

Using imagination for creativity allows us to paint colorful ideas in our minds, which brings joy and excitement.

Using imagination for anxiety creates fear and make us feel badly.

You can train your brain on what to focus on and to think better thoughts, by asking your brain good questions:.

🔮 How can I be creative today?
🔮 What do I like to do?
🔮 What can I learn today?

“Creativity stimulates us to be more mindfully in tune with our overall lives. It also calms our nervous system, decreases anxiety, and helps restore balance” according to TinyBuddah.com.

If you have trouble sleeping at night, or feel anxious, think of a fun project that you’d like to work on, or a vacation you’d like to go on, and plan and create the entire thing in your head. It works!

To sum it up, thinking creatively keeps you in the moment, it just takes practice!

Self-Care vs Selfish!

You may think that it’s selfish to focus on yourself.

“Being selfish means there’s a desire to take from others to their detriment, whereas self-care is about replenishing your resources without depleting someone else’s” according to Hello Giggles.

On your self-care journey, it’s important to establish boundaries.

Our well-being thrives when we protect our mental and emotional space.

By cultivating the art of saying ‘no’ to things we have no desire to do, or when crafting moments of solitude, we create a sanctuary for our souls to rejuvenate.

Through the act of self-care, we gift ourselves the strength to be authentic, nurturing our own growth.

Remember, part of this journey is also about keeping away from challenging personality types who drain your energy, so you can save your strength people who make a positive difference in your life.

It’s helpful to set up daily routines such as a set wake-up time, exercise, eating times and established wake up and bed times.

Self-care makes us strong and healthy for ourselves and others and as a bonus, we get a lot accomplished!

Taking care of our needs and health, gives us a better chance of happiness.