Lighten up on yourself.

I can imagine there are so many of us right now that need to take better care of ourselves, this could be physically or mentally. For some of us it is doing more exercise, losing weight or just having a better diet. For others, it may mean learning how to make time for ourselves, learning to manage with stress.

What are some of the things which you can do to make you feel better in life? 

Feeling good involves taking care of your emotional and physical needs. I will provide some suggestions which we can all do to make us feel better. Think how you can pay more attention to your overall wellbeing. Is it eating better? Is it spending more time with loved ones? I want you to write down what you can do to make your mind and body healthier and better.

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Smile

Think to yourself ‘How often do you smile in a day?’. Well did you know that smiling is proven to lower stress and anxiety? Smiling has many benefits and it definitely a way to help your emotional self feel better. When you smile your body will release endorphins which is the ‘feel-good’ hormone. So the more you smile the better you will feel.

Smiling is one of those contagious actions just like the flu! If you smile at people they are more than likely to smile back. So when you are next in work smile at your colleagues, or smile when your on the phone to friends. In fact try it right now and see how it makes you feel, smiling will make you feel more relaxed. So even when you don’t feel like smiling…. just fake it until you make it!

Get rid of a bad habit

Before you say ‘I don’t have a bad habit’ we all have a bad habit or two, whether that’s biting our nails, not washing our hands as much as we should or maybe just being a coach potato. Maybe it is not looking after yourself as much as you should! If you don’t have any idea what yours is then speak to a friend or a family member as I am sure they will be able to assist you in finding the bad habit to work on.

As it is the start of 2018 take one bad habit and work on it throughout the year. To help yourself get out of a bad habit remember it is not always a good feeling, so think about now and later. “If I eat this kebab now, I feel good. But I won’t feel too good later on. Plus if I don’t eat it, I will see the benefit of it later!” So you can use this to help you work through those bad habits of ours.

Remember not to put too much pressure on yourself and take each day as it comes, remember that if you slip up… tomorrow is another day and you can try again. It’s OK to slip up!

Do Good Feel Good

This is something which has been drilled into me at work. If you do something good for someone other than yourself, you feel good as a result.

Depending on what you do it could help your physical health, especially if your running errands for the family, all those steps will get you burning plenty of calories. There are a few little things which you can do to help others such as;

• Babysitting for a friend or your family.
• Running to the shops for someone
• Picking rubbish up if you see it in the street
• Open the door for someone

You will be amazed how doing something for someone else can make you feel so good.

Is there anything you do for yourself? Don’t forget about your self care!

*All photos are my own