By Clementine Hall

With Valentine’s Day out of the way, it’s time to focus on yourself and give yourself a bit of self-love during these difficult times.

It’s hard to keep a positive mindset at the moment, so below are 5 ideas to help you stay stress free and motivated to help you live your best life.

1. Eat a balanced diet

You need to take care of your body if you want it to run efficiently and a huge part of this is your diet. Unfortunately, the reality is that the most convenient food is the most unhealthy.

A good way to start is at least once a day, take time to prepare a healthy meal with fresh ingredients.

On top of this, make it a priority to drink plenty of water and fill your house with healthy snacks such as fruit instead of crisps, chocolate etc to take away the temptation.

Of course, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t treat yourself once in a while but by making these small changes the benefits you will see are well worth it.

Eating a balanced diet and drinking plenty of water can go a long way towards your mental wellbeing

2. Sleep

Getting enough sleep is hugely important to a healthy lifestyle, it’s recommended that everyone gets seven to eight hours of sleep every night.

It’s not only the amount of sleep you get that is important but the quality of your sleep. Turn your phone or laptop off an hour before bed time and limit your caffeine intake after 4pm.

By letting your body settle into a night routine and by going to sleep at the same time each night, your internal clock will be more relaxed and you’ll have loads more energy in the morning.

Always listen to your body and allow it the time to reboot!

Getting enough sleep is hugely important to a healthy lifestyle – we need 7 or 8 hours per night!

3. Social self care

Socialisation is an important part of self-care, maintaining close connections with loved ones is key to your wellbeing and good mental state.

Obviously this one takes a different form in lockdown. For now, make sure you’re checking in on your friends and family via phone call or FaceTime to see how they are. And when the time comes arrange walks in the fresh air with a loved one to nurture those relationships that are important to you.

Socialisation is an important part of self-care

4. Find your stress reliever

Learning how to deal with stress in a healthy way can dramatically relieve stress from your busy life. If you lead a hectic life it is important to find your own personal stress reliever that works for you. Whether that be trying out meditation as a way to clear and relax your mind or simply reading a book or doing a puzzle to focus your mind on something else for a short while.

Whatever it may be, having a healthy outlet for stress relief can help reset your mind and deal with any stress that may have built up over the course of the day.

Learning how to deal with stress in a healthy way can dramatically relieve stress

5. Give yourself a break

A lot of the time we forget to allow ourselves time to just stop and take a break from life. It’s equally important to spend time with your friends and family as it is to spend some time alone. Whether this be relaxing in a hot bath, going for a run, writing in a journal or anything in-between.

It doesn’t matter what it is and it doesn’t have to be for a huge amount of time, what is important is that spending time alone is crucial to maintaining good mental health.

Spending time alone is crucial to maintaining good mental health.

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