Keep searching for more ideas and inspiration, always be open to trying something new or having fun with different self care ideas, so don't just limit yourself if you found something that works for you, that's great, but don't just limit yourself to that for all of eternity. Hey, ladies, welcome back for another episode of the Ashlee Jaine show. I am your host and guide Ashlee Jaine sharing all things advice and actionable tips on how you can glow up and show up as the very best version of yourself. Now, today's episode will be a little brief, I would imagine. I really just want to put this out there because self-care is so important. And if you are someone who is not already incorporating self-care into your daily or weekly routine, this episode is for you because self-care is another one of those life changing habits to create and to live your life by now, you've all heard the saying I'm sure you can't pour from an empty cup, and that is essentially where self-care comes into play. You need to take care of yourself. There is a reason why when you're in the airplane and the flight attendant tells you to always grab your mask before helping others because you have to help yourself before you can help others. It's as simple as that in every aspect of life doesn't matter if it's because you're hopefully you're not in an airplane crash or anything like that, but this holds true in work and family and relationships in everything.

So self care, self self-care, ladies. I cannot stress it enough. The importance of it is so critical to just your overall health and happiness and life. All right. So if you are not doing it weekly or daily, I would highly recommend figuring out where you can squeeze it in. And I'm actually going to share some self-care tips before I share some self-care ideas. But to avoid feeling burnout and fatigue and negative, and just all of the things lacking clarity and direction in life, all of the things overall unhappiness, and in order to show up as our best self, we need to incorporate self-care and whatever self-care practices you choose from my list, I just recommend that you find ones that are sustainable to you and to your lifestyle. If it's something that is way out of reach for you and that you don't feel like you can do consistently, then move on to the other idea or try implementing a different self-care action, or maybe even a different variation of that self-care action itself. So whatever it is, make sure that it's sustainable and that you can be consistent with it, and you can even switch things up from time to time if there is something that you enjoy doing and of course, that you can be consistent with. All right. Another tip when it comes to self-care and incorporating self-care is that you want to make sure that you are making routine of it.

So that's where the consistency comes in, whether it's in the morning or whether it's at night. Those two usually are the ones that work best, whether in order to stay on top of things. And by the way, just having a solid morning routine and a solid night routine in general is so satisfying. So if you don't have those already, then I would definitely highly recommend hopping on board to create a very productive and nurturing morning and night routine. Ok, so this also gives you the timing so you can, like block out time to not let other things get in the way of you practicing self-care. If you try to just wing it or play it by ear or insert it in the day whenever you have a free chance, chances are that free time is not going to pop up and you won't actually be able to practice your self-care actions. So by inserting it into some sort of routine, whether that's morning or night, you're not only creating habit, you're not only being consistent, but you are also ensuring that nothing else will get in the way of it. And the last tip that I will share when it comes to self-care is just keep searching for more ideas and inspiration. Always be open to trying something new or having fun with different self-care ideas.

So don't just limit yourself if you found something that works for you, that's great. But don't just let. Commit yourself to that for all of eternity. Feel free to switch it up and just do insert or take away whatever you feel you need to do. Whatever suits your soul best. Ok, so I'm going to share some free self-care ideas, and I'm also going to share some paid self-care ideas now, starting with the free. This is my favorite, and that's why I named it first. It's taking a bath, especially in the wintertime. There's just something about baths and warming my body up that is so magical. But those few minutes or however long your baths are to yourself, are so peaceful. They're so enjoyable. And who can be upset or anxious or stressed or angry when you're soaking in a tub of warm water and maybe even spice it up a little bit, maybe even throw in some bath salts or some essential oils or some bubble bath, whatever it looks like for you. Some rose petals you can get real fancy if you want to, but baths are such an easy and attainable self-care idea, so I love that one. Going for a walk any time you have the opportunity to get outside, get in nature that is always going to be relieving and is always going to help provide clarity to you, whether you are overwhelmed with work or maybe there's something going on in your personal life.

Walk it out. Walking and even running if you're a runner is an excellent option for a self-care idea. Gratitude journals. I just did a podcast on gratitude. You can go back and listen to it if you would like. It is parked on whatever podcast app you are listening to this on, but get yourself a gratitude journal or start the practice of writing down things that you are grateful for. So it doesn't necessarily have to be in a journal. And I actually throw out some other ideas in that podcast, but saying or writing what you're thankful for and what you have gratitude towards is always going to be a good self-care practice to put yourself in a positive mindset. And speaking of positive mindsets, this is another one of my personal favorites and that is creating a favorite song playlist. I literally have a playlist, actually have two different playlists of songs that just make me so happy. The first playlist is one that just kind of makes me want to dance and like, move to, and the other playlist is songs that just make me happy but are more of like a chill kind of positive happy vibes playlist. So get yourself and this is free like any sort of YouTube channel or any sort of music app that you have, you can just create playlists on and whether it is dancing or whether it is just like sitting in your car.

This, honestly, I should have added this because sitting in my car and listening to happy music is one of my favorites for self-care. Like who would have ever thought that there would be so much peace and calming and just sitting in your car in the driveway? I never would have dreamt it, but I found that after I had kids and you know, dogs, it's like any time I'm in the house, someone usually needs something. And when I'm in my car and nobody necessarily knows that I'm here yet, I can just, like, sit there and have a moment to myself. So maybe you can relate to that as well. And speaking of listening to things, you can also watch or listen to some sort of inspiring content, whether that's podcasts like these. Or maybe it's YouTube videos that you find inspiring where people are giving motivational speeches. Or maybe it's like a Ted X does not matter. Just find that inspiring content and consume it however you see fit, whether it's watch, listen, whatever it may be. This is always going to be a good sure way to make sure that you have a positive mindset to make sure that you are being inspired. There's so much to be said for staying inspired because when we feel uninspired, we feel unhappy and unmotivated.

So do whatever you can to incorporate inspirational content into your day to day life. It will change your mindset completely, I promise. You can also try reading If you are a reader, I like to be read too. So I like Audible and I like podcasts, and that's how I consume my inspirational content. But if you like to read, take some time. Maybe it's that night before you go to sleep and read a few pages of your favorite book. Hopefully it's an inspiring one or happy one, and not some sort of dramatic or traumatizing type. Book maybe about serial killers or murder. Or whatever, but it takes some time for yourself to read and organizing or decluttering. Not too many people realize the association between stress and anxiety and the clutter that they have in their world. So if you can eliminate clutter? Think of it as decluttering equals clarity. It really just opens up that mental space for you to kind of operate at a different level than you do when you live in a house or an office or have a desk full of clutter. And I know that you can relate to this because I know that if you have a million things on your desk at work, it's hard for you to operate. Imagine having like a million piles of paper and just like things all over the place, it's so hard for you to concentrate.

And same with your home. So any of your personal space? Just make sure it's organized and cluttered. And it's really, honestly, it's satisfying to organize and declutter. At least for me, it is. So it is one of my go to methods any time I'm feeling stressed or anxious, and I need that moment of self-care and I need that moment of mental clarity. I tend to just look around, look at my space that I'm operating out of and figure out what needs to be cluttered. Exercise is so underrated. Exercise releases endorphins which make you happy. So why would you not incorporate exercise to your self-care routine? And this is actually killing two birds with one stone because you're taking care of your mind and you're taking care of your body, so exercise any o