
Do you practice self-care? Do you have a regular self-care routine?
This year is one for the books. Not in a good way, though. What with a global pandemic, quarantine, murder bees, and now widespread protests and uncertainty, it’s easy to feel stressed out.
I know I have felt really stressed out in the past few weeks.
I am a fan of the show, Insecure, and in one episode, the characters Issa and Molly are going on a Self-Care Sunday hike.
What a great idea, I thought, to designate one day a week to make an extra effort to show yourself some love.
It doesn’t have to be a Sunday, necessarily, but I like Sunday because, for me, it was always my lazy day. I never did a lot of work, and usually used it to catch up on TV and maybe run some errands.
But, as you know, it’s necessary to recharge yourself. Having a Sunday self-care routine is not selfish, it’s actually quite beneficial.
In fact, to get you thinking about what you can do for your own personal Self-care Sunday, I made a list of 99+ ideas perfect for a self-care day.
Following a self-care regimen can lead to an improvement in your mood and a decrease in anxiety. It really is important in order to live a more balanced life.
So self-care should not be something you just do spontaneously. You should plan it and make it part of your schedule.
The thing about Self care Sunday, and self care routines in general, is that they can be tailored to whatever works for you.
You can have a few go-to activities that make you feel best, or you can try a new one each time.
Self care can be categorized into 6 forms: emotional, physical, social, practical, mental, and spiritual.
Emotional Self Care

These are activities that help you connect with your emotions, reflect on them, and process them.
Emotional self care is not about making yourself happy all day, every day.
That’s just impossible.
Because we are all faced with feelings like sadness, anger, loneliness, and other basically sucky feelings.
What emotional self care does, though, is to prepare you and give you the tools to better deal with these feelings when they occur.
It helps us to not be overwhelmed by whatever feelings we may be experiencing at the time.
It helps us to identify and express those feelings to ourselves and other people.
- Write in a journal
- Create some art
- Play music
- See or talk to a therapist
- Create a “no” list of things you don’t like to do
- Write in your journal
- Cry
- Recite some positive affirmations in the mirror
- Buy yourself some flowers
- Laugh
- Have a glass of your favorite wine
- Have a leisurely cup of coffee
- Give yourself a compliment or 10
- Define a new goal
- Make a vision board
- Smile
- Unfollow negative people on social media
- Talk to someone you trust about your feelings
- Listen to a positive podcast
- Do something that makes you happy
- Write a letter to someone who hurt you, then burn the letter and let it go
Physical Self Care

This includes activities that help you to improve your physical health.
This type of self-care is ignored a lot because sometimes it’s just not fun to do.
While it does include obvious actions like exercising and eating healthy foods, physical self care is more than just that.
The thing about physical self-care is that it might be the most important.
I mean, you only get one body, and if you don’t take care of it, you can’t buy or rent another one!
- Go for a walk
- Get 8 hours of sleep that night
- Schedule medical appointments
- Eat a salad (or something else healthy)
- Sleep in!
- Exercise
- Go for a hike
- Open up all the blinds
- Take a nap
- Get a massage
- Dance it out–follow a YouTube or TikTok video!
- Go for a swim
- Drink water to stay hydrated
- Take medication that you need for a health condition
- Have an herbal tea
- Go to the farmers market for some fresh foods
- Use a foam roller to release some tension
- Go for a bike ride
- Perform some simple stretches
- Go skating
- Give yourself a facial
Social Self Care

This type of self-care includes anything that nurtures the relationships with the people in your life.
Human beings are social creatures, so spending time with others is important to our happiness and well being.
While you may consider interactions with your coworkers, children, or your partner as social self-care, they are not usually sufficient.
Most of the time, these interactions fill some need, and so it is necessary to take extra time to enjoy the act of socializing.
- Go for brunch with friends
- Call a loved one
- Go on a date
- Have a mani-pedi with some friends
- Reach out to your crush if you’re single
- Chat with another customer while picking up your coffee
- Cook dinner and invite someone over
- Join a book club or start a book club
- Cuddle up with your kid(s), pet, or partner
- Check out Meetup for a local group you can join and meet new people
- Do something nice for someone
- Compliment a stranger
- Face time or Skype with a friend or with a family member
Practical Self Care

These are actions you take in your life in order to better prepare you for or to prevent anticipated stressful situations.
It means making an environment that will set you up for success.
This can entail anything and everything from your living situation to your finances, and even place of employment.
It can include knowing when and where your money comes in, spending wisely and saving, knowing when bills are due and paying them on time, and doing your taxes.
- Plan the week coming up
- Wear an outfit that makes you feel good about yourself
- Organize your closet
- Take an online class for personal development
- Plan for Monday
- Choose your work outfits for the week
- Delete pictures from your phone you no longer want
- Turn off your phone or social media for a determined period of time
- Change your bedsheets
- Deep clean a part of your home
- Meal prep for the week ahead
- Take a bubble bath
- Take an extra-long, relaxing shower
Mental Self Care

This type of self-care includes anything that stimulates your mind or intellect.
It also involves keeping your stress levels as low as possible.
If you live with anxiety, depression, or a similar condition, it is especially important to practice mental self-care.
It’s easy to overlook mental self-care because it’s not as visible or clear-cut as physical self-care for example.
- Read a book
- Go to a museum
- Visit an art gallery
- Change your routine–try something new
- Learn a few phrases of another language
- Play chess, or learn to play
- Practice self-acceptance
- Try a new recipe
- Write a short story
- Teach your pet a new trick
- Create something, craft, or DIY
- Watch your favorite TV show
- Practice self-compassion
- Explore a new part of town
- Do a crossword, sudoku, or put a jigsaw puzzle together
- Reward yourself
- Challenge your negative thinking
Spiritual Self Care

These activities help you to think beyond yourself.
Spirituality involves strengthening your sense of connection to or understanding of the universe.
In the case of religion, this would often be embodied by a god.
Spiritual does not necessarily mean that this has to be religious, although it can be.
If you don’t follow any religion, this could mean something like determining the values that are most important to you or being mindful of important relationships.
- Meditate
- Practice yoga
- Take some time for self-reflection
- Get out into nature
- Go to your place of worship
- Take time to think of 5 things you are grateful for, no matter how small
- Pray
- Contemplate something
- Learn about another culture or religion
- Watch the sunrise
- Be silent
- Let go of something
- Recite some positive affirmations
- Watch the sunset
- Plant flowers or a tree
- Perform a random act of kindness

Planning for Your Self Care Sunday – Final words
The great thing about making your plan for self-care is that you can make it what you want or need it to be.
For example, if you have physical restrictions, or you’re more of an introvert than an extrovert, that’s okay.
Whether you like to do a couple of things, or you like to switch it up and try something new, that’s okay, too.
What is important is that you are taking the time to give yourself the rest and recharging that you need to lead a healthy, more balanced life.
I hope this gave you some ideas as to how you can plan your own personal Self-Care Sunday.
Do you have a time designated when you take care of yourself?
What will you do for yourself on your next self-care day?
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3 Responses
There are quite a few of these tips that I need to reengage with on a daily basis. Drinking more water is at the top of my list.
Oh, I know! That’s one I need to work on myself, especially with the weather getting warmer…