Why self love & self care isn’t selfish (and it only needs 5 minutes each day)

How often do you find yourself at the back of the queue when it comes to taking care of your own self love care needs?

Are you right at the front donning that oxygen mask, at the back running on fumes, or somewhere in the middle.

Kate Taylor, founder of The Awakening, a new festival of wellbeing and self care on the Isle of Wight, which Absolute Collagen will be part of on 8th June 2019—shares her best self love and self care tips with us.

Introduction: Why Self Love & Self Care Isn’t Selfish 

As a life design and empowerment coach, and creator of wellbeing products and events, I talk with people day in and day out about how they’re feeling and what’s going in our worlds, and what I hear time and again are tales of being busy, overwhelmed and feeling exhausted.

We’re being all things to all people, putting everyone else’s needs ahead of our own, and with so many tabs open on the brain, the energy bank balance is running dangerously low.

Check in for a moment on your energy levels, where are yours right now? Would you say you’re in the green or dangerously low on red?

Whenever I’m working with clients and creating events to nurture self care, it’s incredible how simple actions of looking out for your own self care can have a positive impact on you and the world around you.

Effectively, the more self care you give for yourself, the more energy you have to share with everyone else around you who needs you.

If you find yourself thinking that you don’t have time for self care, and the luxury of time or resources to go to a spa or take a regular yoga class is not something that fits into your lifestyle, then think again, self care is something you have access to each and every day, and only needs to take 5 minutes.

Here’s some of my go-to self care tips and techniques:

Take a 5 Minute Mindful Break

Mindfulness is a great way of stepping off the treadmill of our busy lives to come back to ourselves and notice the sensations of the body and all around us, which is an instant calmer.

My favourite senses exercise is the 5,4,3,2,1 technique. Step outside, or sit where you are, and become aware of five things you can see, then five things you can hear, followed by five things you can feel, connect in with your breath.

Slow things down.

Then move to four see, hear and feel. Then three, then two, then one. This will give you a sense of calm and grounding.

Groove it Out

We know the positive benefits of exercise for mental, emotional and physical health, but sometimes there’s not enough time in the day to get to the gym or our for a run.

Movement of any kind is great for the soul, so why not make it fun by dancing it out?

One of my favourite things to do is to get a great playlist up on my phone, hit shuffle, turn the music up loud and dance around in my kitchen to the first track that comes on.

Breath With Me

We take up to 17,000 breaths a day, but we take for granted just how important conscious, deep breathing is to bring you back to yourself.

There’s lots of great breathing exercises out there. My favourite is the Nadi Shodhana, otherwise known as alternate nose breathing.

To do this place you first and second finger on your forehead, in between your brow, close your right nostril with your right thumb and inhale deeply.

At the top of your breath close your left nostril with your ring finger on your right hand and exhale deeply.

Enjoy for 5 minutes of this, or any other breathing exercise that works well for you for a brilliant self care top up.

Do nothing

Yes, that’s right—do nothing. Doing nothing is one of the best ways to bring pause and reflection into your day as the ultimate act of self care.

My favourite doing nothing techniques (AKA creative mindfulness), includes staring into space, sitting on the beach and observing the waves, or laying down and watching clouds form changing shapes.

Get outside and look up into the sky, enjoy doing nothing to help you bring you back into yourself.

Hydrate your body and your skin

Taking care to hydrate your body and your skin is such an important and simple way of making sure you’re taking care of your needs.

You could start by swapping one cup of coffee or tea for a glass of water. Or you could spice up your water with a slice of cucumber, ginger or lemon and apple cider vinegar.

And of course, a sachet of Absolute Collagen a day will do wonders for rehydrating your body and skin, and that only takes 30 seconds as part of a daily self care routine.

Absolute Collagen founder Maxine Laceby will be giving a talk as part of the Self Care Self Love Sessions at The Awakening on Saturday 8th June, and you will also be able to sample and buy Absolute Collagen in the pop-up wellbeing market.

To find out more and book tickets head over to www.awakeningfestival.co.uk. You can find out more about Kate at www.katetaylor.co