For the Month of Love.....

This is the month to remember those you love (hopefully this happens a bit more often than just Valentine's day) but don't forget about filling yourself up so you are able to give even more! Now, not all self-care activities involve going for a walk or meditating. There are also quite a few creative activities that will channel your inner artist or writer, and still provide excellent self care benefits. These are things you can do throughout your day to re-center and remember to breath.  Here are some creative and artistic activities to help you practice self care.

Coloring Books
Adult coloring books have been popular for a while, and they are definitely not going anywhere. There are now many different types of coloring books, depending on what you are interested in. You can get gardens and flowers, animals and creatures, or even coloring books with curse words to have a little fun with them. This allows you to be creative and de-stress by simply coloring and not having to worry about anything.  I do coloring pages with my daughter and it really does wonders for my mood. 

Drawing or Painting
Here is another super easy way to be creative and artistic, but also practice self care. Self care doesn’t have any hard or fast rules. It is simply about doing activities that makes you feel good about yourself and can distract you from what is causing you stress and help you spend more time focusing on yourself. You want to make sure all your time is not spent working, cleaning, or taking care of your kids. You should also have some hobbies and activities you truly enjoy just for yourself. Grab a sketchbook and some art tools to draw, sketch, or paint as you wish.  Keep your perfectionist away from this time of self care!  This is about having fun, it is definitely a non judgement zone. To make this simple I like to get one of my drawing books to give me an idea of what to draw so I don’t even have to really think about that part of it.

A New Craft or Hobby
What better way to express your creative side than to learn something brand new? This is the perfect opportunity to get out there and try a new craft or form of art. You don’t have to be naturally artistic to be creative and enjoy any type of creative activity. I love taking a class to learn something new!  There are many community centers that have classes and also there are instructional videos on You tube. Doing the activity isn’t the only way to taking better care of yourself, but also in learning how to do it. Think of some hobbies you always wondered about, like oil painting, making jewelry or metal stamping, or giving sewing or knitting a try.
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Writing
Not all forms of being creative for self care have to do with art and crafts projects. You can also start writing, which can be very therapeutic for you. This can be anything from writing in a journal to writing short stories or working on a novel. One good practice to start writing is to set a timer for 8-10 minutes, then just start writing whatever comes to mind. Continue writing without taking a break until the timer goes off.  There are also books available that give a subject or a theme if you want a little help.  I will post a link below.
 
https://smile.amazon.com/300-Writing-Prompts-Complete-Exploration-ebook/dp/B074B8MRND/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1550073772&sr=8-7&keywords=300+writing+prompts+book

Have a great rest of your week!

XOXO,
Jules