Spring is here and it’s time to start spring cleaning, decluttering, and getting rid of all things that are unnecessary in our lives. In order for everything in your life to be balanced, you need to start with self-love and self-care.

Self-care sounds like an easy task right? Well the truth is that so many of us are busy taking care of everyone else that we forget about ourselves. Washing your hair and making it out the front door is NOT self-care. Does this type of day sound familiar: Wake up, still feel tired, throw yourself together (mom bun is easiest), get your little one ready, out the door for daycare, rush to work, work all day, pick up, make dinner, try to spend time with your little one, bath and bed, and prepare for the next day. Then when the weekend comes, you try to squeeze in as much as you can while cleaning and trying to organize your life. This is the average day for the majority of working moms and it is beyond exhausting. With the craziness of life we forget about taking care of ourselves. Self-care is for everyone and everyone should be doing it.

Self-care has definitely changed my life and I can honestly say it has made me a different person. In the past few months I have implemented some changes in my life that I am excited to share with you all and I hope you can add these to your daily routine too. S

How self-care changed my life – My top 6 self-care tips

1.Lose the negativity – this is my number ONE. For years I have been hanging on to negative energies all around me without even realizing it. You know those types of relationships were you are the one always putting in the effort and trying to keep it going – end them. If you have people in your life that you can’t be yourself around – get rid of them. This was HUGE for me. Until I started really paying attention to the energy I felt around people, I wasn’t noticing that some of my so called “friendships” were toxic and that I was putting in so much energy when the other side wasn’t. Once I started eliminating this from my life, I found I had so much more positive energy for other things and I felt less drained. Along with getting rid of negative energy, get rid of things that do not make you happy. Items, clothes, whatever it is, you will feel such a sense of relief when you start letting things go.

How I got rid of negativity – literally stopped putting in effort and trying to maintain friendships and let me tell you, what a weight off my shoulders. I also do a spring clean regularly 🙂

2.Slow down – from my own experience and speaking with others, life becomes a mad rush. It is extremely important to take time out of the day to just sit and be with yourself. Wether it’s having a bath, journaling, watching a show, or taking a 15 minute nap, take the time to stop and slow down. This busy life we all live is not good for our stress and anxiety levels and its important to have that quite time.

How I slow down – I take time to work on my blog, for me this is relaxing. I also make sure to face mask and have a warm bath with lavender oil at least a few times a week.

3.Do something you love – we all have something we love to do but the excuse is always that we don’t have the time to do it. How about this, yes you do. I am not saying do everything at once because that is not realistic but pick one thing you find joy in and make it apart of your weekly routine.

My self love activity – I take private dance classes once a week and am planning to incorporate yoga very soon.

4.Learn to say no – this was one of the hardest tasks for me. Saying no is something most of us feel guilty about. The thought of saying no for me was something I was so uncomfortable with. I always worried about letting people down, or making someone feel bad. Learning to say no to things you don’t want to do or to things you don’t want in your life takes a lot of strength and when you can learn how to say no you will regain so much control and happiness over your life. Only say yes to things that bring positivity and value to your life.

How I say no – this was the hardest thing to start doing for myself. I have learned how to say no to events or plans I can’t or don’t want to attend, I have learned to say no to favours that are asked where I am always the one giving. I still catch myself saying yes to things and then after realizing I should have said no, but this whole self-care, thing like anything, is a work in progress.

5.Nails done, hair done, everything did – ya thats right go get yourself feeling good again. Take some time to love yourself and take care of yourself. Taking the time to do these little things will make you feel better and confident with yourself.

My favourite things to do for myself – getting my hair done, monthly facials and peels, pedicures are a must. To be honest with you, I love being pampered but after having my son I stopped taking care of myself. Recently I started doing these things for myself again and it truly makes a difference in how I feel.

6.Journaling – writing thoughts and intentions down will help guide you and set you on the path for success. Making a to do list is something most of us do but we really don’t think to make a list of the goals for our life and what we want to set out and accomplish. Writing your thoughts and intentions can help you with your goals and provide clarity to your thoughts.

How I journal – I recently started journaling good old pen and paper style. For each month I set my intentions, what I hope happens and what goals I hope to achieve. I also journal daily. In my daily journal I write down important things that happened in the day, things that brought me happiness and positivity, and things that made me feel anxious or brought negative feelings on. This is a way for me to keep track of things I want to keep in my life and things I want to get rid of.

Take care of yourself, love yourself, you are worth more than you know.