The Case for Self-Care

Self-love is something you’ll see me talk a lot about. This isn’t because I am the all-knowing master at it, but to be honest, I’m quite literally the worst at it. I know how easy it can be to ignore ourselves when something big is happening in our lives and how hard it can be to do even little tasks to take care of ourselves. This is why I make sure to do little things along the way to keep up with my mental and physical health. Self-care doesn’t HAVE to be a giant extravagant thing, although every once in a while it totally should be!

Self-care looks different for everyone at different stages of their life. When I was 15 years old it meant being in the pottery studio for 8 hours in-between classes and getting my hands dirty and letting my soul get creative. When Lucy was a newborn it meant washing AND blow drying my hair. Now in this stage in my life, it means having my warm cup of coffee in the morning after dropping Lucy off at school. Your needs are going to be different than mine, and might change frequently, BUT they are all there. We all have these needs in different capacities so it is important to take a few steps and make sure we are taking care of ourselves the best we can!

The next hard part is ACTUALLY ACTING on these things. How many times have you skipped out on doing something because of an excuse and then later think “Well, I feel like crap now because I didn’t do the thing, I really should’ve done it, next time I’ll do thing I promise…”? I do this ALL. THE. TIME. I wanted to make sure the tips I’m giving you all are super attainable and easy to reach goals!

So without further ado, here is a little list of things that I do to take care of my mind and body. I hope this helps you take some better steps self-care!

1. Taking a shower/personal grooming

Let’s start small here. Sometimes just the smallest tasks can make us feel amazing! Starting off my day with a shower, smelling fresh and clean really helps kick start a good mood for me. When we are depressed or are just having an emotionally low day, it can feel IMPOSSIBLE to get up and shower or bathe. I know because I’ve been there. One way that I’ve found helps me is by turning off the lights, lighting a candle, and putting on three songs for a bath. This gives me a set amount of time that I am in the bath (so I don’t and up sitting there staring at a wall) and the candle light calms my brain and allows me to slow my thoughts down while I wash my hair and sometimes *GASP* even shave my pits!

2. Making time for a hobby

Making time for your hobby, no matter what it is, is important. This is something that helps you take your mind off of every day stresses, and fills up your soul. For me, a lot of my hobbies are any type of crafting. For my husband, it’s usually something where he can get his hands dirty. Make time for your hobbies and if you don’t have one, start one! Don’t know where to start? Try here!

3. Get outside

There is nothing like filling your lungs with fresh air. Going outside, especially in the sunshine is one thing that can make me calm and happy in a second. Do you love to exercise? Do it outside! Do you like to read? Do it outside! Do you have to work on homework? DO IT OUTSIDE!

4. Change of scenery

Sometimes I just need to get away from my everyday scenery and see the beauty that is in the rest of world. Sometimes I go to Starbucks to work EVEN though I have a dedicated office, because it feels good to have something different to see and hear. Sometimes we even book an Airbnb for a weekend getaway and turn off all our electronics. These little moments away help me reconnect my mind and body so that I can get back to my life feeling refreshed.

Another great way to have a change of scenery, is to literally CHANGE your scenery! I absolutely LOVE moving my furniture around and reorganizing my space. And it’s not ALWAYS because it could be organized better, but more so because it’s just nice for something little to change! I reorganized my bathroom last week and got new top of the sink organizers, and it made me feel like a had a bathroom remodel! Remember, sometimes all you need it baby steps!

5. Schedule a boudoir experience

Now you PROBABLY could guess that I was going to bring this up. A boudoir experience is one of the best ways to give yourself some extra love. This experience allows you to kick start positivity towards your mind and body!

I say all the time how being body positive doesn’t happen in one second. It is a choice that you make every day, multiple times a day. Once you start making the choice to speak and think kindly to your body, the choice gets easier every day. There will be bad days (even I have them!) BUT having a boudoir experience with photos to look back on helps you make that choice every day. Looking at a beautiful photo of yourself can help you switch your thoughts about your body from “I’ll never be pretty enough.” to “I am totally happy in this photo AND my bod looks amazing!”, and after a while the nice things you say to yourself will be the norm.

A boudoir experience can also be really outside your comfort zone, and therefore kind of nerve wracking. But like most things in life, when you are doing something powerful to better yourself, it can be pretty scary! But that is why I am here! To help ease your fears along the way and guide you on this new self-love journey! I’m always around to answer any questions you might have about your shoot, and I’m always here to help you move passed your fears.

If you are curious about having a boudoir shoot done and want to ask some women who have had them, head over to our private Facebook group and ask away! This community is the best and are always ready to build each other up!