This post is all about ways to practice self-care during quarantine.
Whether you have to stay at home or choose to self-quarantine now you have the chance to take better care of yourself at home, try out new things or introduce practices into your daily life that you might not have had the time for before. It’s time to get cozy, get creative, and treat yourself without getting out of the house or spending a fortune.
Here are 11 ways to practice self-care during quarantine.
1. Have an at-home spa day or at least give yourself an at-home facial.
You might have played with the idea before but have not been able to set enough time aside for yourself. After a heavy week at school or work, or both, you might have had other plans for the weekend than taking care of yourself in such an extensive way. Now it’s your chance to treat yourself without the rush of having to be ready to leave the house at a particular time.
You can stay in your pj’s, put on a cozy robe, or go nude. Set a relaxing mood, listen to an audiobook or some music, and enjoy every step. You can make it as complex or as simple as you feel like. You can use products that have been lying around waiting to be used, reach for your go-tos, or create DIY scrubs, masks, and much more.
2. Self-care with essential oil therapy.
Essential oils can be used in many ways. Try out aromatherapy with an essential oil diffuser or a candle holder. Use them in your bath or for a massage. You can sprinkle a few drops of lavender oil onto your pillow for extra relaxation and better sleep.
3. Journal.
You can have a daily or weekly journal, or just write down your thoughts every now and then when they get too much in your head. Create gratitude lists, which are an amazing tool to keep yourself sane and relaxed during those crazy times. You can get creative and make vision boards, write down your goals and dreams.
4. Self-care with red light therapy.
This is especially great if you live somewhere where the summer wasn’t the brightest or warmest and it’s a long-term investment that will help you get through the gloomy fall and winter days. Possible benefits include a boost of mood, muscle recovery, better sleep, pain relief, and many more. What’s guaranteed is a cozy and very relaxing mood.
There are many products out there. Do your research and find what’s best for you and your wallet.
Joovv, for example, offers professional, medical-grade LED light panels so you might want to check out their options, but you can definitely see benefits and create a cozy mood at home with more affordable versions. I got a red light lamp in a second-hand store for 10 $ and absolutely love using it! *Make sure to read the warning label to see if the lamp is suitable for you, especially if you’re heat sensitive.
5. Take a movielike bath.
If you do have a bathtub and enjoy taking baths now is the ideal time to take a real, movielike bath. Take your time with it, go all out. Light candles, play some music, watch a movie, read a book or listen to an audiobook. Have some water, wine, or tea within arm’s reach. Use essential oils, Epsom salt, or some fancy bath products you haven’t had the chance to use yet. Leave your phone outside the bathroom and don’t worry about the time. If you have enough space, you can invite your partner to join you and enjoy a cozy at-home date night.
6. Do creative projects that take time.
Start some projects that take time, whether you do art, home DIYs, or do a large puzzle. All the things that you wanted to do before but didn’t because it said to “let it dry overnight”, or “set aside for a few hours” or the project would cover your dinner table for weeks. Who had the time or patience to do that? Well, now you can start creating as you are more likely to be at home more often and so you will be able to finish what you’ve started. This will fuel your creativity, it will give you a sense of achievement and it’s a productive way to spend your spare time.
7. Plant and cook.
Try out planting your own herbs, flowers, or vegetables. You can start out small and simple with planting store-bought packages of herbs like basil, parsley, or mint.
Start cooking more, use the herbs you’ve grown, and nourish your body. This will make you feel better inside and out. Once again, taking the spare time factor into consideration, I encourage you to try out recipes that sound either a little complicated or would usually take too much time to make. Try to make all the ingredients from scratch as far as it’s possible, whether it’s pizza dough, a sauce, or vegetable broth. You can bake your own bread, which may require first leaving the dough to rise overnight.
By cooking from scratch at home, you’re taking care of your body, mind, and soul and can also nourish your partner, family, or friends. It’s a great way to be present, to be thankful, to rebuild your relationship with food, to practice a new skill, and to simply get busy and be creative.
8. Overnight beauty treatments.
Practice self-care while you sleep. When you know you don’t have to rush out of the house the next morning you can, for instance, go to sleep with coconut oil in your hair and let it do its magic while you snooze. Then wash it off with shampoo in the morning.
9. Video diary.
You can make a video diary alone or with your partner/friends/family documenting your days in quarantine or just check in every few weeks. You can make it fun and creative or simply sit down and express your thoughts. This might be a great alternative to journaling if you’re not into writing. Both will help you filter through and organize your thoughts and emotions, which is a super important part of self-care.
10. Track your health, get to know your body.
Using apps or simply writing it down you can track your health to get to know your body better. As a female you can incorporate taking your basal body temperature every morning into your routine, to learn more about your cycle and fertility. You can also track your food (intake of calories, vitamins, protein, and so on) using apps like MyFitnessPal or Cronometer. After a few weeks or months, you will start seeing patterns that will help you determine what your next steps in optimizing your health should be.
11. Take part in a challenge.
There are already plenty of challenges out there, you can join or you can come up with one yourself. Choose one and stick to it for at least 21 days to a month. Whether it’s sports-related, a zero-waste challenge, mediation, taking cold showers, reading, or taking one creative picture a day. Strengthen your self-discipline, work on your patience and simply challenge yourself.
* You might want to check out my post about 7 challenges for a simpler, greener, happier life.
This post was all about ways to practice self-care during quarantine.
