A pair of lower legs and feet with orange toenail polish, covered in bubbles, resting against the edge of a bathtub. In the background is a textured brown wall.

Nightly bubble baths. Good chocolate. Journaling. Weekly massage.

All things I’ve seen suggested for self-care. Lovely ideas, and if you can actually put them into practice, great! But for most of us, they’re not entirely practical. And anyways, you can’t solve exhaustion, burnout, or general existential dread with a manicure and chai tea.

Lasting and meaningful self-care includes working on the things that compromise our quality of life. Maybe that’s a sleep issue or nagging pain that creeps up between massage treatments. How can you meet yourself where you are at and improve your stiffness or poor sleep? Maybe stressing about being disorganized is wearing you down. How can you work on that? I have a few ideas and go-to resources for some of the most common stressors we face. I hope you find a few of them helpful.

Aches, pains, and gentle rehab

For light stretching and strengthening, relief from common aches and pains, I love Dr. Jo https://www.youtube.com/c/AskDoctorJo. You’ll find short, easy to follow videos that are easy to fit into your daily routine. Bookmark your favorite in your browser and make an effort to do it a few times a week, or whatever works for you.

Boardwalk and pine trees near Canmore, Alberta with Rocky Mountains in the background.

Nature

A little bit of green is so helpful that “Forest Bathing” is an actual prescribed treatment for stress in Japan. https://time.com/5259602/japanese-forest-bathing/ But you don’t need a forest to benefit from nature. A short walk in the sunlight, or watering and looking for new buds on a hearty houseplant by a window, can provide a break for your nervous system and help you stay even-keeled. In Calgary, where I live, there are so many parks and greenspaces. Nose Hill, Confederation Park, Bowmont Park, and Dale Hodges Park are a few of my favourites, and I love spending time there. If I have a bit more time, the mountains are less than an hour from my house, and there is nothing like some mountain air and scenery to make me feel calm and refreshed.

Your habitat

Lives are complicated and messy, and that can make our environments complicated and messy. Very few of us have the time or resources or motivation needed to keep a very clean, easy-to-live-in home. On top of that, there’s an awful lot of moral weight put on cleanliness and organization, so if you’re not awesome at it, there can be shame involved (which is the worst possible motivator, ugh.)

If you have a hard time getting moving or creating a routine with care tasks, check out Struggle Care https://www.strugglecare.com/. You’ll find all kinds of resources, created by a licensed professional therapist, to help you drop the shame and find what makes a functional home for you.

Russian Blue cat sleeping on white duvet

Getting your Zzzzzzs

Sleep stories are great tools for people who have trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep. Sleep stories read by Matthew McConaughey and Kate Winslet are even better. The Calm app https://www.calm.com/ has lots of meditations for all ages, all times of day or night, including recordings designed to calm your nervous system and help you sleep.

Movement

This doesn’t have to mean ‘exercise’. And it doesn’t have to mean taking the stairs or parking super far away from the door of the supermarket. Movement can be small, joyful, and spontaneous. Shake your legs out or march in place while you do the dishes (improving circulation in legs), reach up to tap the top of every doorway you walk through (moving through shoulder range of motion), or kick up a 2-minute dance party while you heat up your lunch (that’s just fun). It all counts and you’ll probably feel good about it.

Go slow

Pick one thing. Just one thing. And add it to your life. When you’ve got the hang of that, maybe add another thing. Oh, and schedule a massage. You’ll thank yourself later.

Self-care for real life.