Summer is in full swing and if you’re anything like us, self-care is always taking a backseat to our full and fast-paced lives. Keeping the kids busy during the summer, catching up on life, arranging travel, and making the most out of the warmer months makes for delightful chaos, but it also often means we forget to prioritize ourselves. Back-to-school season is just around the corner, and we thought it was the perfect time to recalibrate. So grab your coffee or tea, sit back, and read over some of our favorite ways to reincorporate self-care into our summer routines.
Make Space for Stillness
Find time for intentional peace and quiet. We couldn’t remember the last time we actually planned for some alone time, so we decided that was absolutely priority number one! The hardest part is finding the time, but lucky for all of us, planning is in our nature.
The hustle and bustle of life can sometimes take a toll on us. Make sure to refill your tanks every now and then. This makes celebratory moments even better and allows us to put our best foot forward! So, whether that means binge-watching a season or two of your favorite show, grabbing a book, or journaling, self-care this summer starts with intentional stillness.
Drink. That. Water!
We know you must be tired of hearing it, but hydration really is a major key to nourishing our minds and bodies. Gone are the days of drinking only coffee until lunchtime and wondering why we have a headache! If you find it difficult to keep that water intake up, we have a few tricks that work for our team. First, get that cute reusable water bottle you’ve been eyeing. Yes, we mean it! There is just something about drinking water from a cute bottle that just makes it taste better. Next, make spa water. This was a complete game-changer for us. We started cutting up fruit, citrus, and cucumber at night and letting it soak overnight in the fridge and the next morning….voila! Fresh water like you just came from the spa. Our personal favorite combinations are cucumber + lemon + mint, strawberry + lemon + basil, and watermelon + mint.
Hydration Hack: keep a full glass of water or your water bottle on your nightstand so when you wake up, you’re reminded right away to start hydrating!
Spa Day at Home
Speaking of spa days…bring the spa to your house! Pull out all the stops. We’re talking bath bombs, sheet masks, full bubble baths, candles, calming music, your favorite skin care, exfoliating gloves, lotion, and body oils, all of it! Bonus points if you incorporate the spa water we just talked about into your home spa day. One of our all-time favorite things to do to prepare for an at-home spa afternoon is to put our quartz facial rollers in the fridge a few hours beforehand so it’s nice and cool on our faces while we roll our favorite oils and serums into our skin. We promise that once you give it a try, you’ll never go back. We tested it out earlier this summer and we have been absolutely hooked ever since!
Get Outside!
Take full advantage of that summer sun while it’s here and break out your bike, roller skates, or running shoes. Even if you just take some time to go for daily walks, you will thank yourself for it! Find a new bike path, sign up for an outdoor yoga class, or just do some morning stretches in your backyard or patio. The important part isn’t the activity, it’s that you’re doing it outside and enjoying the day. We spend so much of our time indoors, especially now that so many of us are working from home, that we forget to make time to get outside and soak up that vitamin D. Our personal favorite way to increase our time outside is to do our daily planning outside. Give us a cup of coffee, our planners, and the morning breeze before the rest of our family wakes up and we are in HEAVEN!
Reminder: wear your sunscreen! Don’t forget to put on your sunscreen as the last step in your skincare routine and reapply throughout the day.
Skip the Grocery Store and Opt for the Farmer’s Market
One of the best parts of summer? In-season fresh fruit and vegetables! Nothing beats a cold crudité platter or a fresh, cold bowl of cut-up fruit on a hot day. So, skip your normal grocery shopping routine and instead, plan for a morning at the farmer’s market. You can even make an adventure out of it with the family. Some farmer’s markets have tons of activities for the kids and vendors often love to strike up a conversation! Plus, you can go around and sample all the delicious foods. We recommend the berry station, berries really shine in the summer. Win-win-win.
Whatever you do with the rest of your summer season, we encourage you to take time and make space for yourself. Whether you plan for something big or remind yourself to take small, meaningful moments during your day, remember to prioritize YOU! Do you have some favorite self-care practices? Let us know! We’d love to hear how you all are incorporating self-care into your summer routines.