Step Up Your Game

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Step Up Your Game

Rebecca Jackson • February 17, 2021

With the basics covered, now is the time to

Step up your Self-Care game a bit

Now there's no need to feel pressured to move through our 7 steps to your Personalized Self-Care Routine as quickly as you can read them. This IS NOT a race to completion. Our 7 steps are designed to be a personalized journey. In order for these steps to work you must get to a place where you are feeling filled up and balanced in each step before moving forward to the next step. Once you feel like you have a solid handle on each step and, have personalized it effectively to you and your needs, then and only then, should you begin adding to your personalized self-care routine with the next step. Step #2 in our 7 step journey to creating your Personalized Self-Care Routine is to Step Up Your Game. After you have finished Step #1 Back to the Basics and you have evaluated where you stand in regards to the most basic self-care practices, Personal Care, Basic Hygiene, Nutrition & Rest, it is time to step up your game.

If you are anything like I was when I evaluated my basics self-care practices, you likely noticed one or more area where you may have been lacking a little in effective practices. Hopefully you have worked towards improving those areas that you were coming up a little short for yourself, instead of shaming yourself over the realization. Life gets busy and even with the best intentions, we will slip up sometimes, and it's important that we look at these as areas for improvement instead of looking at them as areas you are failing at. It's also why I encourage creating morning and evening rituals. Rituals make it easier to incorporate intentional decisions that target the most important pieces of your Personalized Self-Care Routines and, to help you do so, you can go download our Templates Here that we have designed so that you can fill them in with your personalized rituals and display them near your bedside, to help you remember to practice them like the rituals they should become. Your Morning and Evening Rituals are also great places to begin to Step Up Your Game when it comes to your Personal Care, Hygiene, Nutrition & Rest practices. Take a look at these examples below and remember, these are examples for you, not checklists for you, it's important to personalize your rituals to your specific needs and preferences.

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When it comes to Stepping Up Your Self-Care Game, the key is to look for small ways you can add to and enhance your most basic self-care practices. In doing so look for ways to comfort & care for your mind, body & spirit, as this is what I like to call the "Personal Care Trifecta" and, every other step in the journey to find your Dazzling will build on this foundation. It can be as simple as stepping up your hygiene routine by implementing a Self-Care Substitute like a relaxing bath in place of your shower every month, or even once a week. When doing so it is important to additionally look for small items that you can incorporate into your Self-Care Substitute to intentionally comfort your yourself, trying to touch on as many of the mind, body, spirit elements of the "Personal Care Trifecta" as possible. In the relaxing bath scenario, consider this, to touch on the Mind element you could consider choosing a relaxing playlist that inspires a calming vibe. To touch on the Body element, kick up the bath's relaxing potential by adding an Epson salt, moisturizing bubble bath, or bath bomb to the water to add a bonus bit of care for your skin and/or muscles. To complete the "Personal Care-Trifecta" you could cover the final element, Spirit, by adding some essential oils diffusing by the tub, or a candle, and turning your bath into a mini meditation session. Allow your mind to clear as you feel your body relax in the tub, focus on your breathing and just let your spirit take your mind on a relaxing journey.

This is just one example of looking for a place in your Self-Care Journey that you can Step Up Your Self-Care Game

Here are a few more examples:

Q. Do you currently journal to help you clear your Mind?

If the answer is no, consider taking it up to hit the mark for a personal

comfort habit for your MIND to help you process your thoughts, catalog your trials & triumphs,

or discover the hopes & dreams in your heart through creative writing prompts.

Step It Up: Consider ways to hit the Trifecta by looking for tricks or tools that help you comfort your

BODY like a cozy chair to journal in, by a window for sunlight or, wrapped in a blanket for warmth.

SPIRIT consider starting your session reading a brief scripture or devotional to encourage a

spiritual focus to your journaling.

Q. Do you incorporate any intentional heart pumping physical activity into your day?

If the answer is no, consider taking it up to hit the mark for a personal

comfort habit for your BODY. Any physical activity is an important part of self-care,

but real heart pumping activity serves many additional benefits.

Step It Up: Consider ways to hit the Trifecta by looking for tricks or tools that help you comfort your MIND Challenge yourself to push a little more with each intentional act of heart pumping physical activity. Start with a single song dance party without resting, once a day. After a week kick it up to 2 or 3 songs intentionally and watch your mind feel challenged and boosted by the increase.

SPIRIT consider finding songs to listen to that encourage a mindful headspace while you get your

heart pumping, whether it be uplifting, motivating or directly related to your faith.

Q. Do you currently practice breathing exercises to help calm your Spirit?

If the answer is no, consider taking it up to hit the mark for a personal

comfort habit for your SPIRIT.

Step It Up: Consider ways to hit the Trifecta by looking for tricks or tools that help you comfort your

BODY sit in an upright position, crisscross-applesauce on a mat or carpeting, or upright, shoulders back in a chair with your feet flat on the ground.

MIND before you begin the breathing exercise, diffuse some essential oils that encourage focus and mental clarity like, peppermint, spearmint or even a sweet orange. Not a fan of essential oils? (um...why not??? ) Try to find a candle that hits on some of those scents in place of the diffuser.

These examples are not intended to be embraced by every reader, exactly as described in each of the scenarios above, especially if doing so causes you any kind of pressure or anxiety. Instead they are here to serve as examples. A jumping off point for your brain to begin to look at the care you currently give yourself from a different perspective, to encourage you to step it up even just a little. Don't settle in your self-care, personalize it so that you can capitalize on the focus and attention you pay to yourself with intentional decisions that benefit you. With a few simple additions to your Self-Care Tool Kit you can easily begin to step up your game consistently. The better we care for ourselves, the better prepared we can be to care for others. It is this that way of thinking that has motivated me to encourage you to begin building a Self-Care Tool Kit of your own and, to assist you with this, we are running a GIVEAWAY on our social media accounts that will provide one lucky winner with a Super Self-Care Starter Tool Kit Gift Set. So be sure to visit us on our Facebook & Instagram pages to find out how to enter and for more details about the raffle we are running that will conclude on 2/28/2021 with our winner to be announced on 3/1/2021. Best of Luck! Now go Step Up Your Self-Care Game Intentionally!!!