10 Ways to Increase Self-Care

"The highest form of Self-Care is Energy Management."

When it comes to self-care, most babes completely vibe with the idea. We intuitively understand that in this busy world we live in self-care is a must. But life happens and we don't make time to give ourselves the care that we need. 

We all experience stress, no way around it. We get bombarded with tons of information each day. We feel pressured by our environment and we are exposed to things that constantly drain our energy. Work stuff, family stuff, relationship stuff, social media stuff.  At the end of the day, we're burnt out. 

But if you're on top of your self-care game, it doesn't have to be that way. When our energy tank is full, we will have enough energy to handle any task that comes our way. At the end of the day you will find yourself with more than enough energy to do the things you love.

You'll have more energy for working out, reading a book, walking the dog, going for a run and meditating. 

Having the time and energy for the things you love helps you to feel more fulfilled. Which gives you MORE energy and a positive sense of well being. 

Here are my  top 10 tips for easy self-care:

1. Take a Salt Bath

There is something very magical about taking a salt bath. Salt cleanses and detoxes your energy field or your Human Biofield (HBF).

Draw a hot bath and fill the tub all the way up. Grab your favorite bath salts, epsom, sea salt or himalayan. Pour a generous amount of salt into the tub. I like to pour about a cup of  to make sure I get the water nice and salty. You can add other things to make it pretty so you feel like a queen. Sometimes I will add a couple drops of essential oil or flower petals. Next, grab your phone and open YOUTUBE. Type 'soundbath' into the search bar and select a soundbath that will help with whatever you're experiencing. I like the soundbath for tissue repair, to give my body extra self-care. You can find my favorite soundbath here: youtu.be/h3ajZu6YQ50. Play the soundbath WHILE you're in the bath to enjoy the relaxing sounds and harmonize your energy. It's SO lovely! Grab your own tub of my favorite bath salts here: 

100% Pure Dead Sea Mineral Bath Salt

2. Heart Breathing

Heart breathing is a game changer. Straight up life changing stuff, period. I began my journey of Heart Breathing in 2014 during a tough time in my life. I was experiencing daily anxiety that was preventing me from living my best life. I searched everywhere for something that could help me naturally, to no avail. Until I found Heartmath.org. The Heart Math Institute has developed positive emotion-focused techniques, that can help individuals effectively replace stressful thoughts and emotional patterns with more positive perceptions and emotions. Through a technique called Heart Breathing, I was able to overcome my anxiety and live an anxiety-free life. This is HUGE considering anxiety ruled every minute of my day for years and I lived in a prison of my own mind.

Here is how Heart Breathing can change your life: Sit or lay somewhere quiet where you won't be disturbed for 3-20 minutes. Focus your attention to the heart. Begin to draw in a slow, deep breath. Activate feelings of gratitude and joy. If you're having trouble, think of someone who makes you feel LOVE. Breathe... and feel waves love and gratitude swirling around in your heart. Exhale, send this love out into the universe. Inhale, feeling waves of love and gratitude swirling around in your heart and exhale, send it out to the universe. Inhale, feeling waves of love and gratitude swirling around in your heart, exhale, send it out to the universe. And keep this gratitude breath going for at least 3 minutes and go for as long as you can. 

Heart Breathing brings your unbalanced energy back into a state of harmony. This affects your mind-body-spirit in a positive way. You will increase your energy and intuition. You will handle stressful situation easier. People begin to treat you better. Things fall into alignment and start to flow. What you'll find with consistent practice is that your life unfolds into a miracle before your eyes. Learn more about Heart Breathing here: 

www.heartmath.org

3. Drink "LOVE" Water 

It's a 'no-brainer' to realize that we all need more water. Being hydrated is important for the health of our bodies and our minds. Without water, you get fatigued, a headache and you start to feel gross. Why? Because water in necessary for detoxing our bodies by flushing out toxins. Without enough water toxins build up and your body doesn't feel it's best. But what if I told you that you can supercharge your water and it won't cost you extra. How? By infusing it with LOVE. Before you drink your water place both hands around the cup and tune into your heart. Begin to feel love and gratitude in your heart and then send it from your heart, through your hands and into the water. This will raise the vibrational frequency of your water to that of love and light. You can also speak your intentions into your water for an added bonus. I like to say things like "This water is charged with high vibe love and light. It gives me positive energy, inspiration and happiness. And so it is!" If you want to take your Love Water with you try this awesome water bottle which has a crystal inside of it to charge your water with positive vibes. 

Crystal Elixir Bottle

Declutter Your Space

This tip is super effective but often underestimated. Clutter takes up two precious things, space and energy. Most people don't realize it but everything you own has its own energy field. If you have a lot of things in your home that you don't use, the energy of it becomes very dense. Think of the term "dead weight." It's hard for something new to come into your experience when you don't have the space for it. I suggest doing a scan of your home and taking note of where you can declutter. Write down the places that need to be decluttered from 1-10. 1 needing the most attention, 10 not needing as much. Start with the lowest numbers first. You don't have to get it all done at once, just work on it little by little. Donate, organize and toss the things that no longer bring you joy. A good rule of thumb, if you haven't used it in a year-- get rid of it. You'll feel lighter and energized having less clutter in your home because you shifted the energy. And might just manifest things you'll actually use, too!

5. Less Screen Time, More Presence

We are so attached to technology these days our phones rarely leave our hands. Our phones have become mini computers that seem to be attached to our noses. We are so distracted by our virtual world-- social media, emails, text messages, videos--  that we don't spend a lot of time in our physical world. Here's what this does to you energetically: When you're scrolling in your virtual world your energy is going to whatever you're putting your attention on. Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest etc. This is an energy drain. Being present keeps your energy focused in the NOW, which helps to build your energy instead of drain it. When your energy reserves are filled, you feel better and you have more energy to draw from to channel into the things you want to do. So instead of draining your energy on things that really don't matter, build your energy up and do something nice for yourself that serves you. Like taking a yoga class for the first time or relaxing in the park feeding the ducks. The peace that you feel will have your mind-body and spirit saying THANK YOU. 

6. Trade One Bad Habit for One Good One

We are all guilty of doing things that don't serve us like watching a trashy TV show or drinking a venti starbucks latte.  I'm am an advocate for "enjoying the human experience" but we still need to try our best to live a healthy life. Care for yourself a little more by switching one bad habit for one good one. If you drink a venti starbucks every morning on your way to work, try switching it for a venti tea instead. If you watch trash TV each night when you get home, switch 1 hour of TV for 1 hour of personal development. Watching Tony Robbins or Oprah is sure to inspire you and light that fire under your ass to create positive change. Who knows, this one simple switch might change your whole life. Try it and see what happens! If you did this weekly, eventually all your old bad habits will be gone and replaced with habits that help you live your best life. 

7. Go On an Unfriending Spree

This is true for social media and real life. Sometimes it's necessary to "break up" with the people that steal your joy. If you have feelings deep down that a friendship or relationship isn't for your highest good, it's time to let it go. Life is so much better when it's filled with positive people who truly care about you, not people who are toxic, had bad intentions or drain your energy. If they don't make your heart feel sparkly, then they are dulling your shine. Love yourself enough to walk away. 

8. Stop Complaining

Complaining is a a common way that people drain their energy without realizing it. Our voices create energy through movement. Non-physical energy begins to move through vibration. Every time you speak, your voice vibrates and the energy begins to move. This is important because energy in motion creates matter. Simply put, you are MANIFESTING energy into physical reality through your voice. So being mindful of the way we're communicating is key. Complaining drains your energy and creates MORE of what you don't want. Instead, channel that energy into something positive by speaking about what you DO WANT. Replace complaining with affirmations and watch your life transform before your eyes. I love Louise Hay because her affirmations helped me change my life. I love her daily affirmation card decks. You pull one card a day and practice the affirmation you received. Each time you catch yourself complaining, stop and replace the complaint with the affirmation. Check out  my favorite deck here: ​​ 

Power Thought Cards

9. Get Out in Nature

Nature cleans, balances and harmonizes your energy. This is why after a walk you feel so refreshed. We become very disconnected to the Earth because we don't get out into nature to ground as often as we should. Wearing rubber soles on our shoes doesn't allow us to discharge our energy. They energy has no outlet. Which can leave you feel ungrounded, frazzled and spacy. Increase your self-care by making time to get into nature regularly. Take off your shoes and place your bare feet on the Earth. Close your eyes and see a large beam of energy coming down from above and into your crown chakra. See this energy traveling down your body, down your legs and out your feet into the Earth. Sit under a tree or lay in the grass and ask Mother Earth to ground and clear your energy. You will feel more centered, balanced and grounded which is good for your well-being. 

10. Get More Rest

It's so tempting to stay up late and finish that movie or scroll a little longer even though our bodies are telling us it's time to go to bed. We ignore the signals our bodies send us and before you know it, it's super late and you're just now going to bed. This creates a snowball effect in a negative way. When we're sleep deprived, we are grumpy and that affects our relationships. We might snap at a coworker creating more disharmony in our day. When we're tired we reach for a quick fix and downing that sugary coffee isn't going to make you feel better. Instead, it brings you up only to come crashing down and you feel worse than you did before. When you don't feel good you usually don't feel like exercising so you skip your workout because you "just don't have the energy tonight."  When you aren't working out, you don't feel good about yourself so you reach for comfort food to feel better. Which creates more and more bad feelings.

If you go to bed a few minutes earlier you will wake up feeling good because your body had the proper amount of time to fill up your energy tanks. The next morning, you'll have plenty of energy to draw from to power you throughout your day. You'll feel vibrant so you'll reach for emotions and thoughts that match that feeling. When you get home, you won't be drained so you'll have plenty of energy to workout. And when you workout you feel so good, you'll reach for foods that give you even MORE energy. Which snowball effect do you want? The choice is yours.  

The highest form of Self-Care is Energy management. When we are mindful of the things that steal our energy, we can make better choices. We can trade things that drain our energy for things that give us LIFE! The better quality energy you have the better your life becomes. 

Self-Care is nothing more than making good choices for your well-being. When faced with a choice, take a minute to pause and ask yourself, "is this choice the best choice for my highest good?" if the answer is no, make a better choice. Once you get this going, it becomes easier and easier. 

What are your favorite ways to care for yourself? I want to hear from you. Share your best self-care tips down below in the comments! And if you know someone who needs more self-care, please share this blog with them, too! 

With Heart, 
​Shannon Nicole XO