By Jessica Wheatley

Self – care is the most important action anyone can take. In a society where people are expected to work long hours and the pressure to be constantly productive, we lose touch with the simple side of life and what is really important to us. This is why self-care is important as it improves your mental health and physical health and is a way to take a break from the fierce world, a simple activity that indulges you for a moment in a peaceful space and takes the pressure of your shoulders. Self-care activities can help reduces stress, increase resilience and boosts your mind in a positive manor. The meaning of self-care is taking time to immerse yourself into a tranquil space where your mind and body can relax completely and allow your mind to burst with joy. Below are 5 tips on how to unwind and indulge in self-care.

1. Immerse yourself with nature

Daily walking has been proven to increase people’s mental health. Thirty minutes a day is all you need to soak up some fresh air and take in the sights and paths that you pass every day but are always to busy to appreciate the simple side of life.

2. Light up a cosy candle

Lighting a cosy candle can help reduce stress in many different ways. The low light from the candle quickly captures a calming sensation that is sent to the brain to allow instant relaxation and a sense of meditation that symbolises comfort, purity and can help increase sleep. The brand Neom Wellbeing is here to help when it comes to wellbeing. It’s brand purpose is to create calming products through small steps to make a BIG change, there mission is to supercharge the wellbeing of our community and planet, creating a happier space. Neom sells products such as a range of candles in range scent to sleep, scent to de-stress, scent to make you happy to multiple diffuser scents from the cosy night in range, de-stress, the perfect peace and their happiness range. They also create products for your bath & body to immerse yourself fully into a relaxing space and essential oils to burn around your home and surround your space with calming scents. @Neomwellbeing

3. Yoga

Yoga is a practice that involves deep stretching, breathing exercises and meditation to help improve mental health and wellbeing. Yoga originated over 5,000 years ago in Northern India. There are over 12 different styles of Yoga that you can practice. However, Yin Yoga is the one to be practiced when you are feeling stressed out. Rebecca Gillham from the Women’s Health magazine suggest that Yin Yoga is the one to practice when you need to rewind and feel your body relax https://www.womenshealthmag.com/uk/fitness/yoga/a700152/yin-yoga/. Yin Yoga is a slow-paced style of Yoga where postures are held between 3-5 minutes. To help you sink into the different poses there is different props to use to help support the body and allow you to relax and sink into the yoga positions and let gravity to its work. These props consist of soft cushions and blocks. Yin Yoga helps improve mindfulness, reduces anxiety and stress, improves flexibility and elongates your muscles to stretch. Yin Yoga is also a style of Yoga that fits everyone. ‘if you’re hypermobile in certain areas of your body and already have plenty of space around your joints, Yin must be practised with caution,’ says Louise de Menthon, yoga teacher and founder of Loup Yoga. Overall, Yoga is one of the most effective ways to reduce stress and anxiety. @Womenshealthuk

4. Curl up with a comfort film!

It is commonly known that almost everyone has their favourite Tv show, film or book. Curling up with your comfort show after a long day out the house Is a way to feel warm and safe allowing your mind and body to relax and focus on something you love. Watching the same film/show over and over again increases your perceptual fluency, this is when the brain processes a feeling or physical activity quicker and easier than it would with something new, the part of the brain lights up when you feel nostalgia and finding comfort in something. People with Anxiety tend to feel the need to rewatch a show because when the brain is constantly overwhelmed, we need to emotionally regulate our feeling and create a sense of calmness and suffocate the feeling of being lonely and not belonging. Watching the same show also means you are not loading anything else onto the brain, watching the same show can also re-energize and restore self-control. Therefore, rewatching a comfort show after a hard day will slow your brain down and restore happiness and comfort that has been lost.

5. Avoid technology

Gen- z may feel the need to ‘rot in bed’ after a stressful day. ‘Rotting in bed’ is a term that has been generated by Gen-z, it means spending a significant amount of time in bed scrolling on their phone, eating and taking long naps. However, there are negative effects to taking part in this trend such as depression and anxiety, bed sores, blood clots and a sense of being overwhelmed from scrolling on your phone and frustrating your mind and body. This is why it is important to engage in activities that stimulate the mind whilst relaxing. Some activities include, reading a book to fully engage the mind and transform yourself into another world, meditating, knitting and jigsaw. These activities stimulate the mind to become relaxed yet enjoyable and avoid blue light and screen time which can cause the brain to become stressed.