Self care ideas - 5 Simple ways to practice Self-care | Part 2

Hey guys, hope you have read the first part of Selfcare ideas - 5 Simple ways to practice Self care

Did not read yet? Do check it out - Click Here. Would love your feedback in the comments section of this part as well as the first part.

1. Working Out 
2. Gratitude

So, let's jump to the second part and in continuation to the first part, and know the remaining 3 ways of

5 Simple ways to Practice Self-care

In Part 1, we have explained in detail the first two ways. Now, we are here with the remaining 3 ways

3. Explore Your Self-hate. Explore Yourself

I read this on the internet and it resonated with me. It said, ‘How do you practice self-love by exploring your self-hatred?’

The image contains a woman walking on a log to explore herself.

I think we all have resentment & insecurity and anxiety towards ourselves. And, it is often kindness and compassion that we lack for ourselves. And I always emphasise that you need to be kind to yourself. But a lot of times people are afraid to explore themselves. A lot of times people have the most resistance to therapy, journaling, introspection, etc. It is because they are afraid of themselves. They are scared to see within them.

I genuinely believe that anyone can benefit from therapy whether or not you need it. But I think most people are afraid to even do psychedelics or to journal every single day. Or even talk about their problems. These people have the highest walls! A lot of times we are scared of, our darkness, insecurities and our depth. Truly even the most superficial, most shallow people we know have incredible depths to them. It's just a matter of whether you choose to use it or not.

I'm not afraid anymore...

I think, for me, I love self-help and self-development so much because I am not afraid anymore of my darkness. I want to battle my demons every single day. I want to become a better person. But, for a long time now, I told myself, "I did not care that I had thick skin, I was not sensitive, that I did not care what anybody thought". But in reality, we care so much.

We were given hearts and souls for a reason and that is what faith is, that is what hope is. And to block off that part of you that feels so intensely is one of the greatest pitfalls of humankind. So the way you practice self-love first and foremost is getting to know yourself whether that is recording on your phone or talking to yourself because I know a lot of people do not like journaling.

For me, I have a daily journaling exercise which is so beneficial. For any good habit, you see the compound investment, you see how much it is benefiting you the more that you do it. Even if you do journaling for one day, one week, one month I truly believe that you will find so much benefit from just that one area and it does not matter if you have to do it every day. I think that is daunting. I often feel like journaling or recording on my phone is much more liberating in the sense that I don’t think about another person’s judgment.

The real therapy

While friends are the original form of therapy, you know your friends have their demons to battle, they have their walls, they have their insecurities, their self-hatred. So before you dump on other people I think it is important to ask them if they are in the right mental space to hear all of what is going on with us. Because you know there are often when I am feeling bad about myself and then a friend just unloads all of their stuff on me. And I feel like I carry the weight of their pain and my pain as well.

But anyways, explore your self-hate, journal, record yourself on the phone, talk to really trustworthy friends who have the mental capacity and space for that. Don’t be selfish with that, but don't be afraid of yourself, get to know yourself because you are an entire universe.

4. Honor Your Body

Now, this is something that I greatly struggle with even now and I just got goosebumps thinking about it. Growing up, I loved fashion. And I think for me, personally, my love and passion for clothing has always been inversely proportional to how I feel about my body. As a result, the more I enjoy clothes, the less I enjoy my body. I find that the darkest parts of me hate my body, on the worst days I will just be so mean to my body.

Self care tips - Honor your Body. The image contains two women in denim jeans and white crop top

So how to honor your body? So this may sound weird but before you go to bed or even before you start your day just thank each body part for what they have done for you and what they continue to do for you. For example, thank your legs for getting you from place A to B, from B to C.Thanking your arms for lifting that really big book off the bookshelf. And just thank your whole body in general because you won't be where you are today without a healthy-functioning amazing body.

I believe that most of the time when I start eating badly, it is because I already have such terrible thoughts about my body. I am like, oh, your arm is already super flabby, so eating that pizza won’t make a difference. And that is not honouring your body. That is doing a disservice. I always ask myself why would I feed myself that trash?

I am also an emotional eater. So most of the time it is like, oh I am sad and then I want french fries. And to me, it’s like if you are sad, the foods that you eat also mess with the neurochemicals in your head, and they actually can worsen your mood. It is like self-medicating, you are not addressing the problem but you are just putting it over and over and creating more and more problems.

So honouring your body does not mean doing it for vanity, for superficial realities, not about being skinny. It is literally about treating your body as if it is the most important thing that is keeping you alive because guess what, It is. It has so much to do with the way that you speak to yourself, and the way that you treat it. When you go out and party try to understand what your next day would be like. On the next day, you are going to have not only physical but also an emotional hangover. And then you are also going to feel like eating greasy foods or hangover foods.

Therefore it is essential to honour your body and celebrate all body types. Stop the negative self-talk and just sit down and eat for wellness and train for wellness. It is about feeling good from the inside and out. You should understand that the unattainable beauty standards are true and you should not strive for them! To know more about Unattainable Beauty, read our article - The Unattainable Beauty, our most trending article on all the search engines!

5. Challenge Yourself

How many times a day do you do the same thing? Do you engage in the same types of activities? You go to work, come home, and watch Netflix for around five hours while eating the same items. Just try and challenge yourself, whether that means going up one more point on the treadmill, running a little bit faster, trying to speed up the time that you say you are going to finish something. So if it takes you like an hour to clean your house, challenge yourself and make it 45 minutes or 30 minutes, so much growth comes out of your comfort zone. I know everybody says this, but it’s so true.

So you have to feel a little bit uncomfortable each day. Challenging yourself involves putting yourself in unpleasant situations. Whether it is finishing a book a day, saying hello to someone new, saying hello to someone attractive, or simply tackling your worries one at a time. For me, I am very terrified of speaking to new people; let alone good-looking people. So every day, I attempt to say hello to a stranger and introduce myself to them.

After a while, it doesn't seem to be as difficult. After that, you move on to the next task. If you don't challenge yourself, you won't progress and will become stagnant. It doesn't have to be anything extravagant or large; it just has to be tiny. So today, just push yourself and make yourself uncomfortable.

Wanna share some more tips that you know? or want to share how much these simple self care tips helped you? Feel free to comment below!

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~ Anushka Barse


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