pampering yourself at home – Strength Scripted

11 of the best self-care items that bring the most comfort and relaxation

Something comfy, something that smells good, something inspiring or funny…What else?

I created this short and sweet list of items you can easily get your hands on to bring you the most comfort in your self-care routines. The importance of self-care is so underrated!! When you actively do things to help yourself feel good, it has a compound effect. It will keep benefiting you as long as you keep pouring into it. You will become a better version of yourself because you have been nurturing your mental, emotional and physical health consistently. Your growth will go unnoticed until you realize the results you are seeing is thanks to your self-care of your mind, body and spirit. Don’t forget to save this post to visit later and send it to a friend who can benefit from this blog! Word of mouth is important for small women owned businesses so thank you for your support. Now let’s get into it!

Skin care products– moisturizer, cleanser, oils, lip scrubs, and masks etc. – They will always leave you feeling refreshed after you finish your skin care routine. When you look good, you usually feel good. So, take this literal and take care of yourself.

Jade roller & Gua sha tool & derma roller– These items give you a sense of accomplishment when you use them. You’ll feel like you are going that extra mile when it comes to caring for yourself and your skin. Do your research on the derma roller before trying though!! Also, you really don’t have to spend a ton of money on the jade roller & gua sha tool. Check out the one I use at home that I got from Amazon for a super good deal! Check it out here.

Herbal tea, warm bone broth or coffee– These are a given. Warm drinks tend to soothe your body and belly bringing you ultimate comfort. Bone broth is actually really good for you too! As you already know, be mindful of caffeine especially when you are getting ready to go to sleep.

Cozy blanket, pajamas and socks/slippers– There is nothing better than being in super comfy clothing and wrapped in a cozy blanket while relaxing after a long day! It is just so comforting and allows you to exhale the day’s heavy work.

Noise canceling earbuds to listen to meditation music or ASMR- Drowning out the chaos around you to escape reality for a bit is sometimes extremely necessary. Music usually does the trick, but if you’re looking to try something different, search on Youtube: “ASMR for relaxation.” When you get passed the initial awkwardness/weirdness, it can reallyyyyy help your mind relax and may even feel your body tingling. (Search for simplykel asmr or tingting asmr on YouTube).

Soy candles, oil diffusers and/or fireplace– (avoid ‘fragrance’ and anything that’ll irritate your lungs) Candles (soy) always bring this sense of calmness to the room. Maybe it’s the fire flickering or the smell. If you don’t have any candles, just search “fireplace burning with noise” on YouTube and full screen it on your TV. Different scents of essential oils can affect your moods so pick the right scent for the mood you are manifesting. Aromatherapy can be quite beneficial to your overall mood.

House plants– Adding a variety of plants to your home will significantly improve your environment, especially impacting your mental wellness. Caring for the plants like trimming, watering, repotting, dusting/wiping leaves, etc. can be extremely relaxing, soothing and stress reducing. Some other benefits include improved moods, improved air quality, and decreased symptoms of depression. If you are a new plant parent, I would suggest checking Etsy and searching for “plant cuttings” which would be perfect to begin your plant journey. They’re cheap and gives you a variety of plants to practice with. Also try using the PlantIn app for useful tips!

Thick yoga mat + stretch bands– You’re going to use these two items for ultimate stretching and release of tension and stress that’s weighing you down. I want to emphasize a ‘thick’ yoga mat because it will give you the best cushion and comfort for certain positions that can be tough on your bones and joints especially on hardwood floors. I got mine off of Amazon and simply searched for a mat that was an inch or more in thickness.

Get a pet!- I realize it sounds bad to call a pet a ‘self care item’ lol. However, animals can have such a big impact on our lives!! Caring for them can give us a sense of importance and being needed and the love they give you for it can fill our hearts. Finding the right pet for you is key here. Dogs are amazing, so are cats, bunnies, ferrets, sugar gliders (must get as a baby or have a ton of patience and experience to rescue an adult), and certain birds are great companions. Please be mindful when deciding if getting a pet is right for you. When you adopt an animal, you are making a lifelong commitment to them that you will care for them until they pass. Please be responsible!

Find a good book to read! – Whether it’s a funny comic book, an inspiring story book, or a personal development book. Take a ride to your local library, thrift shop or bookstore and get yourself something new to read. If you need a suggestion, check out “How Happiness Happens” by Max Lucado. Absolute fantastic read.

Take a hot shower or bath. Add a bath bomb if you’re feeling fancy! – This one is FREE! Well, except if you pay for hot water and/or water in general (hello homeowners!). However, this is a simple way to begin relaxing your body. The warmth will relax and loosen your muscles and the steam in the air will clear up your airways if you’re feeling a bit stuffed up. Bath bombs with CBD will give you ultimate relaxation.

This is all I have for you right now! Can you think of any that I missed? Share them in the comments section!!

xo, J

*Some links in this post are affiliate links which means I may receive a small percentage if you make a purchase. Of course, your purchase helps my family and I, but I am sharing these products in order to help you. I only recommend products that I’ve personally used and think others will benefit from. I will not suggest something I don’t believe in!

Why did I get into self-care and why YOU should to!

Sometimes awful situations lead us to great things.

Please set your triggers to the side and read this post with an open mind and heart. I’m going to talk about a rough phase in my life that I am still healing from till this day. I will spare the details for maybe a future blog post(s), but for now I just want to share when self-care became a vital part in my life and how it got me out of the dark place I was in for so long.

It was my first year being a mom. A time I expected to be one of the happiest and joyful times in my life, but instead was filled with stress, anxiety, anger, and pain. A lot of pain. The following 3-4 years weren’t much different. In fact, it got worse. I will sum it up by saying one thing… I was suffering from abuse in many forms by a loved one. At the same time dealing with postpartum depression and anxiety. I was forced into a very dark place, and I had no idea what was happening. Life just passed me by. I was always so sad and hurt that I couldn’t enjoy my new baby or motherhood. I viewed myself in such a negative way it was heart shattering. I didn’t believe I was worthy enough of anything. I literally thought I looked “disgusting” with the extra baby weight and stretch marks. I would speak to myself so harshly when I made simple human mistakes. A lot of this was just me repeating what has been said to me so much that I started to identify as it.

I am so thankful to my doctor for noticing signs of postpartum depression from me because she was the one who referred me to this awesome therapist. Unfortunately, I withheld the part of spousal abuse when I spoke with her every week. Again, I identified with the things he was saying to me, so it was easy to claim them as my own words. So, she had no idea what I was going through and thinking back now I regret not telling her because she probably could’ve helped me more. However, during one of our sessions she asked me, “What are you doing for self-care?” I literally had to ask her what exactly falls under self-care because I cannot remember the last time I did something for myself besides taking a quick 10 minute shower, especially as a new mom. (btw a shower is a basic life necessity, not your self-care for the day!) I had no time, energy, or desire to do anything for myself after finishing all my mom and wife duties. But she goes on to say, “you cannot keep running on E. You have to fill your tank up too so that you can be the best mom and wife.” So I say, “Okay, I get that. But how do I even fit doing things for myself with my busy schedule? I don’t even see it being worth my time or effort.”

That’s where the problem was. I didn’t see self-care as being worth the time and effort which truly meant I didn’t see myself as important enough to care for. I didn’t value my needs and wants. I didn’t see the importance of my mental, emotional, physical and spiritual wellness. I needed to completely shift this mindset I had about myself because it was so damaging and extremely limiting. This kind of thinking kept me in this dark bubble. A dark comfy bubble. It didn’t allow me to grow or to even be mindful enough to see the signs my body was giving me. This kind of mindset kept me numb and going through each day looking forward to bedtime.

After talking more with my therapist, I realize I’m going to have to do some real work if I want a change in my life and to find the joy in things again. The first step was incorporating different forms of self-care into my life at least 1-2 times per week. This came in the form of journaling, yoga, doing my makeup, skin care, coffee outdoors, walks by the water, taking care of my natural hair, writing, and some other things I cannot remember right now. It was over the course of several years that I started these self-care habits so don’t think I began doing all of these things the next day. Journaling is the very first thing I started doing. I have always loved to write so this one was kind of easy for me to start. If you don’t make it easy or fun, you won’t be motivated at all to do it. Makeup was tough because I was limited on time, but it was something I really enjoyed doing before I became a mom so I would try to do my makeup whenever I could. Then I ran into skin care issues from wearing the makeup so naturally I transitioned to skin care and clean beauty products as a part of my self-care. I chose Sundays as my mini spa day where I would do hair and face masks (usually DIY from Pinterest) and eventually started painting my nails as well.

I just found things to do that brought me happiness, even if it was super small. I felt really good after doing my morning skin routine and going through the week with my nails painted. The more I noticed positive results from doing these self-care tasks, the more I wanted to do them. Whether it was feelings of happiness and being proud that I checked off self-care from my to-do list or seeing physical results from doing the yoga, walking and exercising and even my clear skin, I wanted to keep doing it. It made me feel good about my appearance, yes, but it made me feel so damn good inside at the same time. I felt worthy again. Like I deserve so much better. Self-care gave me a new perspective on life. It helped me crawl out of the depression hole and appreciate and love myself from the inside out, no matter what outside influences say. It made me realize how poorly I have been treating myself, how much I have been suffering and how much I have been suppressing my emotions as well. I was no longer numb to life.

If you related to anything I said, even if it was just one statement. I urge you to start taking self-care more seriously. Do things for you unapologetically with no regrets. Love all of you and pour into yourself consistently so that you can continue to pour into everyone around you. Self-care is defined by how you want to define it. My definition is taking care of all of you in every way necessary because you matter so damn much. Regardless of what, your presence in this world matters and you are here for a purpose!!

Continue to follow this blog for all things self-care, self-love and mental wellness.

Now go be great,

xo, J

More than self-care. Mind, body and soul nurturing.

Self-care is more than doing things that brings you instant gratification or temporary happiness. It’s deeper than that. Self-care should be focused on caring and nurturing your whole self. Your body, mind and soul. Something simple like a hot bath can be used to nurture your body, but when you add a book, some candles and a yummy smelling bath bomb then it starts to nurture your mind as well. Playing meditation music in the background can make this task focus on all three areas of self-care!! Yesss please!

It’s important to make sure you are including self-care activities that focus on the different areas because if we only did things that cared for our body, then our mind and soul is neglected. Try to find ways to improve your self-care routine by making sure they focus on your mind, body and soul. Another example could be- going for a walk. But instead of just walking, you can either listen to meditation music or an educational podcast- both will nurture your mind, but another option is to listen to nature. Be fully present and listen for the birds, the wind blowing the trees, the squirrels running, the high tide river, etc. all the noises of nature can bring you spiritual peace which in turn will bring you mental peace.

The last example I will give you is doing a mind dump where you literally dump everything on your mind onto a piece of paper. Messy, unorganized thoughts just written out in any order. Once your mind is clear, journal! Start with a simple question like- “What will you surrender in order to protect your peace today/this week?” or “What kind of lifestyle do you want? How exactly do I want my days to look like?” Then start writing. Visualize yourself being that person as you write. Don’t stop your thoughts, just write it all down in your journal. Do this daily and find different journal prompts that work for you and watch real change start to happen. (Follow this blog because I enjoy sharing journal prompts that I love or sign up for me email newsletter here.) If you are a beginner or fairly new to journaling, I would suggest purchasing my Self Love Journal. It’s a PDF file so you can print it out and immediately get to work. It’s available under the “Shop” tab above and at my Etsy shop and you’ll be able to read more in detail what it includes. It’s absolutely worth it!!

When we care for all three parts of us, we will achieve a whole new level of SELF LOVE and peace. In your self-care time, you will learn so much about yourself; what you truly enjoy doing, what brings you real happiness and gets the happy hormones firing, what helps you fully relax, how you recharge, what gets you excited, etc. Feeling aligned within and focusing on filling your cup up, you allow yourself to experience life differently. We are a little less tense, a little less stressed, more gentle, more positive, more loving. It’s the start to a whole new perspective on life. A whole new YOU.

I hope that you benefited from this post in some way. I’d love to hear your self-care routines! Comment below with yours! 🙂

xo, J