Self care for women is an easy thing to encourage, but many women falsely believe that self care is selfish.
When you think of self care, what comes to mind is probably not representative of what self care truly means. You might think it means taking some time out to pamper or indulge yourself.
Self care for women is more about understanding your worth and value as a human being and treating yourself accordingly.
Women tend to be better at nurturing others than they are at nurturing themselves. You’ll fill two water bottles each for your family and forget to grab yours on your way to the ballpark.
You’ll make sure your husband or boyfriend has a healthy lunch packed while zipping out the door with a promise to make your own healthy lunch next time.
I know I’m right. I’ve got three sisters and a mother!
What if I could find ways for you to enjoy self care? Read some of the ideas below to see if any of these pique your interest.
Self Care for Women | Creating Your Own Chick Retreat
Guys have man caves, but women don’t usually take the time to designate a space for peace and tranquility.
One fun thing you can do is create your own chick retreat. It doesn’t need to be an entire room of your house. It could just be a corner of a room, a special chair or an hour where you fill the bathtub with hot water and lock the door!
I know a woman who had a large walk-in closet she stole away to use as her chick retreat. Her husband was dying of cancer and she needed a place to use as a quiet place for rest, relaxation and reflection.
Your retreat can be whatever you want, as long as it is a place you can use to recharge your batteries.
Read
Reading can be a very entertaining way to relax and recharge, especially if you enjoy books of a humorous or light-hearted nature.
Reading can also be a way to facilitate personal growth or inspire you to try new things. You can experience personal, spiritual, financial and intellectual growth by reading.
Use your reading time to forget about the stressors around you, relax and let go of the pressures of the day. Allow yourself to escape into another world, if only for 30 minutes a day, and grow as a woman.
Take Your Dream Car for a Test Drive
If you could own any car, what would it be? Why not take it for a test drive? There’s no rule that states you must buy a car you test drive! Even if this gives you just fifteen minutes of fun, it’s a temporary escape into your dream.
If you believe in the Law of Attraction, this could even be a step toward owning that dream car. You never know!
Meanwhile, drive it like a boss! Smell the leather. Feel the way the car handles. Lose yourself in the experience. Relax and enjoy the ride! More importantly, remind yourself that you deserve nice things in your life.
Even if you can never afford to buy this car, you can save up to buy something nice for yourself.
Find or Pursue Your Passion
This is good for you in so many ways, it could be its own blog post, but instead, I’ll try to summarize here.
Following your passion helps you focus your time and energy on something you love and it’s a great escape for you when your guy is out with his friends or off licking his wounds after a missed promotion or lost competition.
When you are passionate about something, you begin to build your story, which is interesting to any man worth having. It gives you something to share and talk about and it helps you build your confidence in new areas.
Self Care for Women | Journaling
Journaling and using a planner are very popular activities right now. When I was young, my sisters all had those padded diaries with the cheap little locks. They wrote their deepest, darkest secrets in those journals with those fun four-color pens everyone had.
Journaling today is a creative endeavor where some people write while others draw or cut out pictures from magazines, pieces of mail and recycled items.
It’s a great form of expression that you can either keep to yourself or share with your guy in the form of a couple’s journal.
Some people take a page of a journal, write whatever is troubling them, and then cover those thoughts with paint, gesso or other paper and embellishments.
Enjoy Nature
I love nature and I am fortunate to be able to enjoy it by simply looking out my back door. You can enjoy nature by taking a walk or going on a hike. If you enjoy the water, go kayaking, skiing or just lay by the beach.
The outdoors can even be your chick retreat. Just walking around, enjoying the wonderful colors and smells can help you relax and recharge.
This can be a great thing to do first thing in the morning or right before you go to bed. It is a nice, calming activity, providing a sense of peace and joy all at the same time.
Celebrate Victories
I am a big fan of conducting a weekly review in which I take note of my weekly accomplishments and challenges.
Reminding yourself of your accomplishments helps you shift your focus from things that didn’t get done or hiccups in your week to the things you did well.
This is a great way to boost your confidence and sense of self-worth. You have abilities you don’t even realize and taking the time to remind yourself of those abilities helps you grow.
Self Care for Women | Practice Gratitude
It is so easy to become bogged down with the heavier side of life and our natural inclination is to focus on the mistakes we make or the things we wish we’d done differently. Some form of self care for women should include the practice of gratitude.
When you shift that focus onto things in your day or week that you can be grateful for, you change your outlook. It’s a great reminder that there are many things going right in your world and not just a world of wrong banging on your door.
Stretch Your Comfort Zone
For most people, staying within your comfort zone feels safe. The problem with safe is that there’s no growth in safe.
When you strive to stretch your comfort zone, you commit to growing as a person. It’s important to take a few risks in order to build your confidence and expand your horizons.
It is only when you push yourself in this way that you find your true self.
Self Care for Women Includes Taking Care of Yourself
Instead of staying up until midnight to finish the laundry, do the dishes and clean up after the kids, try going to bed at a reasonable hour and getting some good rest.
If you need to stay up that late to get things done, you’re either not prioritizing your tasks, or you have too much on your plate.
Not only should you get plenty of rest, but you should eat healthy meals. While it might seem easy to hit the drive-thru on the way home from a late day at the office, it’s much better for you to go home and heat up some leftovers or make yourself a salad.
I know one young woman who utilizes her days off to do her grocery shopping and complete food prep for the work week ahead. With proper planning, you can accomplish the same and lower the stress in your life!
Self Care Enables You to Properly Care for Your Loved Ones
If you are running on empty 90% of the time, you’re no good for the people you’re trying to nurture. Being exhausted and cranky just leaves them wishing you’d retreat off to nature or go read a great book. What they want to do most is enjoy their time with you.
Facilitate that by practicing good self care. Remember that you can’t be there 100% for them if you’re not there 100% for yourself first. It isn’t selfish, it’s providing your loved ones with the best version of you, and it’s providing you with personal and positive feedback that you are worthy of being cared for!
Having an effective self-care routine is crucial to your daily peace and happiness, but many people falsely believe that self-care is simply taking a hot bath with a glass of wine and some candles.
There are so many other ways to enjoy a self-care routine and this book walks you through them, providing you with many choices on how you can implement a self-care routine into your schedule.
