Hello everyone, welcome back to my blog. It's great to write again.
Today's prompt asks how I prioritize self-care and leisure time. Well, self-care is something that is obviously important for everyone and it was only recently, as I got a bit older, that I began taking self-care as a thing, really seriously. I came to realize that mental health, emotional health and spiritual health are just as important as physical health is.
In the most recent years, I finally began putting myself and my overall health first before anything else. Whatever or whoever I feel that would stress me in any way, I try my best to avoid.
The first step I took in prioritizing my self-care was identifying what self-care meant to me, in all areas. For me, sleeping, reading, listening to music and once in a while, cleaning, seemed to be what really worked. However, sleeping and listening to music are the most effective.
And like I said earlier too, paying attention to my energy levels each day, the things that trigger stress in me and activities that help me recharge make it easier to know when I need self-care.
Setting boundaries and communicating it with others also play a part in prioritizing my self-care. What I mean is setting boundaries for my work and personal life. In the past it was my school work and my personal life although, that past is not too long ago… hehe. Of course, school work was important but there were times when it became so overwhelming.
Saying no to unnecessary commitments and dedicating certain days to relax, taking breaks helped a lot in taking care of myself physically and mentally as a student and it still does.
During leisure, what I love to do the most is watch dramas or movies. Rom-Coms work the best for me, both as a leisure thing and as a great stress reducer. There are a few other activities I do in my leisure time for instance, dancing, playing an instrument, reading, working out, walking my dog or even working on my spiritual life.
I try to balance both active and restful leisure activities depending on what I feel I need the most at that time.
Like I also said earlier, my all round state of being is important to me and consistency is key too so I incorporate small self care habits into my daily routine. For example, I drink water countless times a day now (which is really necessary but I hardly paid attention to that), I take time to do little breathing exercises and stretching each day.
I also often check in on how I feel and adjust my self-care approach as needed. When it starts becoming as though certain activities are no longer fulfilling, I try exploring new ones to keep my routine enjoyable and effective.
Keeping self-compassion and self-love at the center of it all has also helped. I always remind myself that self-care is an ongoing process, not something to stress over.
In all these ways mentioned, have I prioritized self-care since I decided to take it seriously and to be really honest, my mental health and wellness and other aspects have been just great. It's all thanks to God in the end though.
Thank you for taking the time to read my entry for today's #novemberinleo prompt.
The image in this post is a free-to-use image from pixabay.com.