Let me know if you resonate with this:
Self care ideas aren’t what’s on your mind lately. You’re mentally and physically exhausted from the daily grind and you’re finally waving the white flag. You’ll give yourself a mental health day, just one, to refuel yourself.
Fast forward to that day and it’s gone in an instant, with you having spent most of your time on your phone, sleeping, and not in the mood to do anything at all.
The result? You’re upset you didn’t spend the day actually taking care of yourself, and you’re saddened that it’s over. A mental health day gone to waste.
I know how disappointing that can be, so I’ve made a list of 11 self care ideas I personally use to make sure my mental health day is a healing one.
Here are 11 Self Care Ideas For A Mental Day
1. Put Your Phone Up
Do what you need to do the night before or the morning of to let your people know you won’t be available. Or not! In however way you prefer, establish early on that the phone is not an active part of your day. Time goes way too quickly when we’re on our phones, and we don’t focus on ourselves. Trust that whatever’s happening online, will still be happening tomorrow.
2. Take Your Vitamins
Yep, you’re setting up the day when you take whatever medicine you need for optimal health. Whether they’re multivitamin gummies, medication, a cup of your favorite beverage, something clean and green, do your thing. Even a glass of water is going to make you feel up and at ’em first thing.
3. Journal
Self care is the goal, and what journaling accomplishes is setting a mental focus on you. What do you need today? What’s on your mind? Things you’re grateful for? Things you wish for? Get it all down on paper, and leave that notebook feeling a bit clearer. You vented to yourself, someone who you trust in the most. You can let all that go now and start the day right.
4. Meditate
Now, I know how intimidating this option is. Even I let out a mental groan when I think about doing it, but that’s exactly why this step is so important! It can feel uncomfortable and vulnerable taking a few minutes to…not think?
Luckily, that’s not how meditation works.
Set a timer for 5 minutes, get comfortable and focus on your breath. Sometimes listening to a guided meditation helps me center myself, especially when I’m feeling too restless. My go-to is the Headspace series on Netflix, and you can even find some clips online. However long you want to go for, get into it. You won’t regret it.
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5. Do Some Movement
I was going to title this ‘practice yoga’ but not everyone is into that. I’ve been doing yoga since I was sixteen and it’s helped immensely with my mental health so I recommend it. If you’d like to give it a shot, you can find yoga videos as short as 10 minutes on YouTube. But you can move in any way you’d like, for however long or short a time. Even stepping out for a walk is taking care of your physical health, which is important on a mental health day too.
6. Enjoy Your Favorite Meals
While the daily grind can leave you short on time to prepare meals you enjoy, take the opportunity to eat the way you wish you could always eat on this day. If that looks like eating healthier, do that as often as your capable of. If it looks like eating pizza for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, one day isn’t going to hurt. In however fashion you’re inclined to, take the time to enjoy your meals and nourish yourself properly.
7. Make Time For A Practice/Hobby
Treat this day as a playdate with yourself, because that’s what self care looks like sometimes! If there’s a practice you’ve been slacking on, or a hobby you wish you did more frequently, spend time with it. Setting a timer encourages me to focus on one thing at a time and I feel better about starting something. With all self care ideas listed here, try setting a timer for the amount of time you want to spend on each one to help you get started.
If you’re interested in learning how to build self trust and do some serious self care, check out these posts as well:
7 Steps Towards Genuine Self Trust While Coping With Anxiety + How Anxiety Ruins It
Healing Your Relationship With Yourself: 3 Strategies That Will Never Fail
8. Discover New Music
If you’ve been listening to the same 4 songs for the past month (guilty as charged) this self care idea is going to fill your heart profoundly. Discovering new music can be so healing, motivating, energizing…shall I go on? It doesn’t matter what genre you like, new music is exciting. You get to develop a new playlist to your life, when sometimes you’re too busy to even listen to music (trust me, I’ve been there and 10/10 don’t recommend). This step can put you in a feelgood mood easily.
9. Watch A Movie/Series On Your Watchlist
However you’re feeling, getting to a movie or series you’ve been itching to watch is so satisfying. Sometimes we can skip out on this because we feel we don’t deserve to sit back and relax, especially if we feel we haven’t been productive enough and therefore don’t deserve it.
Personally speaking, when my depression is at an all-time low, it’s essential that I put something on to make me laugh and relieve my symptoms. Watching an enjoyable film can help with the symptoms of your mental illness, so don’t deprive yourself of enjoyment! Here are other ways I deal with my depression.
10. Call A Friend
Take this step with a grain of salt, some may not find this an optimal option for their mental health and that’s fair. I recommend this for some because having a pleasant conversation with a loved one can make us feel closer to them, and give us a greater sense of connection. That feeling can be healing for some, including myself.
11. At The Very Least, Approach Your Routine Mindfully
If you’re not keen on switching up your routine, this can be how you can make a mental health day successful. If you’ve already got a solid routine in place, follow it with a slightly different approach. Being mindful in your actions can be how you take care of yourself. For example, focusing on one task at a time, getting to something you’ve been avoiding all week, or being a bit kinder to yourself overall are all ways you can slow the pace of your day and focus inward.
Self care doesn’t always look like pampering yourself and spa days and fun activities. Most often than not, it can be…mundane. And there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as you’re focusing on the betterment of yourself.
These are 11 refueling self care ideas for an uplifting mental health day.
Until next time.
“The most valuable thing we can do for the psyche, occasionally, is to let it rest, wander, live in the changing light of room, not try to be or do anything whatever.”
May Sarton
