You're feeling overwhelmed and stressed. How can you integrate self-care into your daily routine?

When feeling overwhelmed, it’s essential to integrate self-care into your daily routine. Start by prioritising tasks and learning to respectfully say no. Take regular breaks for mindfulness exercises or a quick walk outdoors. Ensure you’re eating a balanced diet and getting regular exercise. Take walking meetings, mix your routine up! Try to maintain a consistent sleep schedule. Make time for hobbies or activities that bring you joy. Remember, it’s okay to ask for help when you need it. Self-care is not a luxury, but a necessity for maintaining mental and physical health. #SelfCareRoutine #ItsOkNotToBeOk

Mindfulness is commonly misunderstood. It is much more than a form of concentration. Mindfulness is the movement into healthy and purposeful relationship with all our experience. Both those experiences that we might term as 'inner' and those we might term as 'outer'. However, in order to recognise our relationship to something, for example how we relate to our thoughts, we require the ability to pay attention for long enough to notice what is going on. This is where the concentration component of mindfulness comes in as we build the muscle of attention that enables us to recognise our habituated relationships.

Take a few deep breaths at a time, frequently (or whenever you think of it) throughout the day. Start there and see how you feel.

It really is all about the basics! Prioritize Sleep - Ensure you're getting enough restful sleep each night. Practice Mindfulness- Set aside time each day for mindfulness practices such as meditation, deep breathing exercises, or mindful walking. Move Your Body- Incorporate physical activity into your daily routine; structured exercise sessions, outdoor walks, yoga, or stretching breaks throughout the day. Eat Well- Nourish your body with nutritious foods; eat a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats, and stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water throughout the day. Unplug and Disconnect- Take regular breaks from screens and technology to recharge and unwind.

Here are some self-care strategies to consider for managing stress: ? Perform gentle calisthenics throughout the day. ? Take a tai chi class ? Take a yoga class ? Try some gardening ? Learn to meditate

Keep a journal by your bed. Reach for a pen instead of your phone. Write at least 3 pages in your journal before you do anything else. The topic doesn't matter. You can write about anything that comes to mind, the dream you had, how the weather looks out the window, what you are excited about for the day, etc. You might be surprised at what actually comes up for you! Following this practice regularly will help you become aware of emotions and feelings lurking under the surface. Putting physical pen to paper will help you get what's in your head out of your body so that it doesn't come up later in the day in unexpected ways.

Keep a grateful message right Infront of you hanging or posted somewhere, so, that even if you forget, when you see the post right Infront of you, you recite those words unintentionally. Ensure, you are consistent with your chanting of 3 positive affirmations everyday with deep breathing in and out. Start your day!

Emotional & cognitive overload is the feeling you get when everything seems to be coming at you at once. The speed feels relentless & the demands are escalating exponentially. The confusion of what to do next is in all likelihood stemming from a lack of clarity that has hijacked your executive functions, the command center of your brain. Practice saying to yourself: I can only successfully focus on one thing at one time, & by paying attention to what I am paying attention to, I will get through the actions on my To-Do list in a calmer, more organized & efficient manner. The next step is to develop a SELF-CARE PRACTICE, including activities such as exercising, meditating & journaling. You are a human BE-ing and not a human DO-ing.

You can start your day with mindfulness by gently allowing yourself to become aware of your environment, your sensations, and your breathing. Mindfully engage in activities that you normally do to start your day by bringing your full awareness to the moment and engaging all of your senses in that moment.

Starting your day with mindfulness matters. The way you begin your morning sets the tone for the day ahead. Would you skip out on breakfast because you are in a rush and still expect for the day to run smoothly? You may start off alright, but hunger will creep in eventually and disrupt your schedule. Same nourishment for your body applies for your mind. You have to make self-care a non-negotiable in your routine, there is just no other way around it. For me, journaling an entry and a 10-minute guided meditation are my nourishment. While this does take intentional planning and time on my end, it sets me up for success. As challenges and overwhelm continue to present themselves - I know that I’m equipped for the day.

On days when I am desk bound I make a point of moving for 10 minutes in every hour. I live near the river so I often practice mindful walking by the water or on rainy days mindful yoga or some simple qi gong which is great for integrating the breath and body and helping focus. Check out Lee Holden on you tube.

My favorite way to take mini mindfulness breaks throughout the day is to periodically check my inner self talk. We all have automatic thoughts —set messages—that run in the background when we are completing a challenging task or feeling stressed or inadequate. They are almost always irrational and based on fears or negative messages we internalized from past experiences. Taking a moment to tune into your thoughts we can greet them with self compassion and kindness. I like to greet each negative thought with a positive truth. For example, when I make a mistake and my inner critic tells me I can never do anything right. I answer back with examples of all the things I have done right.

Purposeful pauses can be used before or after any regular activities that do throughout the day. For example, if we are having a day of regular meetings we can take 60 seconds before and after each meeting to reconnect with the body, noticing any sensations that are present, as well as any emotion, mental chatter and feeling tone relevant to recent interactions. This acts as a form of emotional hygiene, helping us process experience and allow emotion to move through.

The simplest way is to just breathe to the count of 5. Because when we are stressed we tend to breath very shallowly make sure you have 5 deep breaths.

Effective mindfulness break - 5-10 minutes before each meeting, stand up and walk to the closest window. Simply place your awareness on anything, or all that you see. Allow the details of the outside world to come to you, acknowledging things like the details of the trees, leaves, grass, birds, buildings, whatever enters your field of awareness. Moving through each item, without judgement, just like you are practicing a seated meditation. This is an amazing tool to give you a really refreshing break during your day.

There's a common misconception that mindfulness and self-care require extensive planning and time. But simply taking a minute or two to pause, breathe, and offer yourself some compassion and encouragement throughout the day can make a significant difference. It takes the edge off stress and creates opportunities for recovery. Personally, I find it helpful to integrate these breaks into my routine by stacking them onto something I already do, like taking three minutes before breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Every small effort adds up in the long run!

Many scientific studies demonstrate that if you take short breaks every 30-90 minutes it will improve your overall well-being. Create self-care rituals during these breaks like: - Physical: go for a short walk, stretch or do some gentle exercises at your desk; - Mental: record small wins or things you are grateful for; - Creative: admire a piece of art, listen to some music or sing; - Emotional: check up on your emotional state; - Sensory: take a break from screen, phone, noise.

Your evenings matter just as much (if not more) than your mornings. So many of us start off strong with a morning routine and motivation for the day, but how you wind down after a long day over chaos can make a crucial difference. Think about how you can release stress in a healthy way that relaxes your nervous system. Maybe brew up a warm cup of herbal tea? Or even just tossing your sheets in the dryer a few minutes to get them nice and toasty. The key is creating a ritual that feels authentic to you - and even if this ritual is only 10 minutes, it can be what sets you up for success the following day.

Be present in daily tasks. Practice to perform every task with complete focus and attention. This helps you activate the part of your brain that is responsible for higher cognitive function and reduces the activity in your amygdala, which is the part of your brain responsible for stress. As a result you remain focused, enhance your productivity, and reduce stress. Grow Your Mind, Grow Your Life!??

Mindfulness starts with recognition. We start by noticing what is present in our experience, acknowledging it and allowing it to be. When we have experiences that we label as 'overwhelm' we can rush to try and make them go away, often before we have even recognised what our experience is!

El arte del mindfulness reside en maravillarse del presente y ver que cada momento es un diamante. Aprecia en cada paso que des la alegria, la libertad y la paz de ese instante. Respira calma y espira luz

Self care practices including mindfulness, can be beneficial, but what we leave out of the equation is that we don’t have to be doing something to feel connected to ourselves and everything around us. Often times a mindfulness practice or topical self care practices like journaling etc…can feel like yet another thing to do, to check off and complete like a task. When we learn to inhabit ourselves we can relinquish any doing and feel connected to self, others and our environment. This can be incredibly nourishing and healing.

Spend dedicated time to self-reflection. Create self-reflective artwork. Share self-reflection in a an organized scheduled routine.