Top Ten Favourite Self Care Activities

This post was originally posted on Blogger July 15, 2024.

The last couple of years have been a roller coaster, and never in my life has self care been so important. I make it a daily priority and schedule my tasks and commitments around it. I need to. Some days I require a lot of self care activities as a distraction to the pain and to calm my hyperactive thoughts, and it is essential to my physical and mental wellbeing.

Recently I learned more about what the actual structure and core components of self care look like. There was quite a lot to take away what I learned, in that there are multiple and overlapping components to self care:

1. 7 pillars of self care: mental, emotional, physical, environmental, spiritual, recreational and social. A well balanced self care routine involves each of these pillars so it's important not to restrict yourself to just a few. 

2. 3 rules to self care everyone needs: eating regularly, getting some physical activity and sleeping.

3. 3 C's of self care: Care - In saying care, I refer to the necessity for us to not overload ourselves during the growth process. Consistency - Without taking care of yourself you will not be able to be consistent. Compassion - this is a hard one many of us pain warriors struggle with.

4. 4 quadrants of self care: being the mind (mental/psychological), body (physical), heart (emotional), and spirit (spiritual/essence).

5. 5 points of self care: being exercise, meditaiton, and mindfulness, goal setting, diet and gut health, and sleep.

6. ABC's of self care: self care is most effective when approached proactively, not reactively. It's 3 basic aspects are awareness, balance and connection.

I would say since my breakdown last year, I have worked on and broadened my self care routine a LOT. By incorporating a variety of structured self care activities to my days, each with it’s own purpose in helping me cope, I slowly began to heal myself. I thrive on structure and routine, and creativity of any kind, and my self care routine reflects that.

Below are 10 self care activities I enjoy doing, that bring me calm and keep my mind focused on something other than pain:

1. Connect with family and friends virtually or in person. My family and friends are a very big part of my life and I have regular routines with some of them. I learn so much from having those close and personal connections daily to help me stay on track with my goals and they help fill my emotional cup so to speak.  

2. Colouring in one of my swear word or nature colouring books. Also colouring in my Bob Ross colour by number colouring book. The thing I like about colouring, is that you really only have to think about what colour you’d like to use, and where. There’s no big artistic decisions to make. 

3. Creating abstract ink drawings of our local fauna using the Zentange Method. The drawing of repetitive patterns puts me in a relaxed state. I found Zentangle in 2015 and it was life changing. This is where I began my journey with mindfulness and an expanded concept of meditation. I also make various types of greeting cards, and my mother-in-law and I enjoy spending time doing arts and crafts and making cards together. 

*When I’m drawing or colouring, I often listen to guided meditations in Apple Fitness Plus. It is such a peaceful way to spend time, especially if my brain needs some down time.

4. Another big part of my self care routine is journaling. I really enjoy doing guided journals that focus on healing and self love. The process of writing my thoughts, in a structured and guided way, has really benefited me. It’s helped me process a lot of emotions I was stuck on, and is now a cherished part of my day. Also putting pen to paper, focusing on not just the words, but the way the each pen glides differently on the paper, is soothing for me in itself. 

5. Something fun, and a more recent interest for me, is photography. I have a few different cameras, including a Polaroid, that I take with me places to capture cherished moments and the landscape of Galiano to use for my online ventures. Finding unique ways to take pictures of Galiano’s unique beauty is becoming a hobby I really enjoy doing.

6. Last year I started a small exercise routine with Paul’s mom, Val, using the workouts for older adults in Apple Fitness Plus. They are at my level. They don’t go too fast and we use a chair for balance. Up until last week, we did our exercises Mondays and Thursdays, but this week we’ve stepped it up and are going to start doing our exercises Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with Mondays and Fridays being for our exercise videos, and Wednesdays will be a Mindful Cooldown stretching video. Both Val and myself agree that since doing these exercises regularly, we’ve improved our balance and stability on our feet, and that they are helping us.

7. I also like to read. Up until earlier this year, I found reading a challenge. It was discouraging not to be able to follow the plot because of memory and retention issues. But, around New Year’s I had a thought - would reading graphic novels be easier? Would seeing the story in addition to reading it help me follow the story better? My thinking was it’s not just an intimidating page of words, but rather a visual story to help me retain what I’m reading more effectively. I have to say my little experiment worked! I am now back to reading daily and enjoy the time I carve out of my day to read. Usually one of the dogs climbs up into my lap, and I read. I’m also really into reading various social media, small business and design books and others on topics helpful to my new ventures under meredithhutton79. What’s also been fun about reading again, is some of the books series I read growing up, are now being turned into graphic novels. I don’t know if I should be embarrassed or not, LOL, but I used to read The Babysitters Club books. I pretty much have the whole collection, minus a few. A few years back they started re-releasing the books as graphic novels, and I got a few to start my collection. It’s been fun reading them and takes me back to simpler times before cell phones, the internet and other technological advances that have impacted childhood. I also have the illustrated Harry Potter series, a modern day adaptation of Anne of Green Gables and Enola Holmes first two graphic novels. I have quite the book collection going, and because my memory is terrible, I can read the books more than once.

8. Playing crib with Paul. After playing crib, we spend time together, chatting and relaxing together but doing our own thing on our laptops, or me journaling or doing something creative. We have different ways of relaxing and like doing different self care activities while hanging out together.

9. Going for a walk at Bellhouse with my bestie. When it’s nice out, we like to go for a leisurely walk, stopping at each bench to sit and chat with the ocean’s beauty looking back at us. If we are lucky the eagles are in their nest and we can capture a pic. We have great conversations and get some exercise at the same time.

10. Finally, a self care activity I enjoy is working in my CBT apps Clearful and Clarity, as well as my healthy habits and routines app Fabulous. The structured nature of these apps help me process emotions and navigate my struggles, as well as guide me in moving forward and making positive changes in myself. As part of my morning routine, I do the daily exercises in each of these apps, which help me in planning my to do list for the day. These apps have really made a positive difference in my mental health, and how I navigate the struggles I face living with chronic pain.

By incorporating these activities into my life, I've made significant progress in managing pain and improving my overall well-being.