How To Level Up Your Self Care Routine At Home

6 wellness antidotes we’re putting to good use.

Tune out of the craziness and upend your schedule in the name of channelling a little R&R. The caveat? Each antidote won’t be everyone’s pot of English breakfast, so pick and choose the ones that resonate and call them your own. And let’s be clear: self care isn’t indulgent. It’s necessary. So, let’s get to it, my fellow homebody.

Set Boundaries
With our work-life moving into our personal space, switching off is harder to do than ever. Channel the adage, “if it costs you your peace, it’s too expensive” with a strict clock-off time and aeroplane mode thereafter unless it’s an emergency... like, the marketing team went rogue or something. For more on seizing your workday, peruse Cal Newman’s book, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World.

Watch The Sunrise
Since you’re already waking up early to do a respectably-distanced run, set your alarm 30 minutes earlier to catch the sunrise from your car… or your bedroom window. Wherever suits. You might even get inspired to journal three gratitudes about the day prior – the ultimate pick-me-up. It’s time well spent, trust us.

Take A Bath
Transcend the day in warm, but not scalding bubbly water. Hot enough that your Epsom salts or magnesium crystals melt (you’ll need them after this workout). Next, drizzle a few drops of essential oil in the flavour of your choice. Ahh, lavender and ylang-ylang? Magnifique! Showers are for chumps. P.S. while you wait for the temperature to be perfect – an elusive activity much like waiting for an avocado to ripen – body brush your skin in an upwards motion. It helps to slough off cells past their prime and directs blood flow to the lymph nodes. Your skin will be writing you gratitudes, soon.

Home-Salon Staples

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The Starter Set

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Bring The Salon To You
Welcome to your at-home parlour. What better way to feel like you’ve actually clocked off than a ‘Facial Time!’ calendar reminder? If you’re being super coy, it’ll be more like ‘FaceTime!’. Start with a facial massage. They’re at the height of the beauty trend curve as they boost circulation and give the allusion of having slept for 12 hours in a really comfortable hammock. Take it a notch further, try stimulating your lymphatic system with a guasha tool or rose quartz roller. Both allow your fave serums or oils to deeply penetrate the skin, so we’re not playing favourites here. Also on the treatment menu is multi-masking: AKA DIY blends applied to affected areas. For instance, take a blend of coconut yoghurt, camu camu and matcha (and apply to areas in need of hydration and radiance) or rose water and pink clay mixed to a spreadable consistency (apply to areas that need a detox, like the chin around that time). You’re gleaming, darling.

Fruits Of Your Labour
While the #1 activity between cooking and eating embroiled in controversy, the thing we can agree on is: NOTHING beats home-made food. If your day also involves a) thinking about meal breaks and b) planning what to cook tomorrow, revisiting your autumnal cooking repertoire is an activity you’ll relish in. Could you do with more dinner or sweet-treat recipes up your gloriously-flared-but-daringly-long-ahem-always-gets-dirty sleeve? Think juicy stews, fudgy brownies and warming vegetable-based curries. An ode to the new season, if you will.

Invest In Your PM Routine
Dedicate your free time post-dinner to a sleep routine rather than inhaling 6 episodes of Schitt’s Creek. After closing my laptop two hours prior, I decompress by spraying a mix of lavender and peppermint mist around the room and put my legs up the wall, known as viparita karani in the yogic tradition. According to Harvard, getting quality shut-eye – a by-product of a well-executed PM routine – makes way for memory consolidation, allows your hormone and immune systems to thrive and helps you concentrate the next day. *If you didn’t get your recommended 7 to 10 hours slumber, try the hack that is a lunchtime nap – as long as you keep it to 20 minutes (any longer and you’ll feel worse). Ta da: fresh-faced and wide-eyed!

If you take one thing away, it’s to be kinder to yourself. That’s the best self-care there is! If that means a fifth cup of tea or three scarves on all at once, then so be it. Proud of you already.

Find your own self care kit.