Self Care Night Ideas For When You’ve Had A Bad Day

We have so many things taking up our time that it’s sometimes hard to focus on ourselves. Work may be too demanding or maybe not demanding enough. Family or friends may be leaning on you with their problems. Even the news can make you feel stressed. All these things can leave you feeling like you have the world on your shoulders by the end of the day. If you’re feeling like this you need to take some to think about yourself. I’ve put together some ideas you can choose from to create your own self care night plan to reset your day and start the next day in a positive mood.

What is Self Care and How Does It Help?

Basically self-care means putting yourself first and looking after your own physical and mental health. It means doing some simple things that will help you let go of stress and refresh you.

Research has shown that a self care routine can:

• Reduce stress
• Clear your mind
• Boost your mood
• Make you feel energised
• Help you be more productive
• Minimise frustration
• Increase happiness
• And improve concentration

If a few simple things can help do these things then isn’t it worth creating your own self-care routine?

The ideas that follow include self care activities that improve your physical and mental health.

Your physical and mental well-being is dependent on 6 areas of your life. These are generally thought to be: physical, emotional, psychological, environmental, social and professional. The following self care activities are grouped into those areas (although some may overlap). You can choose which ones to put into your self care night routine depending on how you feel at that particular time.

You might also like to try a Word Search Puzzle Book based of the theme of self-care. Doing a puzzle can promote mindfulness and has been known to reduce stress. My self-care word search book may also give you some ideas to add to your self-care activities list.

Physical Self Care

You’ve probably heard the saying ‘Take care of your body and your body will take care of you’. It’s very true! If you’re not looking after your physical health then everything else will feel like an uphill struggle. These self-care ideas will help boost your physical health.

Food

If you eat lots of junk food you’ll feel tired and run down so start your self care night with a delicious dinner. Prepare yourself something that includes a variety of vegetables, some chicken, fish or vegetarian substitute. Make sure it’s something you’re going to enjoy. Plan a healthy dessert to follow.

Sit at the table and eat your meal mindfully. Don’t watch TV or try to read while you eat. Really concentrate on your food.

Resist pouring yourself a glass of wine or having a cup of coffee. Alcohol and caffeine can make you feel better in the short-term but it can also bring you down afterwards and make you feel irritable. Drink water or herbal teas during your self care night

Exercise

Any kind of exercise that gets you moving and increases your heart rate has been proven to improve your mental health as well as your physical health. If the weather is good then why not go out for a brisk walk. Even if it’s just for 15 minutes, it will help clear your head.

If you have a dog then you have the ideal opportunity to get outside and give you and your pet some exercise. And being a dog runner really does benefit your mental health.

If you don’t have a dog or don’t fancy a walk then put on some of your favourite upbeat music and get dancing (no-one will see you so go wild).

Bubble Bath

Put some pampering into your self care night. Take a nice hot bath, throw in your favourite bath bomb and have a luxurious soak. If you’ve just done some brisk exercise then a hot bath is a great way to help ease any muscle ache. Put on some of your favorite music and relax.

Cold Shower

If you feel sleepy when you have a bath but you want to do some more self care activities then finish off with a cold shower. It’s great for your skin and definitely clears your mind, making you feel wide awake and ready for anything.

Skin Care

If you’ve been feeling run-down it can affect your skin so you might want to include a skin care routine into your self care night. You can find more relaxing self-care night ideas here.

Alternatively, if you’re not sure where to start with your skincare, or you feel like it needs an expert touch, you could look for something like facial services in Brooklyn, NY to find somewhere you could go and indulge in a serious pamper session.

Sleep

Everything you put into your self care night will hopefully lead you to a good night’s sleep. Your self care night might even give you ideas on how to create the perfect bedtime routine.

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I’d been suffering from back ache for a while so when my new mattress arrived within a couple of days I was keen to get it in place the same day! Note: Once you take your Simba hybrid mattress out of the box you need to give it about 6 hours to expand so it’s at it’s most comfortable before sleeping on it. I certainly felt my back ache improve within a few days of sleeping on this supportive mattress. With a 200 night trial and a 10 year guarantee the Simba hybrid mattress is a no-brainer.

Quality sleep isn’t just about closing your eyes, it’s about letting your mind and body reset so you can wake up feeling calmer, lighter, and ready to start fresh. Think of your mattress as a nightly tool for self-care that helps you feel better, both inside and out.

Emotional Self Care

For a good self care night you need to address all the emotions you’ve been feeling so you can start to focus on them and feel better.

Journal

Research has also shown that writing down your thoughts and feelings regularly in a journal is a great self care tool to boost your mental health. Just getting everything out of your head and onto paper can clear your mind. You can read it back and it might help you put things into perspective, or just get it down on paper and never look at it again! As well as writing down the negative thoughts you’re feeling, also write down the things you’re grateful for. It’s good to see that not everything in your life is bad.

Allow Yourself To Feel

Cry if you need to. Sometimes we hold this back thinking it makes us weak but having a good cry can help you focus afterwards on how to make things better. Sometimes all we need is a good cry to start feeling more like ourselves.

If you’re experiencing mood swings due to menopause you might find my personal story of hysterectomy to post menopause interesting.

Play Some Music

Listening to music is a great way to reduce stress. Put on your favourite albumn, relax and feel your mood become more positive. Playing an instrument can also help improve concentration and has been known to help with anxiety. For example playing the piano can give you focus if you feel life is getting a little out of control. Remember to look after your posture while playing with an Adjustable Artist Piano Bench.

Weighted blankets

Hugs are good for mental health, especially if you’re feeling anxious or stressed. Apparently your body releases a hormone that helps reduce anxiety and lowers your blood pressure. Weighted blankets mimic a hug allowing you to get a similar effect, so if you’re on your own then this might be the next best thing to an actual hug.

Laugh

Just like crying, a good laugh will help you release stress. So put on your favourite comedy movie and laugh out loud. Planes, Trains & Automobiles always makes me laugh.

Spend time with your cat or dog

If you have a pet then taking some time to play with them or just stroking them will really benefit you (and them). If you don’t fancy writing in a journal, then why not tell your pet your problems. They’re brilliant listeners!

Stroll through the park

If you live near a park then go and take a slow stroll through it. Don’t put headphones on, just take in your surroundings. Really look at the trees and listen to the sound of the birds, it can be very calming to be surrounded by nature.

Turn off your phone

For the whole of self care night turn off your mobile phone. You don’t want to be interrupted with unnecessary phone calls or act on the urge to browse social media. The latter can have a serious affect on your mental health.

Yoga

Yoga teaches you breathing techniques and meditation. Done properly it’s a good method of helping to reduce stress and calm the mind.

Sound Bath

Sound therapy can be very relaxing. I tried a sound bath recently and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.

Read your favourite book

You know when young children carry their favourite blanket around with them as comfort? Re-reading a good book can feel like having a ‘comfy blankie’.

Psychological Self Care

Sometimes we might feel stressed because we’re bored. Is your job stretching you enough? Are the activities you’re doing outside of work getting your brain ticking over or are you mindlessly watching television every night? These next few self care activities involve getting your brain into gear. When we feel mentally stimulated it makes us more productive.

Learn something new

Move out of your comfort zone and learn a new skill. Even if it’s just 15 minutes, the practice of doing it will make you feel better. If you’re not sure what to learn then try Skillshare, an online platform that offers thousands of courses in bite size chunks. Everything from drawing cartoons to learning how to look after house plants.

Digital Detox

Give yourself time off from social media. All these sites can be a time thief and also annoy and irritate you! If you usually watch television every night then leave it switched off. Make sure you take a break from your usual screen activities.

Read a new book

If you haven’t read anything in a while then get yourself a new book that you can look forward to. Don’t skim read, really concentrate on it. Go and browse your local bookshop or charity shop in advance and pick up something that really piques your interest.

New hobby

A new hobby can give you a new lease of life. Don’t just think knitting, cooking or gardening (unless you actually fancy any of these). Look for something that will excite you. How about metal detecting, jewellery making or writing poetry. Just make it something you’ll look forward to after a stressful day.

Environmental Self Care

Your surroundings can affect how you feel. If you have to come home to an environment that makes you unhappy it will just make everything you’re already feeling much worse.

Declutter

Spend your self care night decluttering. This can be a very satisfying activity in itself. Letting go of old things you don’t use or need anymore can be very cathartic. Your home will be so much tidier afterwards.

Re-arrange your furniture

Not always a possibility, but even just moving a couple of things around may bring you a feeling of satisfaction. If you do have the scope to change the whole room around then go for it.

Aromatherapy

Using candles, diffusers, wax melts and essential oils can also lift your mood and make your home feel a happier place to be. Lavender can help you feel calm, Peppermint can boost mental function and Bergamot helps reduce anxiety.

Happy Table

Having a small area in your house that makes you happy can be a great help if you’re feeling down. Spend part of your self care night creating a ‘happy table’. Arrange your table for the season or by colour, or even just mementos that make you think of happy times. Just make sure it’s in a spot where you’ll see it regularly.

Lighting

Make sure the lighting in your home is conducive to your self care night. If you only have overhead lighting then consider bringing in some lamps to create pools of soft light, especially if you’ve put lots of pampering on your plan. Alternatively if you’re attempting to energise your mood then turning on brighter lights may be more beneficial.

Social Self Care

Self-care activities don’t have to mean being on your own. Your stress may come from being on your own a lot. If that’s the case then the following ideas would be good to add to your self care night plan.

Meet up with your best friend

Arrange to go for a walk in the park with them or just sit and have a cup of tea and a natter in the kitchen if it’s a gloomy night. Sometimes just spending time with someone you like can boost your mood.

Date Night

A self care night could definitely include having a date night with your partner. We can get so busy with work, chores, children etc that we can forget about spending time with our other half. Re-connecting with each other on a regular basis is a really good way of boosting mental (and physical) health.

Set boundaries

Social self care can also include making sure you’re not constantly surrounded by other people. Set some boundaries for your self-care night by letting your family and friends know that you’re having some ‘me time’ and you’re not to be disturbed.

Professional Self Care

If it’s your work like (or lack of it) that’s making you feel stressed then your plan needs to include some self-care practices that address this.

Separate work and personal life

If you finish your work day at 5 don’t take phone calls and read emails after that. Make sure your personal life begins when you get home.

Find a new job

If you’re feeling bored with work, (or you don’t have a job and want one) research a new career path. Take some time in your self care night to have a look at the types of job that might interest you. Ask yourself what does the job involve, do you need more qualifications, which companies could you work for? Just browsing your options might give you the boost you need. Find out why quitting things can make you happy.

Use your Journal

Use your journal do write down everything you’re unhappy about at work. You might be surprised to find it’s not as bad as you thought. It may also help you to see what areas of your work life you need to address. Maybe you just need to go for that promotion, go part-time or even leave and start your own business. You won’t know until you understand what’s making you unhappy.

Set some goals

Spend your self care time setting some goals. If you’re going to look for a new job then plan what you need to do and when. If you have your own business and you can’t see it’s future clearly then start planning where you want it to go and how you’re going to achieve it. Use a self care planner and do it properly. New goals and plans can really motivate you and get you out of that anxious mood.

Now that you’re read through the ideas for a good self care night you can start creating a self-care night routine for your own night. Don’t try and do them all at once, small steps lead to bigger changes. You’ll find that different ideas will suit you at different times, depending on the present moment. Keep the ideas handy (and add your own to them) so you can create a new self care routine whenever you need to focus on yourself.

If you can, work some of these self care practices into your daily life. Putting some thought and effort into improving your mental health will put you in a better position to take on the challenges your life brings you. You really do owe it to yourself.