Gardening Mental Health Mindfulness Self-Care

Self care

The darker and longer evenings, the clock changes, the cold. It happens every year, yet, it seems to come as a shock and impacts my mental health quite a lot. I’m used to long evenings at the allotment, basking in the setting sun, and listening to the birds greeting the warm evenings to the setting sun.

 

A Rheumatologist that I used to work for told me that in the UK, we don’t absorb natural Vitamin D from the sun from October to April. When my Vitamin D drops, so does my mood, and rapidly. Apparently, most people in the UK will suffer this dip too. So if you feel like this, you’re not alone. I take a Vitamin D spray, but please see your GP for a blood test if you feel this may be the problem.

 

Keeping myself occupied in the Winter months is my main problem. I have plenty of things that I want to do but going to work or college and coming home in the dark, leaves me a bit exhausted.

 

SO. I have made an important decision and that’s to dedicate Sunday’s to self-care. It doesn’t mean I am going to ditch my family for the day so I can meditate. It’s more about making small choices to be kind to yourself in little ways. Whether it be a bath, tidying up and shuffling around the house, taking time to write a blog, maybe a little exercise or even a healthy meal; all are within my power.

 

I have been trying to join a gym for about two months now but with flare ups and now a chesty cold, it hasn’t been the right time. I bought some gym clothes with a voucher for my birthday and have been too afraid to even try them on, but today I am going to set myself the task of wearing them, getting comfortable in them and maybe even trying some exercise at home. Small steps.

 

It’s really hard to be consistently mindful about yourself. It’s easy to get caught up in what life is throwing at you, and that’s okay, but sometimes you have to take a step back.

 

To feel low is normal. There’s nothing wrong with you. I feel that the phrase ‘be kind’ has sort of lost its meaning in the last few years. We all know from the pandemic that this phrase was completely overused. But taking steps to love who you are and what you are is always okay. It’s okay to love yourself and what you do. Be proud about the person that you are. There is only one of you.

 

So settle into self care Sunday. Chat with a friend. Make that extra cup of coffee. Sift through your favourite charity shop. Make that cake. Do something for you and smile secretly inside knowing that no one else knows that you just loved yourself.

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