Ideas For Self Care + Why Creating Home Is The Ultimate Act
When it comes to ideas for self care, the internet is flooded with countless suggestions, such as “1,000 ideas to kickstart the ultimate self care routine” or “99 ideas for rebooting with a new self-care regimen”.
Blah. Blah. Blah.
And obviously, we say that facetiously as we know that chronic stress, lack of sleep, unhealthy diet, imposter syndrome + utter overwhelm are all very evident in the world we live in. Quite frankly, each of us has a deep need for healing + that all starts with why we’re even writing about ideas for self care.
One of the huge lessons I've personally learned as a mother, wife, daughter, friend + entrepreneur is, if I’m not taking care of myself, then I can’t be the best version for others.
Plus friend, the FDA requires us to put on our own oxygen masks before we help someone else right?
But self care is often pushed down our throats in videos + magazines as a novelty. Magazines + online publications produce “actionable items for self-care” that are designed to make you believe the ultimate self-care is only surface-level indulgence like a mani-pedi, binge watching a new series + eating the whole tub of ice cream.
While there is no question, acts of self care come in all different forms. What's far more significant is for acts of self-care to no longer be about impulse in the moment but from authentic clarity around what you want + need from the place you call home.
Because home is a place that nurtures you + fills you up let’s dive into ideas for self care + why creating home is the ultimate act.
Shall, we?
The Essence of Self Care
As we previously said, so often, self care is misunderstood as mere pampering.
But, is it just about the manicures, the spa days, and the ice cream?
No! It’s much deeper.
The essence of self care is about taking time to embrace and enjoy our everyday routines in our home. It’s about creating connections and being present both with yourself and others.
Moreover, it’s about investing in creating your home, physically + emotionally, to cherish these moments and make them more frequent.
Why Is Self-Care, In General, So Important?
Sheesh. What a loaded question.
The reality is we’ve all got an intensity to the lives we live. We’ve got responsibilities + obligations that run longer than Santa’s naughty or nice list :)
And as a result, taking care of ourselves is freakin’ hard boo.
It means carving out a lil’ bit of time for yourself away from the rat race we call work, the camps, associations, and sports teams our kids are involved in + it means making space for just one more thing on our todo list.
Which is crazy, right?
Hell yeah, it is! But it’s also crazy important.
Our lives are often hectic, with responsibilities and obligations that can be overwhelming. It’s imperative to not only make this time on our calendars a priority but to have a place we can retreat to that really promotes + encourages us to care for ourselves.
And that’s why at Elegant SImplicity — we believe the ultimate act of self-care is creating a home that revitalizes you; that allows you to recharge your batteries + helps you build a life you don’t feel like you need to escape from.
Let’s simply say, a home that encourages you to care for yourself is the pinnacle of self care because it embraces internal reflection with self + connection with others.
But before we dive too deep into ideas for self care — in our homes let’s discuss the elephant in the room…
Is Self-Care Selfish?
Contrary to common misconceptions, self care is not selfish.
Because self care isn’t only an escape from your everyday life to this place of tranquil pampering where you get a tiny glimpse of calm only to be ushered back into a life of total mayhem + constant demands for your time, energy + attention *wink!*
There’s actually a great quote from a psychology article about the real power of self care. It eloquently states that,
“As we learn better self-care, we become better people in general. When we are in touch with our own feelings, we can then reach out more effectively to others and show love and empathy to them also. If we are filling our own emotional tanks with self-respect and loving care, we have much more to give to our families, friends, and the world in general.”
So no my friend, self care is not selfish.
What Is Real Self-Care?
Placing a definition on self care can’t be limited merely to the types of consumption that indulge a “treat yo self” mentality like baked goods or bubble baths. Sure those things sound great + relaxing (because they are) but what we don’t want to do is define self care as ‘one more thing to do on your weekly agenda.’
You see, true self care is taking time to embrace + enjoy our everyday routines. It’s connection. It’s being present + in tune with yourself + with others.
And yet, it’s not only about calendaring time in our lives for self-care for deep meaningful connections but self care is also investing in creating space (emotional space but also physical space) to embellish these moments. To make these moments more frequent. To extract + hold onto the joy they bring you.
And where better to do this than at home?
Why Organizing Is An Ultimate Act Of Self Care
A recent article from the University of Pittsburgh says, that clutter in our homes can often be a physical representation of the internal stress, overwhelm + disorganization.
Whereas there is a ton of research that shows the benefits to our health by decluttering + creating an organized home to live in.
In fact, in this particular study from 2009, people gave self-guided home tours where they recorded themselves walking about their home. Researchers then took those recordings + using linguistic analysis software, categorized their words + how they described their homes. And boo, let me just say that the results were obvious!
“Women who had higher levels of stress lived in a home that felt cluttered while those with organized homes felt more restorative.”
From reduced anxiety levels, which decreases the stimulation of our minds + creates a calming emotional state to increased confidence levels, organizing can have an incredibly significant impact on our health.
Psst… You can read more here: How Decluttering Benefits Your Health.
But there’s more, organizing isn’t the ultimate act of self care merely because it improves our health. Yes, that’s important.
However, organizing is also the ultimate act of self care because it gives us control over our home environment.
And I know that having control over your home, and quite frankly living more confidently, is incredibly important to you *wink*
You see… as people, we crave structure (some of us also crave breaking conventional structure) but in either case, we’re attracted to the necessity for knowing what to do + when to do it.
By getting your home organized + then routinely tending to it, you’re making physical room by removing the clutter but also emotional space for connection with yourself + with others.
That connection may come in the way of creating a calming corner for tea with your partner or it may come by way of clarity in the real functionality of your home office. Like knowing where to put things when you’re done with them.
My point is... just as with self care organizing our homes should be about internal reflection + mindful decision making.
Why Design Is Another Ultimate Act Of Self Care
Another form of self care is designing your home to be a place that feeds your soul and improves your wellbeing.
It involves thoughtfully arranging and decorating your home to reflect your personality and values, while also fostering a sense of peace and harmony.
From integrating elements such as indoor plants + natural light (or as we refer to it: biophilic interior design) to incorporating comfortable furniture, you create space in your home that affords you moments for self care with ease. There are spaces for relaxation + connection with others + space for creativity to be expressed.
Using intentionality + purpose to design with mindfulness, your home becomes more than just a dwelling; it becomes an extension of your self-care routine.
Ideas For Self Care At Home
A handful of things you can do right now to begin making home a place for self care…
Assess what forms of self care might you want in your home (think of the things that will rejuvenate you)?
Write down the biggest challenges, frustrations, or things in the way of creating home as a place for self care.
Prioritize the steps necessary to make your home a more frictionless + smooth environment. What are the actionable steps you can take right now?
At the core, our home is nothing more than a mirror reflection of ourselves. A brilliant window that peeks into the most intimate corners of our soul, protecting the most beautiful memories from our past, making room for every nook + cranny to be filled with laughter + love.
That’s why there’s only a few ideas for self care. Because self care is about assessing + gaining clarity in what you want + then simply prioritizing the time to make it happen.
Which is why at Elegant Simplicity, we believe that home is –– everything you need + nothing more®.
Well friend, there you have it...everything you need to know about ideas for self care!
If you haven’t already, check out our FREE video course: 4 Days To A More Beautiful + Functional Home and when you’re ready to begin your transformational journey — let’s chat.