Self-Care Week

I believe that self care should be a priority every day of our lives. This is something that I have learned from the beautiful Jess Ainscough as I've witnessed from afar her commitment to giving herself the best possible care every single day, and something that I will carry with me forever.

That being said, with everything that I have on my plate right now - a full-time job, a side business, a blog, and hopefully some time to spend with loved ones, including two energetic pets - there have been times when I felt that I had to choose between taking care of myself and keeping up in all these different parts of my life. Although I know better, that taking good care of myself first will actually help me handle all the other things much more effortlessly, self-care has in fact taken the backseat on quite a few occasions lately.

This is not something that I want to keep doing though so, since I am off work this week, it felt like the perfect time to reprioritize and make self-care a main focus in my life again. I thought it would be even more fun to share my progress on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtag #tsojselfcareweek and I'd love to have you join in if you'd like.

So what exactly do I mean when I'm talking about self-care? To me, self-care is anything that helps my body, mind and soul to be well and to thrive. For some examples, below is a list of the things that I'm planning to or have already started to incorporate into my days:

- daily green smoothies and, who knows, maybe some green juices too

- early bed times and/or later wake-up calls, to allow my body enough time to rest and recover
- healthy meals rich in vegetables, fruits and whole grains
- pampering my skin with nourishing, all-natural oils, creams and treatments
- hot towel scrubs
- long walks outside with the pup (hopefully soaking some healing sunshine too)
- any type of exercise that will get me to move my body and enjoy myself at the same time
- oil pulling with coconut oil
- cozying up on the couch or the bed with a good book
- reminding myself of all the good things that I have in my life and that make me happy
- slowing down, doing less, or even nothing at all sometimes
- decluttering and cleaning up my space

Of course, this isn't a comprehensive list and I'm sure that there are plenty other things both you and I can incorporate into our days to give ourselves the best possible care (because we really do deserve it!) - please share your favourites with me either in the comments belor, or on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #tsojselfcareweek. Here's to a truly self-indulgent week and the beginning of a more self-caring and self-loving version of ourselves.