When we have a dip in our mental health, our self-care can suffer. They’re many self-care practices that can help us throughout the day to ensure that we don’t feel overwhelmed or stressed.

I have neglected my self-care previously and some of the things I personally find that works for me is having a routine each day.

The 5 types of self-care are physical, mental, spiritual, social, and emotional. We could look inwards and assess if we are getting enough exercise, for example.

If we make time for ourselves, we will start to see the benefits. A few of these include reducing anxiety or depression and increasing our happiness.

They’re also self-care plans you could create that would maybe develop a healthy habit of doing things for yourself.

Below are just a few ideas that could kickstart your self-care journey and hopefully help you eliminate negative thoughts.

• Meditation
• Spending time with those closest to you
• Listen to your favourite music
• Write things down, maybe start a journal and track your thoughts/emotions
• Gaming
• Photography
• Drawing/Painting/Crafting
• Being outside in nature
• Read your favourite book

One thing that is working for me currently is positive affirmations. I find that when we tell ourselves we are going to be ok we start to develop a mantra and that can be so powerful and helpful in situations when we no longer feel happy anymore.