Life can be overwhelming. In a world where we are slowly beginning to see the shift towards a more mindful, self-care focused world, we are realizing that ‘busy’ is not a badge of honour and #hustle is better left in the 1970’s disco clubs than our home-office.

 

Stress does sneak up on us. No matter how strategically planned out we are, life happens and we can be left feeling stressed about a client, an upcoming deadline or the pressures of finding ‘balance’ between family-life, business-life, personal life, and all the other pieces that make up the unique lives we all lead.

 

So what are some tips for when you feel stress creeping in and taking over like a buy-out from a multimillion dollar company? You take a look at our 5 quick self-care tips below and try to meet stress with love and care of yourself because let’s face it, we all get stressed. In the midst of feeling the pressure is the time to align with yourself to work through it, not against yourself.

 

Our 5 quick self-care tips each focus on one of the 5 dimensions of self-care. Each of these areas brings self-care into key places of your life that can help support a more well-rounded vision of self-care that goes beyond the curated world of Instagram bubble baths and expensive spa days.

 

TIP #1 – Get Physical

Physical self-care involves fitness and sleeping habits. Try setting aside some time to get outdoors for a 5 or 10-minute brisk walk to get your heart-rate up. What we love about physical activity is when you take a spin, yoga or boot camp class, your mind is fully present in the moment, meaning when you get back to your day, you end up approaching your situations again from a more clear headspace.

 

TIP #2 – Try Something New

Intellectual self-care involves your personal growth, continuous pursuit of learning and education and engaging in new things (amongst other things!). What’s something that you’re interested in? Give yourself a break from the stress and challenge yourself intellectually by reading up on something that interests you for a set amount of time. Have you ever wondered how the moon affects the tides? Have you wondered which plants will grow best in your bathroom? Find some answers to questions you’re interested in to stimulate the benefits of intellectual self-care.

 

TIP #3 – Use a Lifeline– Call a Friend

Social self-care involves having a supportive network of people you can turn to when you need uplifting or guidance. Take a quick break and call a friend. Share what’s causing you stress. Often speaking our issues out loud helps them seem less overwhelming.

 

TIP #4 – Connect to Something Greater

Spiritual self-care involves the beliefs and values that guide your life. It’s practices that nourish your soul, help you seek understanding and explore your spiritual life. When you’re feeling stressed take a few moments and write out a quick list of 5 values that you have. Your values are the things you believe are important in the way you live and work. They could be honesty, loyalty, love, creativity, family, health, and more. Identifying 5 values can help put your stressor into perspective and can help you prioritize what is happening in your life.

 

TIP #5 – Love Yourself

Emotional self-care involves awareness of your feelings and emotions so you can deal with stress positively while cultivating a sense of compassion, kindness and love for ourselves and others. Grab and pen and paper and ask yourself why you’re feeling stressed. Write down anything and everything that comes to mind. Then, ask yourself how you can show yourself love during this time. Again, write down anything that comes to mind. You know yourself best so tap into understanding your emotions.

 

You might notice we didn’t include the usual things that top lists like:

• Take 5 deep breaths.
• Meditate for 2-5 minutes.
• Eat a healthy meal and drink a tall glass of water.

These are tips most people are already familiar with so we wanted to offer you something different that may help you look at self-care in a different way.

 

Whatever you’re going through, whatever stress is happening in your life, taking a few moments to practice self-care can dramatically impact your perspective, your mood and how you face the challenges ahead. Try out our tips and let us know how they impacted you.