Rest & Self Care

The other day I talked about sleep and why it matters for health. Just as important for health is rest, relaxation and self-care. This is something I find myself talking about to all my clients. When you properly take care of your need for rest and relaxation, you take care of your emotional wellbeing.

Let’s start with self-care. Self-care covers all those lovely things you might do for yourself to bring joy and not to achieve anything specific. Self-care is not exercise. Exercise is exercise. It is not doing the ironing or any other chores. It is also just for YOU.

I encourage my clients to create a self-care list, which features at least five things to start with – the more frivolous, the better. I encourage you to start your list today. Use the notes section of your phone, or a journal so you have a real list rather than keeping something in your head. This makes those ideas much easier to remember when you really need some time out.

Pretty much anything goes…

Reading a book or magazine, doing a jigsaw puzzle, sitting in the garden with a cup of tea, painting your nails, having a luxurious bath with your best smellies and a scented candle – even catching up with your favourite TV show.

You should aim to spend a minimum of 30 minutes a day (which can be split into two sessions), every day, as me-time.

This video goes through the importance of “rest and self care”