Please feel free to share your stories of how certain little self-care rituals changed your life for the better and have made you proud you started doing them.
Allow yourself to be bored at times.
No social media, no YouTube, no music, no doom scrolling looking for content, don’t give yourself a task to complete, don’t start cleaning.
Be there, in the moment, with yourself.
Let your mind wander.
And if it wanders to some dark places confront that darkness. Don’t run away, don’t let it fester. Face those inner demons.
I find a good way to do this at first is to go somewhere surrounded by nature with little to no people.
I have a specific place I go to out in the local wilderness area that is incredibly hard to get to and very isolated.
You don’t have to go so far but it needs to be a place free from distractions.
Traditional shaving with straight razor.
200 € for a razor that you’ll keep for life compared to 60 € of blades every 6 month, you quickly win
It’s a fun time taking care of yourself in the bathroom
This! I use a DE but the same principle applies. The ritual feels good, the soaps and splashes smell good, and it leaves you looking good. I started wet shaving during the pandemic as a form of self care and am still at it (almost done with my second tub of shave soap). I have also taught my tweenage son wet shaving and gave him my first DE, a gentle Japanese model, to learn.
Spend some money on decent grooming products, get some decent shower gel, a facial cleanser, moisturiser. I didn’t touch fragrances/colognes until I was in my 40s and couldn’t believe the confidence it gave when I found one I liked.
get your eyes adjusted first thing in the morning by staring at the bright outside until it no longer burns
I have a few. I cycled to work, gets me outside and gives me time to decompress after work. I also listen to a book or podcast which helps. I shower and shave after work. I shave with a safety razor brush and soap. It requires more care and attention than a multi blades razor or electric shaver, nice smelling soaps etc help with this. It’s a little ritual that lets me take care of myself. I walk the dog regularly and try to spend time nature when I can. Lastly I keep a journal. I started with Mind Journal which has a whole set of electrodes to ease you into it and help put things in perspective. I highly recommend it for someone who thinks they might benefit from journaling but doesn’t know where to start.
I have a different problem with journaling. I totally know where to start but it feels like a waste of time. They drilled into our heads in grad school that the greatest minds of our time swear by journaling, but it seems so pointless. I did it for the classes that required it but felt I got no benefit and did not continue afterwards.
They say it is a way to apply PDSA to your life but I do that just fine without writing it down. Same goes for the Pygmalion effect; I can explicitly state my goals without writing them in a book, without spending the time to write it out and then more time to read it later.
I stopped using social media. Facebook was easy, just deleted it. Instagram was step by step, first I unfollowed all the pages that I don’t know personally. Then I only used the “Following” timeline. When I only had a new photo in my feed every other day, I realized that this platform had nothing to offer me. I left Twitter when Mr. X comes around and switched to Mastodon. And I don’t think I have to explain to anyone here why I no longer use Reddit…
… he says on social media ;)
Yeah, i know. But Lemmy don’t feel like Social Media to me… More like a Internet forum.
What you call social media is corporate attention harvesting I’d say while Lemmy seams to be real social media.
We need more things in this world that are user focused.
forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos)
Definition wise, it‘s clearly social media. I get it though, the corporate giants feel more rage bait-y due to the algorithms they employ.
I’m nonbinary so not a man but using moisturizer before bed has done miracles for my skin.
If you have longer hair, I don’t care what you say about cheap shampoo, use a halfway decent shampoo. Ask your hairstylist or barber and actually listen to them. Additionally, if you want longer hair, go to a hairstylist and if you want shorter hair, go to a barber.
Clothes have no gender unless you operate certain parts with your penis. It’s better to have something fit well from the women’s section than something that doesn’t fit from the men’s. You might need to have an honest conversation with yourself if you’ve got a more feminine figure or not. Additional tip: If you’re a legitimately small person, the women’s section is a godsend. Aeropostale specifically specializes in the smallest sizes of jeans possible.
I dont know if its “for men”, but im a man:
Consistent workout schedule - sering progress in strength, stamina and appearance is extremly good for me.
I claimed the kitchen - after work, i shop for dinner, then throw the family out of the kitchen and cook - nice me-time and makes you a better cook.
Talking to a therapist when i feel i need it and 20mg of citalopram per day for my depression.
1: Walking home from work, timing it to go throughthe park at twilight, right on the edge of dark when your colour vision goes on the fritz and the chrominance is greater than the luminance. The grass bleeds colour but not light in a weird un-glow, and somehow it’s always cool and extra quiet. Does a body good. You never get any time in the dark that isn’t sleeping, you realise that? You never just experience the dark, it’s lights full-blast until you turn your brain off, and then back to the glare when you get up again.
2: To that end: take a shower in the dark, preferably pitch dark if you can manage it. Work out in advance where the taps/soap/towel is, and just go through the whole process as you normally would. It’s… weirdly sensual, and deeply, deeply relaxing.
3: Brown noise and rain nose together. simplynoise.com now wants to sell you shit, and hell with that - but head over to https://onlinetonegenerator.com/noise.html and select Brown noise. In another tab, head over to rainymood.com. You’ll want decent headphones for this, earbuds won’t do it justice.
4: Going to nude beaches. Not to gawk at people (seriously terrible venue for that in every respect), but to just wander around, bollocks waving in the breeze, and nobody even blinks. Someone else wanders past, tits akimbo, and you don’t even blink. Nobody cares, we just aren’t doing that right now, and when your brain realizes this, it’s the equivalent of taking your boots off after a long day. No social mask, you aren’t maintaining a posture wrt other people, there’s no eyeline politics, you can just be, and oh my fucking god you didn’t know you needed this. Also, swimming naked is like showering without socks on by comparison - and when was the last time you got direct sunlight on your balls?
You should try some dark ambient instead of noise. Some is more distracting than others but a lot of it is perfect for what you describe. Try Kammarheit.
During the summer months, I try to get in a few sessions a week of reading in the hammock with a cold drink. It’s a challenge to fit it in after work and before dinner, and some days are too hot, or rainy, or smoky, or the neighbors are loud, etc, but when I can make it work, even for a half hour or so, it’s a little slice of paradise just for me that keeps me sane.
I have yet to find an equivalent for the winter, but I won’t deny that I’ve measured for hooks to hang the hammock in the bedroom…
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As dumb and simple as it sounds, I’ve been enjoying walking. I walk the dog, even when it’s not my turn. I take a longer route sometimes, just to have some peace. Sometimes I listen to a podcast, sometimes music, sometimes nothing. Having space where no one is asking me things, I’m doing something healthy for my body and mind, and my best furry companion is enjoying it, too.
I think self care is best when it’s simple, low maintenance/energy, and not negative. Sure, some other responses are “a whiskey, a smoke” or whatever, but those are indulgences/luxuries. I think it’s good to have those things occasionally, but that’s not truly taking care of yourself. Something unhealthy for the body but pleasurable isn’t caring for yourself, in the best way.
travel alone if you have the means. go to your schedule, stop where you want, do what you want to do.
if thats not possible, alone time in general, just go for a walk. or a ride. enjoy being in a place and moment, whatever that is
Being outside
Playing some games alone
Sex
Jack off
Some days I just need to get stoned and have a wank.
