Indulging In Self-Care

Written by The Strategy

More often than not, indulging in self-care has taken a backseat in our lives. We’re too tired after a long day of work to massage our face. There’s no time to dry brush before a morning shower, because we’ve slept through our alarms once again. And, after sitting in traffic for an hour, the idea of putting together an indulgent bath seems like too much work. Netflix and a glass of wine is an easier option. All these things would make us feel better in the end, but, we neglect them when time is precious and we are caught up in the rat-race.

While it is frustrating to be stuck out home during this crazy time we find ourselves in, the silver lining is that we finally have the time to indulge in ourselves a little. We’re talking about not just leaving self-care to Sundays, but adding little activities to our daily routines that are going to make a huge difference.

Dry Brushing

There are many proven benefits to dry brushing. It helps exfoliate your skin, reduces the appearance of cellulite, eliminates toxins and increases circulation. Now that most of our morning commutes is the short distance from the bedroom to the kitchen, start your day with a pre-shower dry brush. Moving from your feet to your chest, sweep your dry brush in upwards motions. It may seem like it won’t do much, but including doing all of the above, it helps to energize you as well.

DR. BARBARA STURM THE BODY BRUSH FROM REVOLVE.COM

Stretching

Stretching is an act so simple and mundane, that many of us never do it. A simple stretch every morning, whether before or after your shower, feels amazing. We’re doing ours twice a day. A stretch in the morning to wake us up, and a stretch before bed to work out the muscles that spent 8 hours hunched over a computer.

Lunch

This one seems obvious, but on one too many occasions, we’ve skipped lunch in favour of continuing our work. Taking a lunch is actually so important for your mental health and has been proven to make your work much more effective. By taking a lunch, one where you step away from the computer, move to either a different room or away from your office, you clear your head and can refocus your attention when you sit down to work once again. While you may feel the need to rush back to your desk, take at least 30 minutes to 1 hour to just relax and disconnect.

Exfoliate, Face Mask and Hydrate

Apparently we’ve been doing the face mask thing all wrong. For years, face masks have been something we slap on our faces while we have an extra 15-20 minutes to kill. After a little research, we learned about how exfoliating pre-face mask can actually make your mask so much more effective. Now, before every face mask, about 2-3 times a week, we’re exfoliating our faces before applying a face mask. When taking off the mask, your skin feels brighter and looks healthier. There’s also no point in coming this far to not hydrate properly. Hydrating is key! Take the time you have now to massage the moisturizers into your skin in the direction you want the skin to stay. We also have been taking things one step further and massaging our faces, necks and chests, with a beauty roller.

VERSED LOOK ALIVE HYDRATING PLUMPING MASK FROM REVOLVE.COM

GOOPGLOW MICRODERM INSTANT GLOW EXFOLIATOR

UPLIFT BODY SONIC MASSAGING BEAUTY ROLLER

Up Your Bath Game

Team TS loves a good bath. Now that we have a little extra time on our hands, we’re stepping up our bath game. Create the most luxurious bath with a bath salt target to your needs (sore muscles, high stress, etc.), candles to set the tone and body wash that leave our skin so smooth and smelling divine. Take it one step further by setting up your Netflix on a bench or chair nearby and enjoy and episode of your latest TV obsession.