You’ve had a very, very, very long week. It’s been a tough ride – you’ve had to put in a lot of overtime at work, you haven’t gotten much sleep at all because of the papers you’re bringing home too, and you never quite finding the time to cook yourself something proper to eat. All in all, you haven’t been taking very good care of yourself!
Of course, we’re all going to have weeks like that, and often enough, they’re not our fault. There’s not much we can do to shift the responsibility in our lives, especially if they’re what pay our bills and keep us happy and healthy. But there are points in our lives when we have some spare time, and usually, that time comes at the weekend.
Most of us have days off at the weekend, and most of us like to use that time to catch up on sleep, or go shopping for groceries, or to finally clean the house after a week of grime has layered it. But after you’ve completed all these tasks, what else do you do? Do you let yourself wind down and relax? Do you take the time to administer a bit of handy self care? Because if you don’t, now’s the time to change your habits a little!
Going for a swim early on a Saturday morning could really turn your week around! (Unsplash)
Take to Some Gentle Exercise
As we’ve briefly mentioned in the caption above, gentle exercise has a lot to offer your body. Human beings evolved to move, after all, so the more you use your bones and your muscles after living a sedentary life for a whole 5 days or so, the better you’re going to feel! Even when you have aching feet after running around after customers in the restaurant for a full 8 hours, the more you move your heels and your toes, the less you’re going to feel the pain in the arch of your foot. Why not try a 5 minute walk the morning after you’ve slept off the dregs of a busy Friday night?
Similarly, swimming is great for your body, as the water helps to hold you up, which removes some of your own weight from affecting you. If you’re a particularly strong swimmer, you’re going to love the feel of the water cooling your muscles as you streamline your way through it; it’s a lot more beneficial for your body than going for a run, and you don’t need to spend as much time exercising either!
Or maybe you could just break a skipping rope out. Skipping is something we only really think of young children getting up to, but it’s something a lot of sports pros will swear by too. After all, even just a couple minutes of spinning a rope and jumping over it as fast as you can can have the same benefits as going for a 2 mile run on the streets outside. Who knew?
Try Rolling on Some Essential Oils
Essential oils have a lot to offer. They can be used to help boost your health and your overall wellness, and even a bit of lavender infused honey down the hatch can soothe that persistent sore throat you’ve been feeling recently. Of course, if you have an actual illness to contend with currently, essential oils aren’t going to cure or protect you, but they can have a relieving effect on what you’re going through. Especially if you’ve got some sore, inflamed muscles at the moment!
Essential oils are often described as alternative medicines, and there’s a lot of truth to that – most of all, be sure that you understand what a certain type of oil can do for your body before you drop some on your tongue or rub it on your calves, and always have some handy CBD information nearby. Aside from that, the medicinal properties of essential oils won’t be too harsh on your body, so you can buy them without a prescription, and use them without needing a doctor’s advice on them.
So, if you’ve had a long week, and now your wrists are aching from all the typing, why not try some Peppermint oil? It’s a very good mix for treating tension in your joints, and the swelling surrounding them, like the shaking and the aches your carpal tunnel might be feeling right now! Even just a cup of peppermint tea can help soothe your digestive system, and help your gut feel less bloated after a whole week or relying on takeaways…
Have a Cheat Day
You’ve been as good as you can for the past few months, when it comes to cutting out snacking and sticking to a diet. But you’ve had the week from hell, and all you want to see on your plate at the moment is a slice of the most chocolatey chocolate cake you’ve ever seen in your life. You want to dig in and taste the amazing flavor, and feel the cravings slip away the more and more you fork some of the fluffy texture into your mouth.
Which is why, on the Saturday or Sunday of your breaktime, you should feel free to have a cheat day. Our bodies need all kinds of food to stay happy and healthy, and when you can let yourself give into those ‘unhealthy’, saturated fat filled cravings you have from time to time, the happier you’re going to let yourself be. You can get straight back to the diet tomorrow, right? Of course you can, this is just a cheat day, and it’s perfectly normal to have one of those!
How Do You Use Weekends?
Because they should be rest periods! So, are you ready to prioritise wellness and let yourself recharge on the weekend after a very busy week? You’ll only be doing yourself a massive favor if you take the time to stop and smell the flowers for a little bit, hopefully whilst out on that walk.