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How To Be Intentional And Take Care Of Yourself

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There are two main pillars to take care of yourself:

Taking care of your body
Taking care of your mind.

In this article, I’m going to share with you 10 natural self-care ideas to help you improve your lifestyle and live more intentionally.

1. Breathe deeply

Breathing is fundamental but we often forget to check if we really breathe deeply.

Did you ever take the time to check your breathing? Is it halting? Is it slow?

If it’s deep and slow, you are breathing normally and you are probably aware that you are not an anxious person.

However, if your breath is halting, then you will need to work a little bit on it.

Here is a simple exercise:

Check the way you are breathing several times during the day.
If it’s halting, start to breathe deeply with a long breath in and a long breath out.
Repeat it each time you notice your breathing is halting and you will gradually breathe deeply naturally.

2. Use oils for massages

One thing I really enjoy doing in my evening routine is to massage my feet with a macadamia oil. This is a gift to myself after a workday, and it really makes me happy to do it.

Massaging feet has a large number of benefits such as reducing anxiety or stimulating blood flow. This is also known as plantar reflexology and it is a pillar of Chinese traditional medicine.

In a more general way, taking care of yourself with natural cosmetics help your body. That is why using oils and other natural products in your beauty routine will make you feel good.

Learn more about it in this french article: 3 étapes clés pour créer sa routine au naturel

3. Exercise

Regular exercise reduces our susceptibility to illness. It is also a good way to develop your immune system and to fight against bad bacterias.

Physical activity also slows down the release of stress hormones and help your mind to relax. So if you feel anxious because of an important meeting or because of a lot of work, put your sneakers on and go for a run 😉

4. Take care of your gut microbiota

About 100 trillion bacteria, both good and bad, live inside your digestive system. Collectively, they’re known as the gut microbiota.

Dr. Elizabeth Hohmann of the infectious diseases division at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital says “It’s most important to the health of our gastrointestinal system, but may have even more far-reaching effects on our well-being.”

The problem is that everyone’s gut microbiota is unique so you will have to learn what you can eat or not and how to protect it.

Here are pieces of advice that will help you to take care of your gut microbiota:

Avoid processed food and start to eat real food and to cook (vegetables, fruits, meat, and fish)
Eat some probiotics (kefir, yogurt, sauerkraut)
Reduce sugar and sweets

To learn how to reduce sugar consumption, read this french article: 4 bonnes pratiques pour diminuer sa consommation de sucre

5. Include a digital detox in your routine

Researchers found that our increasing use of digital technology can have negative effects on our mental and physical health, neurological development, and personal relationships.

One day a week, turn your mobile phone off, forget the TV and computers.

Doing this will give a break to your brain which is over-stimulated by the amount of information constantly received via the social media and the internet.

This is something simple to apply and to include in your routine.

You can choose any moment to turn your devices off. It can be at the end of a busy day or during your day-off like Sunday.

In the beginning, you’ll probably be lost without having something to watch or to scroll down but you will quickly see the benefits.

And if you are getting bored and you don’t know what to do instead of watching TV, here are some activities you may like: reading a book, preparing your favorite cake, going for a walk at the park, playing some board games…

6. Start a journal

The idea is to write everything you do for yourself day by day. This is a good way to improve your self-confidence and to bring love and kindness to yourself.

Feel free to write even the things that seem too little for you. You can also add a list of your wishes.

When you are feeling down, you will have your notebook to read and you will lighten your mood.

7. Practice gratitude

Be thankful for the people who bring happiness to your day and mother nature who gives you so much energy and helps your body work properly.

It has been proven that being grateful is important for your health and your social life. It makes you aware of the importance of relationships with others and the good in your life.

You can show gratefulness in many ways. For example getting a gift for someone who was kind to you, or listening someone in needs. You can also be grateful to yourself if you did something good during the day…

8. Have fun and break the routine

When was the last time you cooked something different? If you do not remember that means that it didn’t happen in a long time ago. Then, today, choose a new recipe and try it out 😉

You can select a cookbook and make a game out of it: each member of the family prepares something for dinner (a hot drink, a dessert, a dish, a starter) and share the meal all together talking about which difficulties you had preparing your part what you particularly liked.

You can also do the same thing for your cosmetics. This is really easy to prepare a mask with some honey and yogurt or mixing sugar and honey to exfoliate your body skin.

Be creative, have fun and if it’s not the result you were looking for, this is not a big deal, the most important thing is to discover how to stop time and enjoy the present time.

9. Minimalism

“The secret of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more, but in developing the capacity to enjoy less.” Socrates

Do you agree with Socrates? The happiness is not in buying a new dress or 20 ingredients to make a body butter. The less we own, the more we can be creative and improve our problem-solving skills. This is why I really see benefits in a minimalist way of life.

Do you want to try it out? Let’s start with arranging your stuff and keep only what you really need.

10. Find time to take care of yourself

We live in a modern world where we do not take time for anything. We always are in a hurry, too worried, too tired…

What if the solution was just here in front of our eyes? Just stop, look and relax. Look inside yourself, I always say to be happy we have to look for happiness inside our body and our mind, not in our environment.

Stop and take time for you, check for your needs. If you are tired, then rest, take a nap. You think you do not have time? I will tell you it is urgent to take time for you 😉

I hope these 10 pieces of advice will help you to improve your lifestyle. Again, the important is to include in your routine some simple actions that make you happier and relaxed.

If you want more natural advice, you can follow me on my website, most articles are made in French and with love: www.enmodenaturel.com

Blandine