Did you know that the first moments before going to bed and the first moments upon waking up are some of the most important parts of your day? They set the tone for the level of rest you will receive and will continue to set the tone for the entire day. Think about it this way, if you go to bed after consuming ice cream and hours of TV, your body is going to have a hard time relaxing and entering a space of receiving rest. If working with your body and allow it time before laying down to unwind, your body will be more likely to enter that resting/relaxation phase a lot quicker for deeper rest.
On the opposite end upon waking up in the morning, how motivated and alive do you think you will feel if you wake up and instantly start having negative thoughts of not wanting to get up? If you instantly start jumping into the thoughts of what you need to do enter a state of anxiety before even allowing your body to wake up. I know I do this myself, and I am quite certain there are many people out there who do the same.
These realizations have helped me come up with a self-care morning and night checklist, that I hope will bring the same peace to someone as it did to me. Below you will find a list of suggestions to use in the morning to welcome in motivation and at night to unwind to get better sleep. You can pick as many or as few as you would like. There's no pressure to have to complete the same self-care activity every night as well as no pressure to complete them all. This is for you, so have fun and enjoy these little treats for yourself. FYI it may feel very strange or uncomfortable at first, but just like anything once you become familiar it will become second nature.
Self-care morning activities:
Drink water first thing in the morning
Wash your face
Get dressed
Make your bed
Take deep breaths
Eat a nutritional breakfast
Get outside/ground yourself
Say positive affirmations
Journal
Acknowledge gratitudes
Wait one hour before using technology
Self-care night activities:
Drink warm tea/herbal tonic
Take a bath
Change into comfortable clothing
Brain dump journaling
Moisturize skin
Mediation/yoga
Aromatherapy
Sound machines
Refrain from technology use one hour before bed
Below you will find graphics for checklists, highly recommended to save for tonight's use!
"The proof is in the pudding, go ahead and have a taste"
They say things don’t happen overnight, however sometimes they do, and sometimes they happen even quicker. One morning, I started by pushing away all the thoughts of the to-dos as I fixed the blankets and took a few deep breaths while enjoying the sounds of the birds. As I moved through my morning, I became intentional, allowing myself to go with the flow and focusing on addressing one thing at a time. Upon each completion of an action, I would take note and revisit what needed to be completed assessing for prioritization. I made an effort to continue this as long as possible as the day goes on. Usually dreading the day-to-day tasks, but today is different, the usual tasks do not seem so bad with a little help from feelings of contentment and ease.
The same night I decided to continue with the momentum and visit the self-care night checklist. I start with brewing an herbal tea blend of oat straw, chamomile, calendula, and tulsi. As I sip my tea, I moisturize my skin intentionally and proceed to change into comfortable clothing. I also chose to refrain from technology use and spend the remainder of the night hanging with my girl Maryjane and getting creative by painting.
The following morning, I woke up feeling a bit more refreshed than usual, even though I did not receive a full night of uninterrupted sleep. Keeping up with my word I begin with the same processes as the day before. This time the negative thoughts creep up with questioning myself and how deserving I am of this life. Instead of jumping into the hole, recognizing that I don't want to dig myself out today and before I get too deep, I will flip the script and provide myself with positive affirmations.
"I am worthy of enjoyment and feeling at peace, and so are you!"
I have been going through a lot of changes on many different levels, a portion of that is due to learning more about myself and releasing the parts that are no longer serving me. This task is not easy, and at times it is very consuming. Completely draining me of energy, leaving me feeling incapable of anything else which results in my mood ranging from anger to depression. Brewing in this state of being has made me an extremely negative person. Recognizing this way of living is no longer working for me and decided to do something to encourage change. The results weren't extreme on the first day, but subtle changes were noticed. On the second day, the changes became a little more prominent with feelings of optimism and motivation. I have a knowing that if I continue, profound changes will begin to take place. I hope that sharing my experiences will motivate someone like yourself to do the same.
Until the next session my friends,
xoxo,
Brandy
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