Are you ready to get into some hot girl sh** (shout out Megan Thee Stallion)?
Ready to love yourself Every 👏 Damn 👏 Day? 👏
If you said YES! to that, keep reading. If you said no, maybe read it again? Because here’s the deal, you’re awesome, we’re proud of you and you deserve to feel your best.
On that note, shout out to you for taking the step of committing to yourself by reading this.
The terms self-love, self-care, and self-acceptance are often interchanged with one another and while they all work together, they have different meanings.
Before we talk about all things self-care let’s define the difference between self-love, self-care, and self-acceptance.
Self-care is the act of care for yourself. This can look like the foods you eat, the activities you do, and the daily routines you practice.
Self-love is the act of loving yourself, exactly as you are in this moment. This can look like having kind and tender thoughts about yourself, being patient with yourself when you make mistakes, and noticing if/when you judge yourself, then finding a way to see things differently, from a loving place.
Self-acceptance is all about awareness. Being aware of your talents, strengths, shadows. This awareness comes with no judgment.
Top Five (5) Self-Care Ideas
1. Eat Foods You Enjoy, That Work For You
If you don’t like it, you won’t eat it. Get rid of the foods you should eat and focus on the ones that make you feel good and that you enjoy. All the spinach in the world in your fridge isn’t going to make you eat it if you don’t like it.
Try different ways of preparing the foods you enjoy (different spices, recipes, and pairings). Love broccoli 🥦? Try it in a stir-fry, steamed, or roasted with different spices.
2. Find The Workout That Work For You
One of the most important things you can do to take care of yourself is to find a form of movement you enjoy. Movement, to the best of your ability, improves your mood, helps you sleep better, connects you to your body, and more. But if you don’t like it, you're so much less likely to do it. Try something that feels inviting like yoga, or walks in nature, or turn on and turn UP your favorite song and get dancing.
3. Drink Something
We’re talking water here. Hydration is critical for energy, to keep your cells functioning optimally and overall well being. That said, sometimes drinking plain water can be a, well, challenge. If that feels true for you, adding flavor to your water can be a game-changer.
Try adding Wellness Sticks to your water for flavor and the added benefit of Sleep, Immune, or Stress Support.
You can stay hydrated and sleep well with Sleep Peaceful in Honey Lemon Ginger flavor. Sip on Blueberry Pomegranate flavored immune system support with Immune Strength or get your Raspberry Lavender flavored stress support with Stress Less.
Congratulations, your water options have just gotten a lot more diverse (and more delicious!).
4. Find Time For Mindfulness
Mindfulness has been associated with lower levels of stress, and other positive effects on the body. And it doesn’t have to be a big thing. This can look like taking time to notice your breath, noticing what you’re doing, or taking time for meditation. This is one of the simplest and quickest ways to take care of yourself. It’s free, available to you anytime, and feels so good.
5. Level Up Your Appreciation
Being thankful for what you have rather than focusing on what you don’t will put you in a better mood in every aspect of your life. This can be as simple as texting a friend to thank them for being your friend (queue Golden Girls theme song), saying thank you to a loved one for something that means a lot to you, or breathing out a quick thanks to yourself for taking time for you in reading this.
We’d love to hear about your self-care journey as you lean into taking care of yourself more and more each day. Let us know what you’re up to with the hashtag #NatreveWellness and #SelfCare.