Snow Farms Holistic Wellness

I recently heard on a podcast that if the health coach isn’t talking care of themselves, others can tell. Others being clients. This is particularly important because if I am asking you, my client, to take care of yourself, I better be taking care of myself! Self-care is what helps lower our stress levels, protects our immune health, prevents us from experiencing burnout as well as keeps our mental health in check.

There are several different types of self-care that I am going to chat with you about today plus I will also share different ways you can can practice self care in these different areas of your life. The bonus is that many of these activities are inexpensive and can be done in a short amount of time!

Let’s start with the most obvious: physical self-care. These are activities that you can do that will have a direct impact on your body. You want to look for activities that make you feel calm, happy, and that you can do on a regular basis. You can simply go outside and walk for as little as 10 minutes. Do you have a bike? Throw on your helmet (safety first, y’all) and go on a 15-20 minute bike ride. Maybe you are someone who enjoys a bath- try adding herbs or bubbles! Maybe you just need to find someone to give you a massage. Perhaps if you have 10-15 minutes of quiet time, you can just take a small nap to re-energize for the rest of your day.

Then there is mental self-care which is finding things that excite your brain and help you stay positive! This starts with things that you can do for yourself like setting boundaries or even recognizing that you need professional help. I find that listening to a podcast about herbs gets my mind thinking about where I can plant the herbs and then how I can help my clients with those herbs! You can also try out a new hobby like painting or crocheting. Maybe books are your jam, so pick up the latest self-help book or thriller! Do you have a local museum that you haven’t visited yet? Try that to really get your brain stimulated!

Social self-care one of the self-cares that is hardest for me as I work from home, have the farm animals along with all of their responsibilities and I am starting back to school soon. This is form of self-care is one that is often pushed to the side as our lives become busy and frantic! Humans thrive on regular connection with others which makes this critical to our overall well being. One way to do this is to simply reach out and phone (not a text) a friend or loved one. Maybe you can host a game night or movie night with your neighbors. (Russ and I listen to 90’s music and play cribbage!) Whomever you decide to spend this time with should be someone that brings you joy- not someone who is going to bring you down!

Another form is spiritual self-care where you choose activities- religious or not- that allow you to focus on and nurture your soul. By practicing this form of self-care, you are more likely to feel grounded in your every day life and is a great way to curb stress. One of my favorite activities to work on my spiritual self is to spend time in nature- some fancy people call this forest bathing where you just focus on the sights and sounds of the forest. Thankfully, we have a forest in our back pasture so I can do this whenever I want. You can also spend time in prayer or attend church. This has an immediate affect on my spirit and is something I look forward to. Other activities include yoga (check out YouTube if you don’t have a local studio), volunteering at your local food bank or animal shelter, and even do something creative like making a vision board. Try to start off your day not on your socials!

The last self care that I am going to mention today is practical self-care. This is self-care which helps you reduce stress and helps you in your day to day activities. These are not tasks that will be talked about on the red carpet, but will pay off by keeping us sane and calm during those busy seasons of life. These moments will be especially important to those of us who struggle to stay organized. This will be taking time to tidy up your living areas. Setting out your clothes for the coming week. Meal planning and grocery shopping for a pre-determined amount of time. You can even set aside 15 minutes to tidy up your email inbox! These everyday activities will help you create healthy habits and retrain your brain.

Let me know below which of these self-care areas you need help with or would like to focus on. If you are someone who needs help with self-care, reach out to me here to set up an appointment!