Difference between Self-Comfort and Self-Care Ideas
I’ve found it important to distinguish between self-comfort and self-care. You can eat favorite snacks or stay at home with a pizza instead of going out to the gym, you can also clean around your house or cook yourself a nourishing and healthy meal.
Self-care is the practice that truly provides rejuvenation, energy restoration and emotional reserves. Self-comfort, on the other hand, is different in that it can make you feel good and lower your stress level in the short term, but will not make you feel less depressed or raise my self-esteem after you’ve done it.
Self-comfort sometimes doesn’t really care for your body and your health. It’s easy to get dopamine from having junk food, weeds, drinks, but you will continue to feel depleted, and often feel just as bad or even worse soon after, if you are not caring for yourself.
Self-Care Ideas in Quadrant
There are many forms of free and fun self-care ideas and practices. It spans from physical to mental, mind to spirit. Many of those ideas are beneficial mentally, physically and emotionally at the same time.
We group those easy self-care ideas in a quadrant from different dimensions and perspectives, so you will know clearly what self-care ideas you need in life and what those ideas or practices might be helpful to.
Self-Care Ideas for Physical Beauty
When we experience tiring day or was in bad place mentally, we often pay less attention to our physical appearance, which result in really miserable decline in self-confidence.
Our confidence will be boosted immensely if we give ourself the care we deserve and maintain the self-care routine on daily basis. It need not to be complicated, you can implement those self-care ideas at home easily. Here are a few self-care routine ideas on my list:
- Taking care of your hair and trying different hairstyles. Always want to try a new hairstyle when we get bored of the old hair style, a new hairstyle would make you feel fresh and confident.
- Painting your nails soft colors. It’s fun, relaxing, and your nails will also look great!
- Experimenting with new outfits and style that you wouldn’t usually try
- Wash your face, and it’s soothing when putting moisturiser on. It not only comforts your tiring face, but also makes you feel clean and refreshed.
- Putting on some makeup. I found lipglosses and working on eyebrows boost confidence a lot, if you don’t have the strength to do a full face. Decent eyebrows make a huge difference.
- Wearing minimalist jewellery that compliment your skin tone and clothes style.
- Body and oral hygiene. Those are probably the most important self-care ideas for physical and mental health.
Self-Care Ideas for Physical Health
While we are caring for our outlooks, improving physical health is more intrinsic and requires long term self cares activities. Those self-care ideas / practices are really restorative in physical energy and hence refreshing our mind and spirit. Here are my self-care ideas list for physical health:
- Long hot shower with some nice smelling products, and then wrap yourself in a fluffy towel and fresh pyjama. You will feel warm and clean with rejuvenation. Long hot shower is the “wash the day away” routine, and is usually a positive start for your next day.
- Movement and adequate sleep. Get yourself early to bed despite wanting to stay up.
- A hot and steamy cup of herbal tea. What I like to do on busy days is allow myself a 15 minute herbal tea break. What I do is I brew some of my favourite chai tea and I just sit with it on the couch. Enjoying the aromas and the flavours and just drinking it very leisurely. Without being distracted or doing something else or being on my phone.
- Heated pad or a nice massage for painful back and neck or foot. We all enjoy a nice massage every now and then. And just like with hugging, we don’t have to rely on others to do it for us. It can also be really enjoyable to give yourself a good foot massage or just rub down your neck and shoulders. I do this self-care routine regularly. And it’s great for relaxing the muscles in your upper body that tend to get very stiff when you’re stressed. And also it’s just a great act of self love because you are taking the time to care for yourself in a very attentive way. It also improves blood circulation and eases tension. So why not take five minutes and do that for yourself?
- Prepping new healthy and fun recipes or recreating my favourite meals (like Sweetgreen bowls, Cava bowls, indian curry, whatever you find tasty)! It’s like my therapy. Cooking for yourself a yummy, delicious and healthy meal. It shows you are willing to invest in your health and eating yummy food will make you feel happy.
- Drink water. Drinking 8 cups of water every day will boost metabolism and being hydrated is also good for your skin.
Self-Care Ideas for Mental Health
Maintaining mental health are important in reacting to bad day and bad places. We all should say ‘no’ to other people if we don’t feel like to do something. Stop looking for validation from external factors or stop trying to appease people are self-caring for living to the truth of ourselves. Here are my simple self care ideas list for boosting mental health, and they are really effective in leveling up your emotional frequency on the Emotional Guidance Scale:
- Practice a hobby or a new skill. Just make sure the hobby are what you actually enjoy. It can also be a hobby or skill you have been wanting to try or learn but haven’t had time to.
- Reading books or listening to music are very stress relieving. We all know many health benefits of reading books, listening to music or podcasts, and it is a healthy habits. So be sure to check it out if you’re interested. Books and music improves cognitive functions, memory, empathy, and it’s also just a very relaxing activity to do. Make sure to actually set some time aside for it.
- Diffusing essential oils in the bedroom and living room, or buying fresh flowers or herb plants for decoration in your kitchen, will lighten up your mood right away.
- Organising and sorting your stuff, it’s time to get rid of things you don’t use.
- Crafting (sewing, painting, coloring). Creativity can help focus the mind and relieve stress. If you’re feeling stressed or when we’re just mentally not feeling our best…, then doing something creative can be a really good outlet. Try to connect with your inner kid for a while and create something for yourself.
Self-Care Ideas for Spirit and Soul
“If you have the ability to love, love yourself first.” It is necessary to take care of yourself spiritually, and to make your happiness a priority. Here are my list of self care ideas that cares for your soul and spirit:
- Morning yoga. Doing yoga every morning helps increase flexibility, muscle strength and tone, improved respiration, energy and vitality. It helps mind focus and self reflection.
- Self-care Journaling. write about your thoughts, feelings, emotions, and reflections in a healthy way that will make yourself feel better. Journaling is a good practice for gratitude, wellness, stress management, and emotional recovery.
- Meditation for daily gratitude and affirmation. Meditation is one of the best sources of happiness. You can just take some time to think about all the things you are grateful for and you are happy with in your life, or practice the powerful mantra to get what you want. For me, it always helps me to put things into perspective again and see the bigger picture.
- Go outside and be in nature. Often when I feel stressed or disconnected, I realize that I haven’t been out in nature in a while. Our brains are hard-wired to enjoy being around greenery and water. So go outside, get some fresh air, go to a park or forest or the beach. Try to find something where there’s greenery or water.
- Turning off your phone and reducing screen time. Because our screens tend to distract our mind from what’s really going on. It’s nice to take some time to yourself and reflect on what is truly needed.
