6 Emotional Self Care Ideas That Help When Life Gets Hard. When people are new to self care, they may only think of it as physical maintenance like personal grooming, long hours in the bathroom, manicures, and yoga sessions.
But self care also includes emotional wellbeing. With life becoming increasingly harder, it’s important to take time for yourself to de-stress and recharge. So today, I’m going to talk about different ways you can practice emotional self care.
What Is Emotional Self Care?
Emotional self care is achieving happiness and wellness from within. It’s essential for success in all areas of our lives.
All emotions are important, but we can’t experience every emotion all the time. We have hundreds of emotions and feelings throughout the day and sometimes there are too many of them. Emotional self care allows us to manage our emotions so that we can live happy and successful lives.
The importance of emotional self care should not be underestimated – especially during tough times in our lives when we need it the most. When we are emotionally well, it helps us to stay grounded and face challenges head-on rather than being afraid of them.
So how can we improve our emotional self care? Examples of emotional self care can include:
- – Giving ourselves time to heal
- – Being mindful of our thoughts and emotions
- – Connecting with nature
- – Spending time with loved ones
- – Doing things that make us happy
8 Emotional Self Care Ideas That Help When Life Gets Hard
1. Maintain Boundaries
It’s easy to let someone else’s emotions impact your own, and it can be tough to tell where your emotions end and theirs begin. Natural empaths are especially susceptible to absorbing the emotions of those around them – and it can be incredibly draining.
Just imagine this situation: you and your colleagues hear rumors that your company is planning layoffs. No one knows who is going to get fired yet, but your colleagues start to freak out, others become angry or defensive and the situation gets out of control. Office tension intensifies with a ton of different reactions.
The first step to emotional self-care is setting healthy boundaries with the people around you. This means that you need to be able to separate your emotions from theirs, and always put your own needs first.
This can be difficult, but it’s important to remember that you need to take care of yourself before you can take care of anyone else. By setting these boundaries, you’re ensuring that you’ll be able to always put yourself first and stay emotionally healthy.
2. Prioritize Yourself
Emotional self care means being in touch with your emotions and processing them in a healthy way. During tough times, it’s okay to be a little selfish and prioritize your own needs. This is because you need time to deal with your emotions so that they don’t take over your life.
It’s easy to feel like you have to say yes to everything and take care of everyone else, but always remember that your mental health should come first. Learn to say no when you need to, spend time with people who make you feel comfortable, and stick to your values even when it’s hard.
3. Create A Support System
Even though you should take time for your emotional self care, that doesn’t mean you can’t be social or that you have to cut people out of your life. Quite the opposite – we are as great as the people that surround us. They can lift us, help us to move on, and support us through tough times. To practice emotional self care, choose to spend time with people who understand your emotions and will support you. A healthy support system will help you get through the hurdles of life and can even lift you up when you hit rock bottom.
4. Learn To Forgive Yourself
When times are tough, it can be easy to blame yourself for everything. But emotional self care can encourage you to not beat yourself up over small mistakes, and to instead treat yourself with self-love and compassion.
Let go of the past! Forgive yourself, and overcome negative thoughts so that you can move on. If you feel like this is something you need to work on, journaling your thoughts on paper can be the easiest and most helpful way to do it.
Always remember that mistakes are a part of life, and it is essential to forgive yourself so that you can move forward.
5. Enjoy Your Own Company
In today’s world, it seems like life is one big race to the finish line. We are constantly busy with work, house chores, and our kids, that we forget to simply be and enjoy ourselves. One of the best emotional self care tips is to set aside a few minutes every day to just be with yourself. Here are a few ideas on how you can do that!
- Find a quiet corner to meditate and reflect on your life for a few minutes.
- Meditation is an excellent way to notice your emotions, and it allows you to center yourself so that you are ready to face the world once again!
- Go for a walk in a park or any other beautiful place where you can be surrounded by nature. Fresh air, vibrant plants, and cute animals are very soothing to our minds. Even visiting the zoo can be an option!
- If you have a balcony and it’s warm outside, sit in the sunshine for 15-20 minutes (don’t forget your SPF!) to simply soak in the warmth of it.
6. Find A Way To Express Your Emotions
Most people are harboring negative emotions without any outlet to release them. These emotions can slowly eat away at you, both mentally and emotionally.
One way to help ease these negative emotions is by keeping a journal and writing in it every night. This will make a tremendous impact on your mental and emotional health, and it allows you to express yourself instead of bottling up all those feelings!
You can also express your feelings through creative activities like painting, writing poetry, or singing. These outlets can be extremely therapeutic and help you to feel better both mentally and emotionally.
