The Ultimate Self-Care Guide: 30 Of The Very Best Self-Care Practices To Live By | The WISDOM Podcast S2 E9

The experience of divine wisdom is your sacred right.

Divine wisdom is what guides you along a spiritual path.

It is this inner knowing that helps you to witness yourself as infinitely more abundant,

Loving,

Incredible.

It is your inner wisdom that guides you to live your highest potential and to experience all that you are even as you continue to expand and seek more.

In each episode of the Wisdom Podcast,

You will hear what insights,

Offerings,

And truth have helped others conquer their fears.

Be resilient,

Live empowered and happy.

You may hear your own story in some of the stories of my clients as they have healed themselves,

Become in control of their life,

And as they have reclaimed their authentic power.

Seeking a deeper understanding and meaning of life awakens us to discover our purpose and to witness the infinite beauty and joy that is so abundant.

All of us are on a sacred path.

When we awaken to this,

We easily access the guidance of our inner wisdom,

And we see the beauty of life unfolding in perfect ways to help us manifest all of what we want.

I hope that each episode of this podcast can offer something relevant and timely for you,

And that the sacred path that you are on is one that you choose deliberately based on the inspired wisdom of your inner truth as you live a beautiful and love-filled life.

With the world ever-changing to support a new way of life for us all,

Of bringing to the forefront the need for self-care and practices that support and sustain our health and wellbeing,

Now is the perfect time to invest in taking care of our every need.

With many personal care services that we have come to rely on still closed or limited in their offerings at the time of writing this episode,

We are being made to re-examine how we have been caring for our self and what we can do now rather than wait to bring into our life what important and even sacred self-care practices will nourish us,

And to know in providing this to our self,

We feel more capable,

Self-sufficient,

And in control because we can give this to our self.

As we apply self-care and also self-love practices,

We ensure that we are living at our best.

We boost our confidence and self-esteem and the value we hold in our self.

Here I share with you the ultimate self-care guide,

The habits and routines that will forever be how you care for your individual needs.

You might not yet realize just how important self-care is until you experience for yourself just how much better you feel,

How self-sufficient and resilient you become when you give back to yourself.

And it's how you do this that is so important.

Self-care is how you nourish and sustain yourself.

It is these practical habits that ensure that you have what is needed to care for yourself in the best possible way.

While caregivers are essential in the initial part of life to provide our every need,

To be truly autonomous and independent,

We must be self-responsible for our care and well-being and to provide what is needed for ourself.

Nourish yourself with love.

This is the best way to learn and practice self-care and self-love.

Let's begin with some new ideas about self-care that empower you to take notice.

The idea of self-love substantiates this care.

You are motivated to care for yourself because you matter.

Self-care implies autonomy.

You don't rely on others to fulfill your needs because you understand that this is not sustainable.

If self-care is a high priority,

It will serve you as a fundamental pillar of self-esteem and self-worth.

Your self-care habits will encourage other healthy behaviors and ego strengths.

Ego strengths are the emotional resilience and the positive ways in which you experience yourself in the world.

With healthy self-care habits in place,

You are better able to manage stress and less likely to experience burnout.

When I work with clients,

We naturally discuss healthy ego strengths and how this is important for self-worth.

Ideally,

You need a healthy balance between thinking well of yourself and being self-confident and without inflated pride or conceitedness.

To have self-care is to provide your needs objectively,

Together with healthy self-esteem that allows you to care for and value yourself.

You can also enhance your current level of self-esteem and self-worth by investing time and initiative daily.

And as you implement,

What helpful habits and practices will honor your needs and be self-sustaining.

Think of self-care as the daily attention and love you give to yourself.

When you take care of your needs,

You feel nourished,

Content,

In balance.

Self-care builds resilience in times of challenge.

Self-care is self-love.

As you identify what nourishes and feeds your soul,

And as you provide this for yourself,

You feel loved.

It's important to assess how much self-care you give,

Especially if you have recently or if you have for a prolonged time felt emotionally or physically drained or exhausted.

Self-care is also a learned behavior.

We are shown how to do this early in our lives as it is modeled by our caregivers and taught to us.

You may need to teach yourself self-care if it is something that you have not learned.

As self-care becomes a naturally occurring daily habit,

Your positive feelings about yourself grow immensely,

And you feel autonomous as you are able to care for your needs.

With that said,

Herein is your ultimate list of 30 ways to practice self-care,

Beginning now.

To curate more items and to personalize your self-care habits and routine,

Make a list of activities that you enjoy.

Include these into your daily schedule to bring more self-care and self-love into your life.

I have also included here in the notes a link for your ultimate self-care guide as a PDF.

Each item in the PDF is also labeled to identify what basic self-care need you are addressing,

Whether physical,

Psychological,

Emotional,

Or spiritual.

And I should just note that these are not in order of importance because all are fundamental to your self-care habits and best practices.

The first self-care habit in this list is restful sleep.

The importance of sleep may be overlooked unless,

Of course,

You have experienced difficulty sleeping or falling back asleep if you wake during the night.

In fact,

Sleep is an important healing and self-nourishing practice.

Go without it or have disruptive sleep cycles and you will feel irritable,

Distracted easily,

And it will be difficult to feel productive.

The second self-care practice is movement and exercise.

We know the benefits of exercise,

But do you think of them as self-care?

Exercise stimulates the release of several hormones,

But one in particular which helps us to feel good is serotonin.

Serotonin is a mood stabilizer and it also helps us to feel happy and motivated.

Not only are there several physical benefits,

But you build greater resilience to stress by building in daily exercise sessions.

This is how you continue to support yourself and to feel at your best.

The third self-care practice,

Be kind to yourself.

This is also called kind and loving self-talk.

What you say to yourself often goes unnoticed.

What you say,

You believe.

So to nourish and care for yourself best,

You need to begin a practice of kind and positive self-talk that encourages and accepts and loves who you currently are.

This self-care habit is one that we all must give our attention to since we all hold messages and beliefs that were taught to us that are less than kind.

The fourth self-care practice is to do something each day that you love.

Ideally,

There will be much in your day that allows you to feel happy and fulfilled.

Identify what you love and then decide how you can include some of these activities in each day.

Doing what you enjoy allows you to nurture and care for your needs and it reinforces your confidence and worth.

The fifth self-care practice is to learn.

There is always something new to learn that nourishes us and that adds to our growing confidence in what we know.

Each day,

Make time to learn something new.

Grow your knowledge.

Carve out time for daily learning and you will look forward to this self-care practice that focuses on your ability to know and experience more.

The sixth self-care practice,

One of my favorites,

Is to be love.

Begin each day in a state of love.

This means finding your inner calm and peace so that you can shine brightly of this light in the world.

There are many ways to conjure your inner love vibe.

Some of the easiest and most direct ways to feel your inner being is through meditation,

Prayer,

Gratitude,

Being in the present moment,

And to think thoughts of positivism and love directed towards yourself and of others.

Consider what allows you to be of your loving nature.

Connect with this energy and live out of this heart-centered kindness is how you are love in action.

You may also want to take many breaks throughout your day to reestablish this state of being for yourself.

Doing so will prove to be so helpful to you.

And if you would like some practice on this now,

You can check out the resources that I'm offering here on self-love,

Loving kindness,

And being of love unto yourself.

You can also visit my website,

DorothyRetusne.

Com,

Backslash,

The Wisdom Podcast,

For all of these resources here with this latest episode.

The seventh self-care practice,

Healthful food.

Self-care is investing in your physical well-being.

It means eating healthy,

Whole,

Unprocessed,

And if possible,

Organic food.

Also consider how you may take more time and presence with preparing your food with love,

With holding gratitude for the healthy food and clean water that you have,

And for nourishing your body and mind since you will always think and feel better when what you eat and drink is supporting your health.

The eighth self-care practice is meditation and prayer.

Inner contemplation and self-reflection requires time in silence with yourself.

To be alone and in thoughtful pursuits is important to you now and for your future.

It will uplift and inspire.

It will allow you to feel happiness in this present moment.

Meditation is the quietening of your mind so that you can experience the present moment.

With meditation practice,

You begin to find yourself living out of the present moment far more often,

And with this,

Appreciating the beauty and perfection of life.

Prayer can take many forms,

But most simply,

It is the conversations that you have with your highest self for guidance and nurturing.

For whatever you call your highest self or this infinite intelligence,

Whether God,

Allah,

Yahweh,

Source,

This energy is what you connect with during prayer.

Meditation and prayer support our need for connection with a power that we hold within ourselves,

For free willed choice,

For choosing a path that is remarkable,

For inner reflection,

And our sacred decision towards what positive action will support our life.

The ninth self-love practice is journal writing.

Be willing to write your thoughts and feelings,

To express your inner world onto paper or as notes that you record in your technological device.

Writing is the physical manifestation of your inner world,

And it is the outward means of expressing what you desire and dream of.

As you bring these experiences to light,

You manifest their form.

You provide the space and the transformation of these experiences to live beyond what they are inside your being.

As a self-care practice,

Writing is a way of connecting with your inner world,

With validating how you feel,

And it is a tool for helping you witness your perceptions and beliefs and for problem solving.

Take 5-10 minutes to write some of what you have been thinking on any topic,

What you feel right now,

Or a goal or intention that you would like to formally acknowledge.

Notice how your regular writing practice brings to the surface what is needed,

How it sheds light on who you are.

Journal writing is a wonderful process to discover yourself more.

And number 10 in your ultimate self-care guide,

Find ways to express your creativity.

This is also how you feel joyful and how you find a deeper meaning in life.

Through the flow of creative expression,

You experience the present moment.

You feel a connection with the greater whole of life,

With your physical surroundings,

And with what you may deem to be your spiritual self,

And an inspired oneness with an infinite intelligence.

Through creativity and flow,

We also come to witness our innate gifts,

What we are instinctively good at,

And how we may use these abilities to be of service in the world.

Creative expression may become a way of illuminating your greater purpose for being here.

You rise up to meet the world through creativity and the expression of your soul consciousness,

The result being a collaboration beyond what you may have considered.

Pursuing a creative passion allows you to express yourself in varied ways.

The feeling of this nourishes and fulfills you in ways that are intrinsically meaningful.

Self-care is the enacting of your creative pursuits without constraints of thought in order to allow for the pure flow of inspiration.

The 11th self-care practice is self-forgiveness.

There is the emotional expression of giving yourself permission to heal,

To return to peace,

To be whole.

It is the permission to release past hurts and self-recrimination.

When we forgive ourselves and as we use our experiences as a learning ground for how we wish to be in the present and future,

We can hold comfort in knowing that the experiences of our life and our actions hold presence.

They are towards something pure and of meaning.

If you hold yourself in contempt for the actions of your past,

You are not allowing yourself to heal nor integrate what new information and choices you are now capable of.

We learn through trial and error of not always knowing the right answer,

Of not having the capacity in some moments to live from our heart,

To do our best.

If you want to practice self-forgiveness,

Begin with your gentle urging,

Your willingness to accept all of you as imperfect and perfect,

As a work in progress towards all that you desire to be and of the knowledge that everything serves to teach you much if you allow it.

Start with these words and say them out loud.

I forgive you.

I love you.

Notice how these words resonate at a much deeper level,

Offering you the permission to forgive yourself.

And remember to say these words with compassion.

Allow yourself to take them in,

To feel their weighted presence and relief.

Self-care practice number 12,

Clean,

Tidy,

Organize.

Self-care is present in the few moments of time that you choose to organize,

Tidy,

Or clean your physical environment.

This is how you simultaneously offer appreciation,

Kindness,

Respect,

And love directed to yourself as cleanliness and care.

You may also wish to expand this to broader acts of collecting garbage in the street as you take your evening walk or tidy an area in your workplace.

These actions benefit how you feel about your space and environment.

They also evoke personal pride and a sense of accomplishment.

The 13th self-care practice,

Yoga.

Yoga may be considered exercise,

But it is more about a philosophy,

A mindset,

And a way of approaching life that includes the union of body,

Mind,

And non-physical awareness as energy.

Whether some gentle asanas,

Postures to stretch and strengthen your body in the morning or as a healthful break during your workday or perhaps an online class,

You are nourishing all aspects of yourself through mindfulness,

Attention,

Care,

And love.

The benefits of yoga are remarkable.

Number 14,

Unplug from technology.

We are all so dependent on our devices that we are often distracted from the care and love that we need to give ourselves on a moment-by-moment basis.

Self-care is possible when you focus on yourself without multitasking or other distractions.

Unplug for 10 minutes or ideally an hour and pay attention to the world that you live in as you check in with yourself and give to you what is needed.

For a little more inspiration on this,

You may wish to have a listen to Episode 6,

Season 2 of Why a Digital Detox is So Important.

Number 15,

Listen to your body.

Treat your body as the ultimate source of wonder and love that allows you to experience the physical world.

Give your body what it needs to thrive.

We often push ourselves,

Working around the clock,

Not giving our body or our mind enough rest and all that it needs.

I have on several occasions heard client stories of being admitted to hospital because they have and for a prolonged time pushed themselves beyond what has been healthy because of their thoughts and belief that they should or must work harder,

Longer and more.

Your body is always giving you signals to help you remain in a state of equilibrium.

Check in with your physical needs by being mindful and self-aware.

Ultimate self-care is the nurturing of your physical needs,

Whether that is rest,

A mental break,

Healthful food or supplements,

Water,

A nap,

Exercise,

A task that needs your attention,

All of which come from listening and caring for your body.

Your body as a vessel of health,

As a temple that houses your eternal self,

Are metaphors for reminding you of the care that you need to attend to.

Check in often and ask yourself,

What do I need in this moment?

Provide this for yourself to feel nourished and cared for.

Number 16 in this ultimate self-care guide is future planning and visioning.

Self-care is the ability to set goals and plan for your future based on what is most wanted.

Habitually,

Ask yourself the questions,

What do I want for my future?

And what is most important for me to focus on now?

These two questions help guide and direct your energy and time in ways that will be most helpful and productive,

And which will move you towards your long-term goals.

When you create goals,

Remember to decide on the action steps that will allow you to see your goals through.

Have a plan and a course of action for how you will attain what you want.

Follow through on this plan and update it regularly to ensure that you are always focused on what is most important now and for your future.

Self-care is the future planning to ensure that you have in place what is most desired for your life.

Take time each day for self-reflection as self-care so that you can plan and envision what is most important to you.

I often encourage clients to set a timer for 10 or 15 minutes and allow their mind to take them into the future.

As you do this,

As you envision and plan your future,

This is how you manifest it.

Alright,

In number 17 in our Ultimate Self-care Guide,

Visualize your ideal self.

Together with future planning,

Visualize and imagine your ideal self.

This is how you become the best version of yourself.

It is also how you feel inspired to continue on your path towards your ideal.

Visualizing builds greater confidence in how you think and feel about yourself.

And number 18 in this Ultimate Self-care Guide,

Music and sound.

Whatever sounds are most nourishing for you is what you need to hear each day.

For some,

This is a particular type of music.

For others,

Who also happen to be musicians,

It is important that they practice and hear the music that they co-create.

For many others,

It is nature sounds,

Birds,

The ocean,

The breeze as it rustles leaves in the trees.

Or perhaps the sound of a fountain or waterfall.

We can find reproductions of sounds in nature to play in the background as we are indoors.

The benefits of sound and music are great for your well-being and they nourish and care for yourself.

Number 19 in your Ultimate Self-care Guide,

Go outside.

Be in nature.

Be yourself by planting your bare feet unto the earth.

Grounding or earthing is a term that is used to denote the healing effects of connecting to earth's electrical energy as a way of promoting physical well-being.

The act of earthing refers to a physical connection between the electrical frequency of the human body with that of earth's.

Just like the sun provides us with energy and vitamins,

The earth too is a source of subtle energy that contributes to optimal health.

Whether you plant your feet on the grass or sand or lie in your backyard,

This self-care habit is a soothing and healing practice.

Number 20 in your Self-care Ultimate Guide is to break old habits.

Self-care is about recognizing what habits and behaviors create dissonance and sabotage you from how you want to feel and live.

There are many ways to break an unhealthy habit.

One of the ways that I teach this to clients is to think of it as shedding an old aspect of yourself that is no longer needed.

And if you choose to think of an unhealthy habit in this way,

And as you choose to let go of it,

Decide what new healthy self-care practice or habit you will replace it with.

Think of what will best serve your highest good and what new practices will allow you to feel great so that it will be easier to teach yourself the new habit.

Number 21 of your Ultimate Self-care Guide is one that we've already spoken of briefly.

Self-love.

Self-care is a form of self-love.

When you do for yourself what is needed,

When you make time to care for and nurture yourself,

These are examples of self-love.

Self-love is also the words that you say inward and aloud.

It is messages of kindness spoken unto yourself that serve as reminders for your care and love of yourself.

I'm also going to include a link for a previous episode.

It's actually the debut episode of this podcast on self-love.

It's one that I know will be really helpful to listen to.

And something else that is brand new at the time of releasing this episode,

My wisdom tool kits.

And the very first in this series is the self-love wisdom toolkit.

You're going to want to check it out and I'm going to leave a link for it here in the episode notes and it's something that's going to help you in the rest of your life.

Number 22,

Present moment awareness or mindfulness.

Self-care is the ability to know what you need in any given moment and to be able to then give this to yourself.

It is also how you witness yourself in the present.

When you are distracted or busy in yourself,

You miss out on the precious moments of life always in motion.

Practice stopping for a time what you're doing and sit or stand in stillness.

Take in everything for one full minute.

All of your senses now open to what you are aware of.

Notice how your senses become attuned to both your external world and what you witness within.

This is how you build greater presence in your life.

How you hone the ability to step into the present moment by choice and to nourish yourself with the ability to be aware and awake.

For more on practicing mindfulness and present moment awareness,

Please check out the links I'm going to leave in the episode notes.

Number 23 of your self-care ultimate guide is breathe.

The most simple self-care practice you could give yourself is to take conscious deep breaths and often.

New research suggests that five minutes of deep breathing is as beneficial as meditation.

Because when you breathe with conscious mindful awareness,

You experience the benefits of calming your vagus nerve,

Which is responsible for calming your entire body.

Again I'm going to leave a link for more on this in the episode notes.

And number 24,

Self-compassion.

Kindness in self-talk is self-compassion.

We need self-compassion in order to enjoy a positive and uplifted way of experiencing ourself.

For being patient and for giving ourself permission to feel good and nourished.

We often are so careful to be compassionate towards others,

But we do need to practice this for ourself.

Have a look in the resource list for more on self-compassion as well.

And number 25,

Self-honesty.

When you are completely honest with yourself,

You soar.

Because in self-honesty lies the opportunity for change,

Growth,

Self-awareness and discovery.

Your willingness to be self-honest proclaims to yourself and others that you are someone that can be trusted and relied on to be truthful and to hold integrity.

When you are willing to reveal the truth to yourself about anything,

You no longer hold yourself back in life by wishing for something that is not going to be.

Instead you take charge to move forward on what you do have control over.

Self-honesty is how you honor your inner being.

It is how you align yourself with what is right and best for you.

This is one of the highest examples of practicing self-care.

And number 26 in your ultimate self-care guide,

One that perhaps you didn't think was coming,

Sunlight.

Sunlight received by going outdoors shuts down the production of melatonin,

Which is a hormone that helps you to sleep at night.

This natural means of shutting your melatonin down during the day helps you to be awake and alert.

10 or 15 minutes in the morning as perhaps you're out taking a walk would be ideal.

Sunlight and in particular morning sunlight as it is absorbed in the skin triggers the body's production of vitamin D.

Vitamin D is a crucial ingredient for overall health.

It protects against inflammation,

Lowers high blood pressure,

Helps support your muscles and improves brain function.

Your body is meant to be in the sun and exposure to sunlight during the day is crucial to your well-being.

As well,

Exposure to sunlight has a huge impact on depression,

Seasonal affective disorder and sleep quality.

The recommendation is at least 10 to 15 minutes of sunlight daily.

And number 27 in your ultimate self-care guide,

Evening self-reflection.

This is a beautiful practice that I was reminded of by a dear client.

It is something that I do that has made me super productive in the morning,

But it also perpetuates a feel-good feeling at bedtime knowing that you have been able to care for yourself through the day.

Take 10 to 15 minutes each evening to reflect on the self-care that you did that day and plan for what self-care you will give to yourself the following day.

This is a wonderful practice that encourages you to reflect upon what self-care practices were most helpful and as a gratifying means of honoring your commitment to your self-care.

I promise if you do this,

It will become a practice that you will look forward to,

To reflect upon how your self-care has helped you to feel nourished and cared for.

And it will be a welcome means to plan what you put in place for the upcoming day.

Number 28,

Maintain healthy boundaries with all people in your life.

Boundaries are the expressions that we uphold for ourselves that allow us to feel safe and secure,

To be in control of our choices and to honor our needs.

If we overextend ourselves or if we do for others at the expense of our own needs,

We are not respectful of our care nor personal boundaries.

Having personal boundaries allows you to say no when something does not feel right to do.

It is also what helps you to instill the right kind of care each time that you recognize what is needed.

And number 29 of your ultimate self-care guide,

Yoga Nidra.

Different from the practice of yoga,

The research on Yoga Nidra suggests the overall benefits reveal an improvement in our emotional self-regulation with reduced levels of depression,

Stress,

And anxiety,

And an increase in positive mood,

Quality of life,

And well-being.

During Yoga Nidra,

We allow our awareness through the entire body.

While doing so,

We move through different stages of consciousness,

Just as in sleep.

We shift between the waking state,

Dream state,

And finally to deep,

Dreamless sleep.

This creates deep relaxation for physical health,

Mental peace,

And higher awareness.

I will also leave for you as a resource a link to a Yoga Nidra practice so you can experience it for yourself.

And rounding out number 30 in this ultimate self-care guide is gratitude.

Gratitude is self-care and self-love.

Gratitude is one of the most powerful ways to feel instant joy and inner contentment for what is currently good in your life.

It is a way for you to feel blessed and nourished.

I will also leave a link for you in the episode notes to a special meditation on gratitude.

Gratitude is important to experience as a practice,

And I encourage you to listen to the meditation to see just how impactful and uplifting gratitude as self-care and self-love is for you.

Well,

There you have it,

The 30 best practices for your ultimate self-care guide.

Remember that you can download this entire list as a PDF and please share it with those you love.

So what I recommend is you choose two or three of these items that most resonate for you and begin to instill them into your life right now.

You will be on your way to feeling nourished,

Your needs cared for,

And you will be happier and more resilient in your life with this official self-care practice.

I wish for you to have an ultimate self-care routine always and to feel it support you in the rest of your life.

Thank you so much for joining me in this episode of the Wisdom Podcast.

To hear more,

Please check out the other episodes here.

And then join me at DorothyRatusey.

Com where you can share your questions and feedback from this or any episode with me.

And where you'll also find the Wisdom Blog,

The inspiration for this podcast,

The latest online courses that I teach,

My YouTube videos,

An extensive library of free guided meditations for you to experience and enjoy,

Plus other special offerings of love.

Please also visit me on social media and say hello.

Allow yourself to go within,

To access your inner wisdom and to live this.

Awaken your authentic power,

Live your truth,

And be loved.

This is Dorothy.

Namaste.