Self-Care for Springtime

Spring is a time of renewal, new adventures, new possibilities, and even new romance.

We spend much of our time loving and thinking about those we’re close to—family, friends, and partners, but we hardly spend any time on and with ourselves.

To reach our greatest potential in all dimensions, we must practice self-care and self-love and approach our relationship with ourselves with kindness, care, and compassion. Only when we are softer, more gentle, and kinder with ourselves can we learn to be bolder, wiser, and stronger.

Self-love is a constant nurturing of yourself and a conscious catering to your physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Small steps build the foundation of self-love. You will find that when you attend to your needs and give yourself the attention you often seek from others, your relationships will be much more enriching, satisfying, and fulfilling.

7 Easy Steps to Self-Love and Care

1. Meditation to calm and soothe. At first, you might find it hard to just SIT with everything going on and your thoughts roving all over the place. But over time, you will find that even just five minutes of mindfulness can make you more aware, enlivened, and energized daily.

Want to learn more about meditation?

2. Create a nightly ritual. A nightly routine helps you settle in after a long day, sleep better, nourish your skin, calm your thoughts, and make you feel loved and pampered. It doesn’t have to be exhaustive, but it should feel special.
3. Write in a journal. Writing helps release unexpressed feelings, examine the root cause of your emotions and thoughts, and improve your mood—leaving you feeling calm, centered, and capable.

   When you take the time to examine your feelings, you will often find that there is a specific worry or problem that needs addressing. Journaling helps to dig deeper and get to the root of the problem. Also, it’s a place to let out any unaddressed emotional baggage, helping you feel lighter at the end of the day.

   Writing a journal is also both nourishing and enriching. It’s a place for you to write your goals, imagine your dreams, tune into your inspiration, and concretize your plans—giving you a sense of accomplishment and a feeling that you are getting closer to your goals.

4. Indulge in aromatherapy. This can be as simple as lighting a scented candle or incense to help you relieve stress and create a calming atmosphere for mental and emotional nurturing. Go outside and smell all the nature around you—fresh grass, flowers, springtime air!
5. Cook for yourself. Cooking for yourself is a way to subconsciously tell yourself that you care about your body, well-being, and health. This doesn’t mean cooking yourself a meal in a rush. Instead, it means mindfully taking time to create a wholesome meal for yourself. It can be a simple favorite comfort food or a new recipe you’ve always wanted to try.
6. Gift yourself something. Saving money to gift yourself something that you feel is valuable is a way to self-validate—to tell yourself and the world that you deserve joy and to give yourself the best. Self-gifting uplifts your self-confidence, independence, and self-reliability.
7. Get or give yourself a massage. You don’t have to splurge. A tea-light candle with a bubble bath and a self-massage with coconut or olive oil can be your DIY spa. Attending to your body and giving it time to relax and unwind is an opportunity to recuperate and restore. It’s about paying attention to yourself and consciously giving time to yourself!

Read How to Self-Abhyanga 

So this Spring, besides giving and showing your loved ones that you care, give yourself the message that you love and care. You cannot pour from an empty cup! If you don’t give yourself the love and attention you need, you won’t be able to fulfill or be fulfilled in your other relationships. These tips and small actions carried out over time can help you cultivate a sense of self-respect, worth, and love and, as a result, make you feel whole and enriched—enriching all other relationships around you, too.