Self-care: 10 tips to develop deeper and more meaningful self-care habits

Self-care is a popular topic at the moment, and with good reason! We get so busy working, taking care of others, and just generally "doing", that we forget to stop, look after ourselves, and just "be".

Self-care treats are one way of stopping and being - having a hot bath, or our favourite take away meal - but there is a deeper way to get consistent at self-care.

By developing certain self-care habits and making small but significant lifestyle changes, we can improve our life and relationships to levels we couldn't imagine before.

In this post I would like to leave a few tips on how to develop self-care habits that will lead to important change in your life and relationships.

The basis of these tips will revolve around setting clear boundaries and making sure we meet our needs, without disregarding others' boundaries or needs. Remember: if we meet our own needs, we can meet others needs, and meet them in a better frame of mind and body.

Here are 10 self-care tips for you to practise:

1. Put your needs first before saying yes to others - when you start doing this, you will thank yourself and avoid resenting the person you said yes to when you really wanted to say no.

2. Plan ahead for when your boundaries are tested - people won’t like it if you suddenly start saying no or setting boundaries, as they might not be used to it and will challenge them. When you know what’s right for you, you can stick to your decisions and get your boundaries respected.

3. Figure out what your personal space limits are so you can clearly communicate this to others - by doing so, people will understand you and your needs better, making your relationships more fulfilling and meaningful.

4. Find time to just "be" and stop doing all the time - nothing bad will happen.

5. Set clear emotional boundaries with those around you - what is acceptable and what isn't acceptable for you and your life?

6. Be assertive and follow through with what you know is right for your life and relationships - doing so will allow you to become better at knowing yourself, as well as becoming better at working through issues in your relationships.

7. Listen to your gut feelings - intuition is usually right! If something feels wrong, it probably is.

8. Stop comparing yourself to others - the only person that you should compare yourself to is indeed yourself, and even then be kind to yourself. Who you will be tomorrow has nothing to do with who you are today, or who you were yesterday.

9. Learn to be on your own, but also learn to be with others - both are important in different ways!

10. Spend time in nature - there is evidence that this will help with our physical and mental health.