Finding Time To Look After Yourself

**Collaborative post**

I don’t know about you, but I honestly can’t believe we are approaching the end of February already. Just where has the time gone?

With the weather taking a huge turn for the worst, social commitments – in my case that means the kid’s social commitments, they have so many clubs and playdates I can bearly keep up, keeping the house clean and tidy, chasing the fallen debris around the garden, plus trying to hit these deadlines at work, it’s no wonder that time is flying by. But when was the last time that you took some time aside and did something for yourself? Studies show that putting some time aside each day to look after yourself is good for your physical and mental wellbeing.

Taking time out of your day to do something for yourself is a good way to ensure you start looking after yourself. It benefits both your body and mind and as the saying goes “You can’t pour from an empty cup”, so to be able to look after everyone else, you really do have to ensure you start to look after yourself too.

I know just how hard that can be, prioritising you over others is never something I have done much myself either, until recently when I could barely function due to running on empty for far too long. It took me breaking down crying in front of Paul and the kids for them and myself to realise that I was at breaking point. It was the first time I have wanted to walk away, not just for an hour but my bag was packed and I needed some space. Of course, after a much-needed sleep, everything was fine but I won’t let myself get to that point again.

There are many ways you can take time out of your day to look after yourself – it doesn’t have to be for a long time – even sitting with a hot cuppa and a book for 15 minutes will help to calm you and give you a little time for yourself.

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Here are just a few simple ideas that you can add into your week to enjoy just yourself:

Take a soak

If you have kids around, finding time to relax in the bath isn’t always that peaceful. I remember when mine were younger they would always jump in with me or add toys to my bath so they could play too.

Try to find a time when they are occupied by someone else if they are small or wait until they are in bed asleep. While they are school is another quiet time if you are able to do that.

Run a nice warm bath, pop in some bubble bath – one with lavender in will help you to sleep, or you can choose from other essential oils. Turn out the lights, light a candle and put on some relaxing music.

Add a face mask and a deep conditioner to your hair and you can have a nice pamper at the same time.

Mani/Pedi Time

Treat yourself to a manicure and a pedicure. Not only will this look nice but it will make you feel good too.

Massaging your hands and feet is a very good way to:

Boost blood circulation
Aid relaxatation
Promotes better sleep
Improves your mood and helps fight depression
Relieves body pains – there are lots of pressure points in your hands and feet

And if you have diabetes, it is very important to take care of your feet – clean and dry them properly and moisturise them well. Since my diagnosis, it is something I am very careful to do as sores can develop quickly and often you’ll not notice. These sores are slower to heal for diabetics and left untreated/unnoticed can lead to very complicated conditions

Read a book/listen to a podcast or audiobook

I know we don’t always have time for this but it is a very good way to relax and unwind – it stops your brain from thinking of all the other jobs and things you have to do and helps you to switch off.

If you don’t have time for a chapter of a book, how about a magazine or even a crossword puzzle instead. Or get to school 10 minutes earlier, sit in the car and listen to a podcast instead.

Ease your aches and pains

As we get older, we develop more aches and pains than before. It is sadly a fact of life and we don’t always want to be taking medication for these ailments – sometimes there are other ways to relieve pain without medication. Drug free pain relief is being looked into more and more, as let’s face it we don’t always want to be popping pills for every pain we have, as we get older there are more of those.

Hot water bottles are a good way to relieve backaches and stomach cramps. Ice packs for stiff muscles and even taking multivitamins will help somewhat too.

You can also look into Tens Machines for arthritis pain relief as an alternative to pills.

Gentle exercise to works wonders for various ailments and yoga is definitely a good way to ease pains and it helps you relax too which is an added bonus.

Visit the hairdressers

This is always a luxury if you can afford it. It has actually been well over a year since I had a haircut and it is certainly well overdue, but boy does it feel good once you have been treated to a wash, trim and blowdry.

Alternatively, grab yourself a deep conditioner and pamper yourself – why not try those curling tones hidden in the back of the wardrobe – who cares if you have nowhere to go….do it for you and not others.

Give yourself a MOT/Health check

This is something we should all be doing, but we neglect to do so all that often – check for lumps and bumps monthly at the very least.

This can be done in the shower while applying your shower gel. If you do it regularly it becomes second nature and you’ll not really realise you are doing it. Familiarise yourself with your body so if you do find anything you will know straight away.

I will actually be attending the breast clinic this week – having found a lump myself. I knew it wasn’t there before but did wait almost 2 weeks before booking the doctor’s appointment – firstly because I was in shock, finding a lump automatically throws your mind into overdrive, you try not to but it just isn’t possible to forget.

I then waited to see if it changed in shape and size, wondering if it was larger as I kept prodding it – I was doing it without realising mainly, so I made sure not to and when it was still there I called the doctor.

I’m fairly sure it is nothing to worry about but it needs to be checked. My appointment was promised to be within a 2 week period and actually came through on the same day I visited the doctors for 2 weeks. Now roll on to the end of this week and I will know.