- Naps
- Massage
- Have an Adventure Day
- Read (easy, fun reads though, not self-help or professional books!)
- Snuggle with the cat (or dog or baby or kids)
- Hugs
- Long walks and/or hikes
- Bubble baths
- Movies (again, easy watches – not horrific documentaries or violent battles or super sad ones that remind you of your own losses)
- Order dinner in (or have someone else make it)
- Say no
- Buy yourself flowers
- Sip a mug of hot, soothing tea
- Play in the snow
- Dig your toes into the sand
- Feel the sun (or rain) on your face
- Hold hands
- Meditate
- Get a facial
- Listen to your favorite music
- Make a delights list
- Do something on your delights list
- Repeat above (over and over)
- Acupuncture
- Snuggle with your partner
- Have sex
- Journal
- Turn off the computer, cell phone and TV for 24 hours
- Go on a retreat
- Sit and people watch
- Garden
- Do something creative (draw, knit, crossstitch, paint, cook, write, color, make a collage, etc.)
- Daydream
- Dance with a child
- Have a Harry Potter movie marathon (it’s a personal favorite!)
- Take a mental health day from work
- Keep your daily to-do list to 3 items or less
- Swing on the swings
- Have energy work done
- Have a laugh fest with your best friend
- Eat simply
- Break up with your TV
- Allow yourself to cry and experience your emotions
- Join a support group
- Get a pedicure (or manicure)
- Tell yourself “I love you”
- Browse your favorite bookstore (or music store)
- Have a game night with friends
- Write thank you notes to those who have touched your life and inspired you
- Spend the day exploring your town – go places you don’t normally go
- Practice random acts of kindness & senseless acts of beauty
- Write a love letter to someone you love ( doesn’t have to be a partner)
- Write a love letter to yourself
- Have a “Freedom from Self-Improvement Day”
- Listen to Holosync
- Color (try going outside the lines – its fun!)
- Keep a gratitude journal
- Talk a walk with your camera – take pictures of all you see that delights you
- Find and notice something beautiful every day
- Do something badly. Keep doing it.
- Admire beautiful artwork
- Do absolutely nothing
- Do one brave thing everyday
- Play
- Treat yourself to something
- Wear something that makes you feel beautiful or handsome and confident
- Have an “All Day PJs Day”
- Say I love you everyday
- Jump in piles of leaves
- Quit the job you hate that drains you
- Say YES to what you truly love
- Give yourself permission
- Let go of belongings you no longer love or use (even family heirlooms) Also applies to relationships
- Hire someone to clean your house
- Hire someone to mow your lawn
- Let go of your story
- Laugh
- Be generous
- Lay in the grass and watch the clouds
- Take a long walk with your dog
- Ride horse
- Give up New Year’s Resolutions. Pick a word instead
- Stop drinking caffeine
- Dance around your house
- Forgive others
- Forgive yourself
- Make a list of the things you want to do in your lifetime
- Do one of those things
- And then do another
- Eat healthy, whole foods
- Eat something unhealthy AND enjoy it without self-criticism or guilt
- Watch cartoons
- Read the comics
- Smile for no reason
- Call the friends you’ve been meaning to call
- Go complaint free
- Schedule a day of no schedule
- Go boat riding
- Buy yourself a cheery balloon
- What do you do for extreme self-care?
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Love this post! I have been relying on medical doctors to “get me well” and have realized I just do not practice enough self care…time to get extreme!!!
P.S. still working on the healing stories…this is a super busy time for me.
Hi Connie! I think I wrote this mainly to remind myself it’s time for some good ol’ self-care! I forget sometimes that the most ‘extreme’ and best self-care usually consists of the smallest, simplest things!
Take care of yourself in this busy time
A couple of my favorite simple things are to blow bubbles and play the kazoo. And to skip…and not care what anyone else thinks. As I write that, it dawns on me that that might be one of the most important aspects of my own self-care…not caring what anyone else thinks about what I’m doing! Too many years of being overly concerned about other’s good opinions of me has probably deepened my NEED for self-care!
Thanks!
Hi Shawn! That’s a big one – the not caring what others think. We so often stop ourselves from doing the things we love because of what someone else might think. (And I love blowing bubbles!
That’s a great one!)
these are great ideas to try when i’m feeling down!!! thanx for the posting of them who ever did it.
Hi my name is Melissa Hargrave, and I am a therapist in Austin TX. I just blogged about taking time out for ourselves and ran across your list and I just had to share it with others. I hope this is ok. Thanks for creating such a great list!
Melissa
oh, I posted it here: http://hillcountrytherapy.com/good-weather-good-mood-a-reminder-for-dynamic-care/
Pingback: Self care is Dynamic Care - Melissa Hargrave, LPC, LMFT, Austin, TX - Counseling with you in mind.
I have learned how important it is to have self care. Some things I like to do are practice Yoga, play with my two year old neice and cuddle up with my dog to a good book or movie.
I enjoyed your article- Thank you!
Ryan
I love this post. Here Japan ,we’re having holidays called Golden-Week soon.
Reading your post,I’ve decided to be myself and reflesh myself during my holidays .
Looking forward to follow your ideas and my original ones.Thank you.
Rie, from Tokyo
Thank you for the great self care ideas…I have just returned from having coffee with a friend and our discussion was on self care. We often take ourselves for granted. Timely for me
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I love this list! It is sometimes easier to help others care for themselves. I needed to see this as a refresher of how to take care of me
thank you!
“100 Extreme Self-Care Ideas | Emily Long, LPC” was in fact pleasurable and informative!
Within todays world that is very hard to achieve.
With thanks, Jacklyn
“100 Extreme Self-Care Ideas | Emily Long, LPC”
cewi ended up being a quite wonderful blog post, . I hope you keep creating
and I’ll try to keep viewing! Thanks ,Nelson
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