Five New Habits for Your Self-Care Routine
Image description: A person sitting with their legs crossed on a blue patterned yoga mat, holding their hands in a meditative pose. In front of them on the mat there are three Wild Interiors plants: a ZZ Plant, Jade Succulent, and Mini Echeveria Succulent.
It can be easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of life. Whether you’re a student with a hectic schedule, a tired mom who is busy trying to balance kids and your sanity, or a plant parent who is trying to keep your plant babies alive, it’s important to slow down and be mindful. Because, say it with us, “self-care is not selfish.”
This blog post outlines five habits you can add to your life for a more restful and meditative approach to your self-care routine. You can pick and choose your favorites or try to build one each week for a jump start to a new self care routine!
Journal
Each day, write something. It can be a bullet list of things you’re grateful for, a poem, a list of what you did that day, or a grocery list for the weekend. But write something down in your journal. If you’re interested in bullet journaling, check out our bullet journal spreads for plant lovers and add some drawings and self-care checklists to your journal to keep you on track.
Rather than struggling to remember your to-do list, keeping a daily, weekly, or monthly list of tasks you want to accomplish can be extremely helpful in reducing stress and improving mindfulness. Make journaling part of your daily routine, whether you do it in the morning when you get up, before you go to bed at night, before or after dinner, or on your lunch break. One must-have tip, though: write it down on paper, not on your phone. Something about the physical act of writing helps unplug and unwind your mind in a way that an app just can’t.
Here are some great journal prompts for when you can’t get started:
What are 5 things you are grateful for?
What does your ideal day look like from morning to night?
What items are in your self-care kit?
Create a plant wishlist.
Write down your top 5 inspirational quotes.
List 10 new books you want to read.
Reflect on the happiest moment of your life. Recall as many details as possible such as where you were, what you were doing, and who you shared it with.
Meditate
Meditating is both the easiest and the hardest thing to do. You can listen to guided meditations using an app like Insight Timer or on YouTube to fit your schedule and the level of guidance you need. Some people enjoy occasional prompts to return to the awareness of their breath, while others like an ongoing track to guide their thoughts.
If you’re on the go, mindful breathing exercises can help calm your mind and bring you back into the present moment when you find yourself feeling stressed or anxious, without needing to go find privacy for the five minutes it takes to listen to a meditation track.
Try this: Spread the fingers of one hand out, and use your index finger on the other hand to slowly trace the outline of your thumb. Breathe in as you move up the outside of your thumb, and breathe down as you move down the other side, toward your pointer finger. Continue with each finger. By the time you finish tracing your pinky, you should have taken five nice deep breaths and found a calmer state of mind. Best of all, you can do this whenever and wherever you need to.
Create Something
Anything! Allowing your creative mind to have some unstructured time is a surefire way to help yourself relax and feel more content. We are not made to just go to work all day and be productive 24 hours a day! Make sure to schedule time, on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, to do things that engage your creativity.
Your creative pursuits don’t have to be visually artistic; you can write, dance, play, build a blanket fort, or spend time in a creation-based video game world - if that’s what tickles your fancy. We encourage creativity IRL over virtually, but anything that allows you to relax and get out of productivity-or-bust mode is a good step in the right direction. Also, your creative time does not need to produce something art gallery worthy, prize-winning, or even seen by any other person. You get to just play with stuff that makes you happy.
Go Out and Get Dirty
Playing in dirt helps boost your immune system and mood due to beneficial soil microbes, so it’s actually good for your health to go digging in the dirt. Try planting herbs and veggies for the summer, or an outdoor garden of pollinator friendly wildflowers to help nourish your local bee and butterfly populations. Not only will it benefit your mindfulness while you’re planting, you’ll get to reap the benefits of your herbs, veggies, and flowers for months to come!
Of course, spending time with your indoor plants is also a great way to interact with nature. If the weather is consistently warm where you are (at least 50 degrees F), take your plants outside for a fresh dose of sunshine to help them grow stronger. If they need repotting, schedule yourself a repotting day (use that handy journal to carve out some time!) and get all up in those beautiful roots. You know your plants best, however, so if they’ve been finicky about moving around in the past, keep them where they are happiest indoors and don’t move them around.
Do More of What You Love
Make time to do something that puts a smile on your face. Maybe it’s playing fetch with your pup, running (or walking) around the block, learning a new skill, or just watching your favorite Netflix show. Set aside a couple hours or an entire day, such as Self-Care Sunday, to do this. When you schedule this time, make sure you don’t cancel on yourself! Your body and mind will thank you for feeding it with happiness.
Self Care is Not Selfish
It’s not selfish of plants to need light, healthy roots, and enough water to grow -- and it’s not selfish of you to take time for self-care. Take care of yourself and be mindful.
Note: This post was originally published on May 10, 2019 and has been updated with additional tips to grow your green thumb lifestyle and promote wellness and self-care.