Self care can look many ways. I think we all have to find our groove in terms of what feels good and what supports our greatest healing.

Here are a few self care practices I do on a regular basis to help me stay balanced and healthy.

Float Therapy

Sensory deprivation tank float pods. Ever tried these? They are AWESOME.

You relax in a tank with so much Epsom salt that your body floats. I love the quiet space and the chance it gives me to slow down, meditate, and connect with my breath. One of my favorite parts about the experience is that there is no multitasking. Just me and my body, and the deepest sense of calm.

At first I thought I’d feel claustrophobic, but as it turns out I love doing floats. The energy at the float spa is so relaxing and I always leave feeling lighter and brighter. If you have a lot of muscle soreness, the floating also really helps with that.

I float at True Rest in Chico and the team there is awesome. Veronica, the owner, is super sweet and very knowledgeable. Highly recommend floating!

Starting My Day with Quiet

What do you do first thing in the morning?

Lately I’ve been working on making the first hour of my day all about calmly checking in with myself, breathing, and intention setting. I created a little space in my garage where I can sit and look out into my driveway, sip my coffee slowly, and journal and read. I often write for a few minutes, jotting down my intentions and what I want to focus on for the day.

This is so nourishing, especially compared to starting my day feeling rushed or spending time getting sucked into social media.

I highly recommend creating a morning routine that helps you start the day feeling calm and balanced, and tuned in with you and what you need for the day. There are so many ways you might spend your morning:

Doing yoga
Meditating
Walking
Journaling
Eating a healthy meal
Rolling around on the floor stretching
Listening to an inspiring podcast
Doing whatever activity lights you up!

It can be helpful to keep your morning ritual fluid — to give yourself the freedom to change it slightly throughout the week, or alter it as life happens and big changes come along. Maybe some days you have an hour, maybe some days you have ten minutes. Carve out the time and see how it feels. You’re worth it!

Facing Insecurities

I’ve been doing another self care practice lately: gut checking myself.

Getting really honest and up front about what’s making me feel inadequate, what my weaknesses are, ways I can grow. Taking accountability for my actions. Learning to forgive myself for my mistakes.

Writing it all down. Speaking it out loud. Inviting the difficult work of healing, which is often painful and uncomfortable.

I’m realizing more and more that self care isn’t always comforting and feel-good. It’s taking responsibility for your life and owning it, the highs and lows, light and dark.

A few questions I’ve been asking lately:

What am I so scared of?
Why do I do this?
What am I avoiding?

I also wrote another recent post on realizing your potential that can help with this kind of work.

Running

Running is my new big thing. I’m training for a marathon and it’s really giving me a lot of fuel to light my fire.

I run because it’s hard.

This practice helps me remember, again and again, that I can do difficult things.

Running makes me feel alive. Running helps me connect with nature and the bigger picture. Running helps me clear out negative energy, fear, insecurity, and any feelings of depression.

Running is good cardio, of course, but it’s also a huge practice for mental growth. I'm in it for the mental clarity as much as the fitness aspect, and the lessons in patience, humility, breathing through discomfort.

Getting Good Sleep

There are many ways to improve your sleep. I believe it’s up to you to figure out how to best optimize your sleep. Here are a few things that really help me:

Put my damn phone away at least an hour before bed. Still working on this. Quarantine time has made me realize how MUCH I’m on my phone, and it really makes a difference if I can take a break from conversations and social media before bed. Helps my mind feel calm and relaxed.
I shower before bed and that’s my transition time to let go of anything from the day before I sleep.
Laying on my Spoonk mat. This is an acupressure mat that helps with circulation, pain relief, and all sorts of things. I find it’s like MAGIC for helping me sleep. I lay down on mine in bed as I’m drifting off and it helps me relax. Sometimes I even fall asleep on it ;)
Self massage of my feet after I lay down in bed. This cues my body that it’s time to relax and let go.

Keep in mind getting your sleep regulated and restful can take some experimentation. Be diligent and quit any excuses about why you’re not sleeping well. Try one thing at a time so you can narrow down which variables are helping.

Sleep is absolutely essential for your health. Start by believing you deserve it and you CAN get good sleep, and go from there!