Showing posts with label Love Yourself. Show all posts

Self Care Awareness Month


September is Self Care Awareness Month and this is a topic we take very seriously here at Osmosis! So many of us live such busy lives, especially as summer's leisure ends and the hustle and bustle of the coming seasons quickly approach without warning, we can easily forget about our own health and wellness (and sanity). This month, we are going to challenge every one of you to take small moments each day to take care of YOU! Whether you take two minutes here and there throughout the day to breathe and be present, or a full hour once a day to focus your mind and energy on yourself, we want to help bring awareness to the importance of self care in the midst of a fast-paced life. Read on to discover 10 small steps you can take to empower your own self care and wellness.


1. Create a morning routine.
Your morning sets the tone for the rest of your day. Take advantage of small moments to yourself at breakfast, in the shower, or two minutes on the porch to get your mind right and prepare your body, thoughts, and energies for the day ahead. Try these quick morning stretches and yoga poses to help get you up and at 'em!
2. Get lost in a book.
Reading not only helps exercise the mind, but it also serves as a simple activity that gives you some quiet time to spend with yourself. Diving into a good book offers a moment's escape from reality so you can recharge and temporarily withdraw into your own mind.


3. Cook a meal.
If you love to cook, it can serve as a creative outlet for you. If you're like some of us, who are on the "take-out is way easier" game plan, we encourage you to give it a shot! Follow a simple recipe like one of these, and challenge yourself in the kitchen to gain a sense of accomplishment and a tasty meal to enjoy!


4. Get serious about skincare.
Your skincare routine is important. You know that. But, when you prioritize this piece of your self-care regimen, you're actually doing more than just washing your face. Set this time aside to spend with yourself and make the most of it! Turn on your favorite jams, apply a mask, and treat yourself to a daily at-home spa. You and your skin put up with a lot, you deserve it.
5. Utilize your time in the car.
Whether you commute to work or have a quick five minute drive to drop the kids off at school, utilize your time alone in the car to decompress, breathe, and center yourself for just that moment, or rock out to your favorite songs!

6. Meditate.
Meditation doesn't have to mean sitting in silence and trying to focus for hours at time. Meditation is achieving mindfulness between the physical and the spiritual and allowing yourself to reboot mentally in small moments. Not sure how to start? Find a meditation method that's right for you.
7. Treat yourself once a week.
You deserve it. Life is short. Treat yo' self. What more reason do you need? We need to stop trying to convince ourselves that we don't have time, don't "need" it, or "probably shouldn't". Within reason, give yourself one treat a week to pamper and reward yourself! We love Jennifer Anniston's Sunday routine!

 8. Make time for "me time".
Prioritize your me-time in any way you can. Take a moment to yourself to walk the dog, fold the laundry, or watch your favorite TV show. Me-time can be found in the simplest tasks and will do wonders for your self care and stamina.

9. Create an evening ritual.
Just as your morning routine kick-starts your day, it is essential to create a nighttime ritual to help wind down your mind and body to prepare it for adequate rest. Try a soothing, caffeine-free tea, lavender essential oils, or an evening meditation or prayer to soothe and settle.

10. Allow expression.
One of the most important self-care practices is to allow yourself to feel and express. Society teaches us to "be tough" and that emotions equal weakness. This could not be farther from the truth. Tend to your feelings and emotions, express them freely!


Start small, and start within. Take these steps one at a time where you can and build up to all ten! Don't overlook yourself and your needs, you're important and you're worth it!
Care, Empower, Love Yourself,
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Self Love: Practicing Acceptance




Buckle up Osmosis beauties, this post is about to get deep! In honor of the month of love we wanted to reach out to you and remind you just how important  and beautiful you are! Self love is an incredibly difficult practice to master. With the media telling us we should look one way and our brains telling us why we are not good enough and our own fear getting in the way of our potential, we wanted to provide you with some tips to help snuff out those thoughts and get you on track to an incredible life, where you are the self-loving star!

1. Brain Talk: Our brains are so vast and science has hit many strides in understanding the human psychology, but there are still so many emotional reactions that have yet to be understood by science, it's hard sometimes to navigate how to solve them. Many of us feel that fear, self doubt, and our abilities to be incredibly hard on ourselves should be completely ignored, or removed from our thoughts to function, BUT we actually need those emotions to grow so there can be room for both positive and negative thoughts. So many times we try to ignore the negative, pushing the bad feeling down as deep as they can go. Unfortunately that only helps those thoughts fester, until they pop up without warning, sending us into a bit of a tailspin. Instead of shying away from the negative, try our  Body Talk exercise, even if you have a positive view of your body, you can replace the body part with an emotion. Do this meditation once a week, working on a different issue/emotion each time. Allow yourself to feel both positive and negative emotions, let them live together and provide a harmonious friendship between the two. You'll find that forcing your good and bad emotions to work together can provide you with great insight and power.

2. Mirror Challenge: Ladies, listen up! We have all had those days where our jeans don't fit right, we regret what we ate the night before, we feel unattractive and can't bare to look in the mirror. When those feelings hit, do just that! Strip and stand in front of your mirror. Take a good, loving look at your body. Give it a little respect by thanking it for getting you to today. Thank your legs (just how they are) for carrying you through your life. Thank your midsection for housing your vital organs, thank your arms for giving you the strength to lift yourself and others up each day. Thank your face and head, for housing your powerful, wonderful brain and for providing yourself with expression that lets others know just who you are. Do this every morning before you hop in the shower and continue to do it until you believe it, because you are beautiful just the way you are!

3. One hour of self work: One hour a day, is something you should gift yourself. Turn off your phone, your TV, and your laptop. Take this time to just sit with yourself, journal, talk to yourself, draw, do something that can give you insight. This time is for you to navigate through your feelings. Explore what you can do for yourself, explore what toxins (literal or figurative) should be cleansed from your life. At the end of each week, take a mental inventory of what came up in your daily hours. Journal how you feel about them and ideas that can help polish them up, then put that plan into action the following week. Keep the focus small and attainable.


4. Accept that you are who you are: Once you have done these three exercises for at least thirty days, reflect on how you feel about yourself. Accept that some of your "flaws" are what makes you who you are, accept that you now have the power to let those "flaws" live in harmony with your strengths. Admire the power you have to compartmentalize your good and bad emotions. If you find you need a little extra help with this, take a few pumps of Body Talk to give you a little extra boost. Post a little affirmation to your bathroom mirror so you can see it every morning. It can be as simple as a post-it with the word "Acceptance" on it.

We know that some of these tasks may seem silly, but the first step to loving yourself is to be just a little silly! Check out our year of Empowerment and let us know here, how your journey is going!
Body Talk, Inner Beauty, Lifestyle,
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