With busy lives and school, sometimes it's hard to have a moment to yourself. If you find yourself stressing out, mentally lost or even just in need of some self-love, these impactful but totally doable tips will help you de-stress and declutter your busy mind.
As illustrated by photos by Lee Tilghman, @leefromamerica, my favorite self-care Insta guru.
1. Meditate:
We’re starting off big here, people. By now we’ve all heard of the benefits of meditation, so why not try it? Because it's hard!
Having a routine and the discipline to focus for a few minutes out of your day is much harder than it looks, especially in this crazy go-go-go world we live in. A simple way to start meditating is using some guided meditation apps. These meditations usually involve breathing, narrative experiences, and exercises of consciousness. Though the good ones cost a few bucks, if you don’t feel like spending the mullah, they all have free trial periods and limited free guided meditation libraries. A few of my go-to favorites are Calm, Headspace, and Simple Habit.
2. Use essential oils:
Essential oils have many aromatherapy and healing properties. If you aren’t on the ~holistic~ bandwagon just yet and don’t feel ready to give up that Advil for peppermint oil, a good way to ease into oils is by getting an electric oil diffuser. These simple but effective machines diffuse oil into the air around you so you can smell it and breath it in. These machines usually cost between $10-$20 on Amazon, so get to shopping!
Not only could this help with sinuses, headaches, and even sleep, but it also makes your room smell bomb AF for hours at a time. I use mine every night and now know tons of people that do the same. Treat yo’ self and turn your dorm into a day spa! Some popular oils are tea tree, eucalyptus, lavender, and peppermint.
3. Work out:
Moving one’s body is a great way to ease one’s mind. And no, you don’t have to do some full-blown two hours of work to reap the benefits! Changing the way you look at exercise is the most important aspect of using it as a tool for self-care: engaging your body clears the mind and is in some ways a form of meditation itself. Go for a walk, play some pickup basketball, hop in the pool for a few laps. ANYTHING that will energize you or help you get out of that day-long fog.
4. Clean and organize your space:
Decluttering your space, whether it be your dorm room or the entire apartment, is a great way to begin to declutter your mind. The first step to this tip is to start small: empty your trash, change your sheets, and make your bed. From there, start to do your laundry, clear your desk, and declutter your drawers, etc.. Though this may seem like common sense, you’d be surprised how cluttered our spaces get in busy and stressful times. Doing a little hour of cleaning to tidy and reset one’s space can help focus and bring a peace of mind.
