Four Ideas For A Self-Care Date Night
Are you feeling run down, exhausted and just not yourself? After a week of being in bed with Covid, I definitely needed a self-care date night. A date night with myself is one of my favourite things!!! This is when you take time for yourself to relax and recharge. Here are a few tips on how to make the most of your self-care date night.
Whether you're separated, divorced or not (let's face it working full time and/or being a mum is enough!), carving out time for yourself is crucial to maintaining your well-being. Time spent taking care of yourself can help prevent stress and anxiety, both of which can have negative impacts on your overall health. So if you're feeling overwhelmed, it's time to pencil in some time for you!
A self-care date night is a perfect way to do that.
There are no rules when it comes to planning your self-care date night, and here's a few things I like to consider.
Set An Intention
How do you want to feel at the end of your self-care date night? Always start with the end in mind...because when you do this, you are more likely to create the result you want. Ultimately the only reason we do anything is because of how we are going to feel when we have done it. This time with yourself is an opportunity to create the feelings and emotions of happiness, contentment or gratitude!
So I invite you to think about what emotion you want to feel when you have finished your date night with yourself. Happy, relaxed, soothed, loved, adored, sensual, relieved, rested, light-hearted, playful, and the list goes on.
Take A Bath
Release and unwind with a bath. Set the tone of your bath by choosing oils, bath salts or bubbles that will help you to either relax, invigorate or inspire. Add some rose petals, music or a good book.
One of my all-time favourites is to add Epsom salts, give my body a good dry skin brush beforehand, (making sure you brush upwards towards the heart) and then soak in the salts for 20 minutes allowing all the toxins to be pulled out of my body. Afterwards, pat your skin dry, slather on your favourite moisturiser saying "I love you, appreciate you and thank you" as you do so and have an early night. I promise you will sleep like a baby.
Let Your Creative Juices Flow
If I've been feeling blocked, overwhelmed or simply spending too much time in my head then I like to shift my energy by taking the time to let my creative juices flow. My absolute favourite way of doing this is to get my paints out.
I pop my favourite tunes on and let it all flow out of me.
I have a lot of paints in my house, watercolours, acrylics, oils, pastels, you name it, I've got it... you could also do some clay modelling, jewellery making, drawing, scrapbooking, needlework, songwriting, anything that you love to do that allows you to express yourself.
Write A Love Letter To Your Younger Self
Light a candle, grab your journal and drop into your heart. Our younger self yearns for affection, love, to be seen and heard. So often it's the part of us that feels rejected, not enough, unworthy of love and that is desperately needing acknowledgement. There is nothing wrong with that. You don't need to fix it and you can begin to soothe that younger self by paying it more attention.
Write a love letter to your younger self, letting her know that you appreciate her, love her and admire her. Let her know you are there for her, listening to her needs and willing to support her.
Here are some journaling prompts:
What do you appreciate about yourself?
What do you like and love about yourself?
What did you do this week that you are proud of?
What challenges are you facing that you would like to offer support with?
What do you need?
What are you most grateful for about yourself?
Dance It Out - Grey's Anatomy Style
If you know you know! I have been a Grey's Anatomy fan for years! and one of my all time favourites is that when life is just too much, or there feels like there is nothing else to do, then Meredith, Christina and the crew would dance it out. Now they added tequila to the mix, and whilst I don't want to be a party-pooper I'm not suggesting it for our self-care session (okay maybe one shot!)!!
What I do love though, is a good boogie and I have found dancing to my favourite tunes around my kitchen, bedroom and lounge have been a wonderful way to release stress, elevate my mood and let go of the stuff that doesn't matter.
So get some tunes on, give your body a good shake and energise yourself.
As always, if you want to book a consultation with me to discuss relationships, love, divorce or creating what you love then you can connect with me here.