Bodies Unfiltered

By Kat K.

The list of things I have to do feels never-ending. Between working, taking care of home/pets, and socializing, there is little time left to practice self-care. An increase of social media usage has provided further insight into how other people practice self-love, which can be very helpful for those that need help or a push to take care of their well-being. However, it can also be harmful to the way we view self-love. 

Self-care practice, at least online, has become a space for advertising products that are pushed as “necessary” for practicing self-care. This content can be addicting to watch and lead our minds to think we truly need these products to care for ourselves. After spending too much money and wasting too much brain energy, I realized that these products are luxuries, not necessities. 

As an example, I watched a short video online of someone’s self-care nighttime routine. They said this was their daily night-time routine, which pushes the idea that the viewer should be doing a full self-care nighttime routine everyday, which is impossible for most people. In the video, she used more products in her shower than I knew existed. I will take an “everything shower” once a week or so, but using exfoliant and shaving every single day seems unachievable to me. 

Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed watching the video. There is something satisfying, and almost fictional, about watching self-care/routine videos. But afterwards I always feel like I am inadequately caring for myself because my life does not mimic the content. She applied about 15 skin care products to her face after showering, which added up to be over half my monthly rent. Of course I felt the urge to go buy every product she used and begin my “true” self care journey immediately. Once the urge went away and I hadn’t left my couch, I knew that this type of content was advertising based, or based on making money, rather than the actual practice of loving yourself.

Not only are self-care videos (mostly) just promoting products, they are promoting a lifestyle that is completely unrealistic. When I succumb to the enticing visuals of self-care content and buy the products, I find myself exhausted doing these routines that are posted as “daily routines.” A lot of the time I only have energy to brush my teeth, shower, and moisturize. When I watch self-care content, it makes me feel like this is not enough, when it is. Doing a face mask, painting my nails, dyeing my hair and so many other activities are fun to do and are a way to practice self-care, but they are all unnecessary steps. For true self-love, finding the activities or habits that best suit your lifestyle, energy, and budget are crucial for maintaining a healthy relationship with self-care.

Easy Ways to Practice Self-Love

You don’t need to be rich or home all the time to practice self-care, although both would be nice. Taking care of yourself can be free and non-time consuming, which is too often overlooked since the influx of self-care content promoting expensive products and luxury spa days. 

After so many years of feeling like I don’t have enough products to truly care for myself, I want to share several ways I practice self-love without going broke or feeling drained. Everyone is different so these tips might not work for you, but it can’t hurt to try if you have found yourself in a self-care rut.

Caring For Your Mind

Taking care of your mental health is a crucial part of self-care that can be overlooked by the pressure of taking care of one’s physical self. Some ways that I take care of my mind include:

Talk Kindly to Yourself

• Noticing negative self-talk and replacing it with kinder words has helped positively shape how I feel about myself. Saying negative things about yourself when you feel down is natural, but redirecting those thoughts to be more positive can trick your mind into feeling that way. Words matter, and the words you tell yourself are impactful of your behaviors and feelings.

Practice Meditation or Deep Breathing

• You don’t have to be sitting on a mat in a yoga studio to meditate or breathe intentionally. Whether you want to lead yourself in a quiet meditation or play a free, guided meditation on a streaming service (YouTube, Spotify, etc), there are countless ways to find a moment to meditate. Some of the guided meditations are as short as a few minutes, which is all the time it takes to continue on your journey of self-love.
• When I search for a guided meditation, I typically try to find one that is specific to how I am feeling or how I want to feel. If I want to meditate in the early morning, I search for a guided meditation that is specific for setting your daily intentions and manifesting positive energy for the day. If I want to meditate late at night, I search for something focused on letting go and winding down.
• Deep breathing or breathing intentionally can slow down your nervous system when you feel overwhelmed or need to get your mind back to reality. There are guided videos or podcasts that can teach you how to practice deep breathing, or you can sit with yourself and just take a moment to focus on your breath throughout the day. Just like meditating, there are countless ways to practice deep breathing.

Journal/Write for 5 Minutes

• Journaling can help you process emotions, solve problems, manage stress, and improve your overall mental well-being. Taking a couple minutes everyday to write down how you feel, what you did, or what you are grateful for can impact how you feel and act more than it may seem.
• Journaling is a very common practice in the world of self-care. However, I have never stuck with it. Journaling about my everyday life or writing down my thoughts normally keeps me in a spiral rather than allowing me to let go. That is why I started writing creatively instead of forcing myself to write about myself. 
• I have found that writing creatively, such as turning a traumatic experience into a short story, has helped me heal in immeasurable ways that I felt I could only achieve by writing my exact thoughts or actions. This can be done in small ways too: jotting down a creative idea you have or even writing about your dreams can improve your mental health and provide you with necessary insight into how your mind functions.

Caring for Your Body & Physical Health

Physical health goes hand in hand with mental health, and if both are not cared for, you might find yourself feeling substandard. That being said, if you meditate and journal everyday but only eat junk food and never move your body, your mental health might not reflect all the benefits of your self-care because your physical health is not being addressed. Here are a few, easy ways that I have started practicing physical self-care that have actually created results. 

Take A Walk (Or Short Run)

• For someone that hasn’t really exercised since high school, getting back into working out seemed very daunting. I didn’t want to go to a gym where I only knew how to use a treadmill and be around other people that looked like professional body builders. Although, I didn’t want to sit at home and be miserable either. So, I started walking at nearby parks or trails.
• Walking in nature, a walkable city, or even around the neighborhood gets your body moving without making your body feel exhausted from a strenuous workout. This makes it easier to keep walking. 
• Eventually, walking might turn into running. I went to a nearby park everyday for a week and on the last day, I felt the urge to run. I ran a little over a half a mile and found myself out of breath, but insanely proud that I ran for the first time in years and didn’t talk myself out of it. Don’t pressure yourself to run if you feel like walking, but don’t hold yourself back if you feel like running.

Stretch in the Morning and at Night

• It doesn’t have to take long, but stretching your arms, legs, back, neck, hips and all the rest of your body can make a difference in how you feel. I am not a doctor, but as a human I have found that stretching at least once a day, sometimes two, makes me feel like moving in general is easier. Stiffness in my body often mirrors a similar feeling in my mind, and loosening up everything helps my mind and body feel like functioning is less of a struggle

Take a Warm Shower or Bath

• Yes, showers and baths are used to get clean, but they can also be moments to practice mindfulness and gratitude.
• When I moved to my apartment, there was no hot water for a week. I braced myself for cold showers after working 8 hours a day at a job I hated. After the water heater was fixed, I felt immeasurably grateful to take a hot shower, as if I forgot that I had taken hot showers for years before this. 
• Now, I take a moment in every shower to appreciate the hot water that is warming up my body and calming my mind. Taking the time to appreciate this moment and feeling grounds me, forces my mind back to reality, and helps me feel more content in my life even when things go wrong.

Caring for Your Creative Self

While physical and mental health are crucial to thriving and surviving, caring for your creative self can help you feel less stressed and promote confidence, among many other things. 

Read!

• This can be a book, a blog, a set of poems, or anything that takes your focus away from what is weighing down your creative abilities. Reading not only inspires, it is a form of escapism that can reveal new perspectives and ways of thinking.

Dance, Move, or Sing-Along to Your Favorite Song 

• Everyone has a favorite song, genre, artist, or playlist that makes them feel better the instant they hear it. Engaging with music in any way; singing, dancing, or bobbing your head, is a great way to instantly feel happier or less-stressed, even when you don’t really feel like it. The combination of physical movement and emotional connection makes this a good practice for both your physical and mental health.

Draw, Doodle, or Color

• Even if you don’t consider yourself artistic, anyone can benefit from being creative. Sketching what you see out your window, filling a page of your favorite coloring book, or just scribbling a bunch of colors on a blank page can encourage a calm, focused, and creative mind. 

These practices might not work for you, but I hope they at least help you feel validated in however you practice self-care. Remember, you don’t need an in-depth skincare routine or access to a fancy gym to take care of yourself. What feels right and what works for you is enough.