Valentine’s Day is three weeks away. Traditionally a day to show a significant other how much you love them, modern conceptions of love come in many forms. The introduction of Galentine’s Day encourages showing love to your girlfriends, schools often encourage little ones to make Valentine’s cards for their parents, so what about a bit of self love? With increasingly busy and stressful lives it tends to be ourselves that fall to the bottom of the list when it comes to priorities. Taking care of oneself is regarded by those in the know as essential to be able to care for others, to be productive and to do well at well, everything! Therefore whether you have a significant other to share Valentine’s Day with or not, why not take some time to also treat yourself? This doesn’t have to cost anything, our most valuable resource is time so why not simply give yourself some time. Here are my top tips for showing yourself some love this Valentine’s Day:
- Enjoy a pamper – run a bath and enjoy a long soak or book a manicure or massage and enjoy it.
- Outdoors – being outdoors in nature releases those feel good endorphins so go for a walk, do some gardening, breathe in the fresh air, feel it revitalise you.
- Friends – spend quality time with friends either in person or on the phone. Our reliance on text is killing social contact, so book in an hour or two to actually chat to a friend, to laugh and enjoy each others company – you’ll be surprised at how great you will feel afterwards.
- Calm – create a calm atmosphere at home, snuggle into the sofa and get engrossed in a book. Busy lives means things like reading fall by the way (it certainly has for me) so take some time to switch off and get immersed in a book.
- Box set – just like immersing ourselves in a book, chilling on the sofa watching the TV also gives us some much needed downtime, time to switch off from us and get engrossed in something else like a TV series or film.
The importance of self care and self love cannot be underestimated, it is often not until we have a health crisis that we recognise it’s importance. Therefore I encourage you to take some time for yourself over the next few weeks, use Valentine’s Day as the perfect reminder and excuse to yourself to give yourself some of your own precious time.
Sending you all supportive self love vibes always, not just on Valentine’s Day.
Carly x
PS. Maybe print this graphic and stick it on the fridge to remind you how to look after you!
xx
