Self-Help Rituals: Caring Ways To Support Mental Health

It’s not bubble baths and bon bons!

The self-help rituals that support your mental health during trying times begin with the number one most important step:

Giving yourself PERMISSION!

Giving yourself permission to take care of yourself seems like the most basic and simple concept, but unfortunately, we often put ourselves last.

The transformation that can occur when we put ourselves at the top of the To-Do list is massive. How exciting is that? Massive change at your fingertips.

10 Self-Care Rituals To Start With:

#1 BREAKFAST. First of all, eat breakfast. When you prepare something for yourself, pay attention to the food itself, the beauty of what you’re preparing, having gratitude for it and what it will do for your body. Be mindful of every bite, giving yourself time to chew it and enjoy it (do this with every meal!).

#2 YOUR SPACE. Be respectful of your mind by being respectful of your environment. Take care to make sure your surroundings support and nurture your health. A cluttered environment is a cluttered mind space. If it’s difficult to have organization in all areas of your living environment, attempt to have one designated area where you begin and end your day with self-care rituals.

#3 DAILY HYGIENE. The most basic tasks we begin and end our day with deserve as much loving attention as all others. While brushing your teeth and washing your face, notice how your hands feel on your skin, or how the circular motions of the toothbrush is relaxing. Again, give your body and mind an opportunity to feel cared for.

#4 YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT. Nourish that temple of yours! Eat unprocessed foods AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE, as little sugar as possible, lots of water, and eat the colors of the rainbow.

#5 YOU ARE WHAT YOU SPEAK. Be aware of how you speak to yourself. Your mind hears the way you think about yourself, and responds accordingly. It feels supportive to play it safe by criticizing yourself, keeping yourself small so you wont get hurt, but you’re hurting yourself in the process. “The words you speak become the house you live in”. Choose your words lovingly!

#6 INCORPORATE PLAY into your daily routine. Laughter, dance, art, anything that feeds your soul.

#7 GET INTO NATURE. Literally one of the most important things you can do for your mental health is to be with nature. If you live in the city and it’s difficult to find lush green trees to surround yourself with, walk outside and look up at the sky. Take deep breaths and have gratitude for the blue sky, the white clouds, and the warm sun.

#8 Move the body. Movement is key to getting stuck energy out of your system. Our nervous system gets overstimulated and needs to export the energy overflow somehow. The best way to do this is to move, move, move. Again, if you’re not in a position to get out and take a long walk or run, just jump up and down in place, hanging your arms at your side, shaking the energy out of your hands and banging it out of your toes.

#9 BREATH. Breath is the most sacred thing we have. Without it we simply wouldn’t be. We forget to honor it on a daily basis and to use it’s gifts as medicine. The breath is healing and nurturing. Breathe in for four and out for six, deep into the belly through the nose and out through the mouth. Do this as often as you can throughout the day. It’s especially helpful when you’re trying to fall asleep at night.

#10 BATH TIME. Epsom salt baths and dry brushing. A few nights a week, dry brush your skin in order to prompt proper lymphatic drainage. Afterwards, if possible, take an epsom salt bath, it’s great for detoxifying.

#11 JOURNALING. Expressing our thoughts, pencil to paper is healing and cleansing. Free writing is a wonderful way to mind dump thoughts that you don’t need to keep stuck inside. You can keep the journal entries or just throw them away when you’re done. Journaling about what you’re most grateful for on a daily basis is a nurturing habit to get into either first thing in the morning or before bed.

Any way you can incorporate self care into your day will be massively impactful in the trajectory of your life mind, body, and soul.