How nice would you say you are? You smile at strangers, you always have something kind and good to say to your friends, and you call your Mum at least once a week to tell her you love her – all of these things are nice to do, of course! But they’re all for other people; how nice are you to yourself? There’s a good chance you could do with showering yourself with a little more kindness.
Your mental health matters as much as your physical health, and now would be a perfect time to focus on it. The sun is out, the sky is clear, and your mind and body deserve to feel as good as they both look! So with that in mind, here’s just a few of the nicest things you can do for yourself. Go on, you deserve it.
A little bit of self care goes a long way to making you feel as free as a bird! (Image)
Send Some Flowers
When was the last time you received flowers from someone? Have you ever? If you haven’t, it’s time to treat yourself. It doesn’t matter if they’re from you and coming through your own front door – a flower delivery is one of the nicest things a person can receive, so why not send some to yourself? You can order a delivery for a week from now, and in the meantime you’re likely to forget it’s coming, so the flowers will be a real lovely surprise when they actually turn up!
Go For a Walk (or a picnic!)
Walking is one of life’s simplest pleasures. Sure, you might find it annoying and tiring from time to time, especially when you’re on your way to and from work! But when you’ve got a stretch of open road or forest out in front of you, you can take a real deep breath and enjoy your life and living it. After all, nature has a lot to offer us, and there’s a good chance you’ve not been able to revel in it for a long while now.
Walking is very beneficial exercise for both the brain and the body, so it’s something you definitely want to invest some time into. Uphill walking, a.k.a., the vigorous kind that gets your heart pumping hard and fast, is even effective at reducing the appearance of cellulite under your skin.
Tell Yourself Some Things
You should have a bit of a mantra in your life, to make sure you’re always affirming yourself and making yourself feel good whenever the low moods strike you. After all, you need to be both your own best friend and your biggest fan!
So make sure you’ve got some nice things to say to yourself on a semi regular basis, if you’re not someone who goes in for much of that positive thinking every single day of your life thing. Of course, the more you tell yourself something, the more you’re going to believe and internalise that information – use this kind of power to your advantage.
Tell yourself you look nice, or tell yourself that you’re capable of whatever you put your mind to, or just stop and tell yourself to take a deep breath every now and then. That’s a great mindfulness technique if you don’t have much time left in your schedule to try a bit of meditation.
Have a Good Stretch
Stretching is a great way to release tension and stress in the body, and to help wake yourself up if you’re feeling a bit lethargic and droopy throughout the day. When we sit or lie down for a long time, we can get into a bit of a stiff state, and being able to stretch that out and groan as loud as we like is good way to get yourself together again!
Try it right now. Sit up a bit and start contorting your body the way you would when you’ve just woken up. You might pop something back in! Aside from that, taking five minutes every now and then to properly stretch certain muscle groups out is going to be incredible for the arms and legs you’ve got on hand. They’ll be a lot more supple, a lot stronger, and you’re going to feel much happier after you’ve gone through a circuit.
Being nice to yourself is incredibly important, and you should make an effort to be more often in life. It doesn’t have to take long, as we’ve proven with the above!
Cover Image by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash
