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This post provides a self care checklist featuring several self care activities that you should absolutely incorporate consistently in your life to achieve greater levels of happiness, self confidence, and overall well-being.
Brief Introduction to Self Care (before we get to the self care checklist!)
Self care is the practice of taking an active role in protecting your own well-being and happiness, particularly during periods of stress.
For women, who often juggle multiple roles and responsibilities, self care becomes not just beneficial but necessary. A thoughtfully planned self care routine can lead to improved mood, reduced anxiety, and increased self-esteem.
By dedicating time to care for yourself, you create a healthy relationship with your body and mind. Self care practice encourages you to pause, reflect, and prioritize your needs and desires.
Self care activities go far beyond ‘acts of indulgence’ and can provide a structured approach to support your mental, emotional, and physical health. Therefore, integrating daily and weekly self care practices into your life through use of a self care checklist can be absolutely empowering, offering a renewed sense of control, satisfaction, and a feeling of ‘’I’ve got this!”.
Daily Self Care Essentials
Implementing a consistent self care routine begins with daily habits that set the tone for your overall well-being. At the heart of self care practice lies personal hygiene and skincare, acting as fundamental pillars.
Self Care Checklist Item #1: Regular Showers
Start by ensuring cleanliness through regular showers – showering daily does not mean you need to wash your hair or take a ‘full shower’ daily, just that you should aim to wash your face and body daily to maintain optimal levels of hygiene. This will also keep you feeling consistently refreshed and clean, contributing to an overall positive mood.
Self Care Checklist Item #2: Dental Hygiene
Focus on maintaining optimal dental health with twice-daily brushing and flossing. You should also consider adding tongue scraping and oil pulling to your regular dental care routine.
Tongue Scraping
A tongue scraper is a small, usually metal, tool that helps remove bacteria, food, and dead cells from your tongue. Not only does this help freshen your breath, but reduces your risk of developing cavities and other gum diseases. Tongue scraping also awakens your internal organs. That’s right; eliminating the toxins on your tongue can help the rest of your body get started for the day.
- Tongue Scraper – Amazon
Oil Pulling
Oil pulling is an ancient remedy that can improve dental health. It involves swishing oil around your mouth for up to 20 minutes. Benefits include fresh breath, whiter teeth, reduction in harmful bacteria in your mouth, as well as improved gum health.
Self Care Checklist Item #3: Daily Skin Care
Skin thrives when nurtured, so a basic skincare regime is crucial. This includes cleansing your face each morning and night to remove impurities, followed by applying moisturizer to hydrate and protect the skin.
If there is one critical thing to remember about skin care and maintaining optimal skin health it’s this – wear sunscreen, no matter what! Don’t forget SPF during the day, even when it’s cloudy, to shield your skin from harmful UV rays. This is one of the most important factors in keeping your skin looking radiant and youthful.
Self Care Checklist Item #4: Meditation
Daily meditation can be a truly transformative component of your self care checklist. By shifting the way you relate to your thoughts and feelings, you can dial down the intensity of emotions that tend to take hold. This allows you to ultimately experience a greater sense of calm, clarity, and focus in your life. Commit to a few minutes each day to sit quietly, breathe deeply, and clear your mind.
If you are new to meditation, there are so many great guided meditation practices out there to get you started. I personally subscribe to and LOVE Aura Health, which is an all in one app for mental wellness. I have seen such amazing benefits in my own personal life and highly recommend. Aura Health offers a wide variety of support tools, to name a few:
- Guided meditations
- Hypnosis
- life coaching
- Peaceful music and sounds
- Sleep sounds
- Overcoming stress and anxiety
- Improving performance
- Personal growth
- Healing & recovery
- Improving & nurturing
Self Care Checklist Item #5: Journaling
It can seriously be life changing once you begin to jot down thoughts and feelings daily. This practice clarifies emotions, reduces stress, and enhances problem-solving abilities.
Morning Journaling
Journal about any dreams you have upon waking up. It is helpful to visualize what a successful day ahead looks like and journal about that. Set your tone and intention for the day through a daily morning journaling practice.
Evening Journaling
Bedtime journaling is such a great way to clear your mind, reduce anxiety and get a better, deeper and more peaceful sleep. Before bed, try journaling about:
- What is on your mind
- How you are feeling
- Things you are grateful for
- Something that made you feel loved that day
Self Care Checklist Item #6: Gratitude & Affirmations
Gratitude
Gratitude is the emotion you show in the form of appreciation and thankfulness when you experience something unfolding as a success, win, or positive moment in life. Simply put, gratitude is the act of showing appreciation for all the good things you already have in your life.
Benefits of practicing gratitude:
- Improved Mental Health
- Increased Happiness
- Enhanced Relationships
- Better Sleep
- Physical Health Benefits
- Stress Reduction
- Increased Resilience
- Enhanced Self-Esteem
- Positive Outlook
Start your day by thinking about one thing you are grateful for. It could be a positive aspect of your life, a person, or an opportunity.
Take a few minutes each day to write down three things you are grateful for. Reflect on specific details and express why you appreciate and are thankful for them. This action shifts focus to positive aspects of life, boosting overall happiness.
Affirmations
Affirmations are another wonderful daily practice and hold the incredible power to transform our lives by reshaping our mindset. These simple yet potent statements have the potential to boost self-confidence, reduce stress, and enhance overall well-being
Tips for Writing Affirmations
- Write them in present tense
- Write them knowing that it is already done, then detach and trust in the divine process of life
- Write them in the positive, focus on what you want not what you don’t want
- Can be anywhere from 2 lines to 2 pages in length
- Make it clear to the universe what you are ready to fully open up to in your life
- Be clear on what you will accept and know that you deserve it
- Know that what manifests will be for your highest good and the highest good of all
- Keep your affirmations private
You can also incorporate gratitude and affirmations together by saying positive affirmations that focus on gratitude daily. Repeat them to yourself throughout the day, reinforcing a thankful mindset.
Weekly Self Care Essentials
Devoting a day each week to your wellbeing not only boosts your mood but also maintains your personal hygiene and skin health. You can choose any day of the week that works best for you, but I personally love doing ‘Sunday Self Care’ to really start my upcoming week off on the right foot, feeling clean, polished, and put together.
Weekly Self Care Checklist Item #1: Skin Care
Exfoliation
Start with a thorough skin exfoliation routine to shed dead skin cells and refresh your skin’s appearance. You can use gentle scrubs or opt for chemical exfoliants for a deeper clean.
- Paula’s Choice Skin Perfecting 2% BHA Liquid Salicylic Acid Exfoliant – This liquid exfoliant is the holy grail for clear & beautiful skin. Use 2-3x per week.
Facial Mask
After exfoliating dead skin cells away, try a moisturizing mask to rejuvenate your skin and repair the skin barrier from anything harmful it has come into contact with throughout the week. Some of my absolute favorite face masks include:
Weekly Self Care Checklist Item #2: Hair Care
Clarifying Shampoo
Each week you should be washing your hair with a clarifying shampoo & scalp massager. Ouai is an excellent, high quality clarifying shampoo that removes all of the buildup in your hair from the week, such as dry shampoo.
Use a scalp massager to rub your scalp in circular motions – this not only loosens all the buildup in your hair, but stimulates blood flow in the scalp, improving hair growth.
Hair Treatment
Treat your hair to a nourishing mask. Whether it’s for hydration, repair, or adding volume, find a mask that suits your hair’s needs and enjoy the transformation. Amika Soulfood and Arvazilla are two of my all times favorite hair masks.
- Best Affordable Option – Arvazallia Hydrating Argan Oil Hair Mask and Deep Conditioner
In addition to a nourishing hair mask, rosemary oil is an excellent product to add to the roots of your hair a few hours before you shower. To really pack a punch, add a conditioning hair mask to the ends of your hair after applying rosemary oil to the roots, wrap your hair in saran wrap, and let sit for 2-3 hours before showering. The result will be the softest and most luxurious locks you could imagine – highly recommend making this a weekly self care practice to ensure you are consistently giving your hair the TLC it deserves.
Olaplex No. 6 Bond Smoother is another highly recommended hair product to add to your weekly hair routine. Olaplex No. 6 is a leave-in treatment that can be used to eliminate frizz, hydrate, and protect hair. It can also be used to speed up blow dry times.
Weekly Self Care Checklist Item #3: House Reset
Creating a serene space for mental clarity is an important part of self care, and that starts with your home environment.
Dedicate time to declutter your living area and other commonly used areas, focusing on creating a harmonious environment that reflects tranquility and order.
After decluttering, give your bedroom a freshening up by washing your bed linens. Washing bed linens weekly will allow you to start each week on a clean and refreshed bed, allowing for enhanced comfort, better rest, and a feeling of being put together!
Weekly Self Care Checklist Item #4: Relaxing Bath
As part of your ‘Self Care Sunday’, try ending the week with a long, relaxing bath. You can add essential oils or bath bombs for an aromatherapy experience that not only soothes the skin but also calms the mind, preparing you for the week ahead.
Weekly Self Care Checklist Item #5: Social Connections
Social connections are another critical item on the self care checklist. You should make it a priority to regularly interact with friends and family, both virtually and in person. Meaningful relationships provide support, lessen feelings of isolation, and dramatically improve mental health.
Life is always busy and hectic, but it is really important to prioritize calling a friend a couple times a week, or making a consistent effort to go out with a friend or family member for dinner, coffee, or a recreational activity at least once weekly.
Weekly Self Care Checklist Item #6: Leisure activities
Make time for hobbies and interests that bring you joy. Engaging in activities you love decreases stress and nurtures your emotional wellbeing.
This can seem like almost impossible feat, especially when balancing life’s demands, family, friends, career, and children – but taking time to be present and do things that you enjoy is undoubtedly a major factor in your overall self care routine and holistic well-being.
