Important Self-Care Tips That Everyone Can Use

When you are busy or stressed, self-care can seem like a luxury. It can even feel like a waste of time better spent being productive. However, you can manage two critical problems via self-care — even using quick and inexpensive methods. Today, Belle Vous Spa and Salon shows you how.

Problem #1: Alleviate Stress

Caring for yourself can break the stress pattern; it gives you a mini-vacation from the demands you face. Even a short break can trigger a relaxation response. Some inexpensive or free ideas for giving yourself a little vacation from stress are:

• Breathing deeply for five minutes
• Taking a power nap
• Petting your dog or cat
• Walking outside

Cleaning your house can also relieve anxiety. Did you know that a cluttered living space can make you stressed? According to a study, women who describe their homes as disorganised or messy were more likely to have high cortisol levels and increased depression. One reason is that the brain perceives clutter as unfinished business. It can take away from your focus or make you feel anxious.

The good news is that cleaning impacts your health in positive ways. The repetitive cleaning process can have a therapeutic effect on your mind and help you gain control. If clutter is an issue for you, address it now so your home can be a healthy, healing, and positive sanctuary.

Keeping a journal is another inexpensive and effective way of coping with stress. Writing down your thoughts and feelings gives you the chance to process them. It also helps you track daily symptoms or patterns that can point to other chronic issues.

Journaling helps you distance yourself from your feelings. When you put them in words, you can see them from another perspective, study them objectively, and let them go. If you journal on paper, try throwing away the pages to help you literally rid yourself of stress.

Problem #2: Manage Negative Feelings

Negative emotions can influence your health. They change the body’s hormone balance and harm the immune system. Research shows that chronic stress also causes accelerated aging.

Self-care can help you manage negative feelings. If you are an entrepreneur, it’s even more imperative because toxic emotions can prevent you from effective communication and take you out of your leadership.

Fortunately, there are ways to manage negative emotions. Getting enough sleep is very important — a sleep deficit increases stress hormones. Eating well can help balance mood swings; junk food and sugar can cause inflammation and feed the “bad” bacteria in your gut.
Exercise helps you manage your emotions, too. It releases feel-good hormones into your system. For example, if you have a dog, try going for a daily walk outside. It benefits both you and your pet to surround yourself with nature, increase your heart rate and spend time together.
Sometimes you are holding negative emotions that are brought on by feelings of anger or resentment toward someone else. In this case, forgiveness can be a powerful healer. Did you know that practicing forgiveness can relieve physical symptoms? It can lower blood pressure and benefit cardiovascular health.

If you can’t shake the negative feelings, you may need to seek out the support of a coach or therapist to help you determine what’s truly going on. If being an entrepreneur has become a source of negativity for you, you can find a coach or mentor who understands your small business challenges. A healthy distraction technique can pull you away from negative feelings. Try playing a memory game, watching a comedy, or reciting a positive mantra.

You don’t have to spend much money or time to care for yourself. Try incorporating inexpensive, quick self-care methods in your day and reap the benefits.

Belle Vous Spa and Salon allows you a much-needed escape from the outside world where mind, body, and soul can be restored. Reach out today to get started.