It’s all too easy to take care of others and neglect yourself.  In this article I share 7 easy ways to practice self care.

When I do work with individuals and couples, I often look for some of the deeper issues that may include childhood trauma or early attachment wounds and other kinds of deeper psychological issues.

However, there is more to health than exploring and resolving old issues.  Learning to practice self care is one of the most effective ways you can improve your health.

We still have to learn new and more positive habits and create a lifestyle to support health both emotional and physical. Many of us are really busy and have a difficult time taking care of ourselves.

However, I have found that some things that we can do for ourselves actually take very little time and are quite do-able.

The problem isn’t that we don’t have the time; the problem is that we don’t think about it.

Make it a habit to practice self care daily…

Here are seven self-care tips for you to think about and then actually do!

Self Care Practice #1:  Meditate for 5 minutes when you first wake up before looking at the phone or doing anything on your to-do list. 

Of course you are allowed to go to the bathroom if that’s what you need to do! However, aside from that, just spend the first five minutes practicing noticing inhalation and exhalation of your breath. When you notice your thoughts that are taking you away, which they will, just gently return to your breath.

This simple self care practice is a great way to start out your day.

Self Care Practice #2: Do some exercise and commit to 5 minutes. After 5 minutes you are free to stop or renew it for another 5 minutes.

For some people, the idea of doing 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise or weight lifting, is overwhelming.

For the busy person, I promise you that moving for five minutes in some fashion is helping your immune system. It also helps the rest of your body as well. Feel free to exercise and renew as many five-minute segments as you possibly can.

This is just a way of getting going and overcoming your resistance.

Self Care Practice #3: Think about something that you are grateful for in your life.

It could be the most simplest of things and then allow yourself to really feel grateful. Allow yourself to really experience that feeling and let it spread throughout your entire body. You may notice that you automatically starts thinking about other things that you’re grateful for as well. Gratefulness can be quite contagious and is very healthy for you to experience. Do this no matter how wonderful or challenging your life is. There are always things that you can think of and it can take practically no time at all to think of it.

You could even be grateful for the fact that you can breathe or that you can see or hear. Of course you may have more things to be grateful for such as your family or your job or your promotion.

It matters less about what it is and more that you practice experiencing this wonderful feeling of thankfulness and gratitude.

Self Care Practice #4: See your partner or other significant other or even co-workers as people who can be there for you.

Even if you haven’t experienced them as supportive before, your willingness to perceive them as caring about you can actually be a great source of feeling good.

Often times then we act in such a way that it literally brings out the very positive character trait of helpfulness in those people. It is amazing how much we experience a life based on the story that we tell ourselves about our life as well as about the people in our life.

Choose a narrative that will make you feel better such as seeing these people as caring about you. Experiment with that perception and see if anybody changes their behavior for the better towards you.

Self Care Practice #5: Especially for the person that  can be very serious or overly responsible, find a happy song and sing it.

The alternative to that is to find some music that has a great rhythm that you can dance to. Enjoy the experience of singing or dancing just because you can. Don’t wait to finish your chores or your big to-do list.

Interrupt your busyness with a happy song or a happy dance.

Then see how much more efficient you are when you go back to your chores or your to-do list.

Self Care Practice #6: Similar to the tip of number 5, skip to your car when you going to do your next errand or going to work.

Experience the joyfulness and the playfulness of skipping.

When you bring out that playful child in you, it is a tremendously positive way to take care of yourself. Then you can go back to whatever it is that you need to do to manage your day.

Self Care Practice #7:  Smile!

You don’t need a reason to smile, just smile. If you want to expand on that, then laugh. That is correct, fake laughing and fake it from the belly as much as you can.

Shake yourself up a little bit and see how you feel. When you fake laughing, you are actually changing the chemicals in your body so that you can experience joy just because you generated a response that people do when they are in that joyous state.

 As you can see, all seven  ways to practice self care take very little time.

Despite how little time it takes, the effects can be profound and impactful.

The more you choose to do these self-care activities, the more you discover how responsible you are for your emotional and physical well-being. Sure we are affected by the things that happen to us and our environment. However, there is so much power we have in our choices and we cannot wait for the perfect time.

If you want more tips here’s 7 Self Care Tips for Busy and Overwhelmed People.

Just do it…Prioritizing and actually taking the time to practice self care is quick and easy and you deserve it!