There’s no denying that the 24/7 news cycle and the pandemic has been exhausting, tiring and seemingly never ending. We’re being reminded that we need to exercise self care to look after ourselves, as much as we take the time to look after our loved ones. 

The care and support that goes into helping ourselves is often put on the backburner. Whether you are someone who is helping support a loved one, have a career in the NDIS or home care space or just looking to find ways to get support workers for yourself, it can be tiring and exhausting to keep on top of everything. Because of this, our self-care series is aimed at helping you build in moments of time to destress and for your mental wellbeing. 

We want to be of support to our community, our goal with tappON is to reduce the time and energy you put into managing your supports so you can focus on living your life. We’ve had some suggestions come through from the community and we want to encourage you to send through your self care tips and tricks that help you. 

A QUICK TIP:

So today we want to give you a quick tip that was passed to us from a local psychologist. Finding moments of mindfulness in the day doesn’t mean you need a degree or to undertake a course in transcendental meditation. No matter where you are right now, you can take 15-30 seconds to just notice where you are using one of your 5 senses.

• If you’re outside, try looking around to take in and notice nature and focus on it for 15-30 seconds.
• If you’re washing your hands, pay attention to the feeling of running water.
• Can you hear birds chirping?

That’s all it can take to break up your day and help your brain refocus itself into the now. 

Self care is a practice that helps us come back to the current moment and to not get swept away with the news cycle or into the what if scenarios of the pandemic. But just focusing ourselves on the current moment. 

SLEEP AND SELF CARE

In other self care articles, we’ve addressed the importance of sleep and the role it plays in our health. Our sleep patterns have been shown to affect both our mental and physical health. It’s a key time for our body to reboot and refresh from daily stresses. 

Many smartphones now have free apps or features you can use to track your sleeping patterns. While you’re getting started, here are a few tips below that you can use to begin improving your sleep today:

• Try to set a routine you can go to bed around the same time.
• Have a ritual of going to bed to mentally prepare yourself for sleep. 
  • For example, a favourite pair of pajamas that you look forward to putting on, or listening to calm music.
• Keep your phone away from your bed if you can, to resist the temptation to pick it up
• Limit phone use 1 hour before bed. 

When we start to look at our sleep patterns and start to get a good night’s rest, our ritual for sleep will naturally occur earlier in the day.