How to Create a Self-Care Plan

I am well aware of the importance of self-care. However, as a stubborn human who often forgets she isn’t invincible, I am guilty of neglecting my self care, which usually results in burnout.

The intensity of the recent eclipse seasons lessons, along with some unavoidable life events, have left me frazzled and looking at the importance of self care as a tool for prevention rather than a cure. You can read more about this experience in my blog - Tough Eclipse Energy - When Astrology is a Rollercoaster Rise

As usual, when I start anything new, I like to do a bit of research. So I dipped into my home library, explored Google, and watched some YouTube videos to get a lay of the self-care land……and instantly became overwhelmed.

Why?

The lists of recommended things you should do each day for self-care are insane. Self-care literally becomes a full time job, and no one has time for that.

However, what I noticed from my deep dive is that to create a successful self-care routine, it’s important to meet your needs in a number of life areas.

The list of potential life areas is unnecessarily big and instantly overwhelming, so I decided to make this as simple as possible and build up from there.

By focusing on 3 areas;

1. Mind
2. Body
3. Spirit

It is possible to create a simple 3 part self-care plan that is doable and sustainable. This can be used as a starting point for a more in-depth plan later on. Or it can remain simple and manageable. It’s up to you.

For each category, I chose one self-care activity to focus on as I begin to prioritise wellness in my life.

• For the mind, I chose reading.
• For the body, I chose walking.
• And for the spirit, I chose my Moon practice at each new and full Moon.

For now, I’m going to work with this simple 3 part self-care plan. During the week, I aim to work with each of these things more often than not. I’m not aiming for every day, because that always leads to failure, and it’s important that this feels like self-care, and not another item on my to-do list, as I already have plenty of those.

Here’s how I plan to include these things in my week.

Mind - Reading

Every morning, I journal while having a coffee. I’ve not missed a morning for the best part of 2022, so I know that habit is nicely bedded in. I’ve started to read for around 30 minutes after my journaling and before I walk the dogs. This works really well at this time of the year, as I walk the dogs later than usual due to the dark mornings. I also head to my home office later in the winter months too, as I’m much slower to start at this time of the year.

Body - Walk

I do have dogs to walk, which means I leave the house every day. But right now, our Labrador is recovering from surgery and can only walk a short distance. So it’s up to me to add extra walks into my weeks. I love walking in Autumn and Winter, and plan to hike 2-3 times a week.

Spirit - Moon Practice

I’m ashamed to admit that business has often led to neglecting my own Moon practice. I spend time creating Moon guides, workbooks and videos for my Moon Portal members each month, and then don’t give myself the space and time to enjoy the exploration. When I started the Moon Portal 6 years ago, it was because I wanted to create a regular Moon practice for myself that I could share with others. I’ve now made my personal Moon practice non-negotiable. Around each new and full Moon, I take a day out for myself to enjoy and explore the energies and actually practice what I preach.

Future Self-Care Activities

I have lots of other self-care activities I would like to introduce into my life, including;

• Yoga
• Mountain Biking
• Drawing & Painting
• Arts & Crafts
• Other Hobbies
• Tarot Readings
• Gardening

But, for now, I’m focusing on three until I’m comfortable with the new habits I’ve created.

Top tips for creating a self-care plan

• Keep things simple in the beginning
• Focus on broad life areas
• Set yourself up for success, not failure
• Be realistic about your time and energy
• Choose what you want to do, not what you think you should be doing
• If you find this tough to stick to, don’t be hard on yourself, instead find a solution to the problem
• Don’t try to do things you don’t enjoy
• If you can’t make time for any self care, then it’s time to evaluate your commitments and responsibilities, as you will burn out if you don’t

Sarah💜

Hi, I'm Sarah... 

..astrologer, artist and life improvement enthusiast

I’m a big fan of using every tool available to create our best lives. It’s not always easy to see life’s challenges as opportunities, but as we learn to tune in to our own needs, explore our behaviours and make better future decisions, it becomes possible to craft an amazing journey for ourselves and those around us. My goal is to help you explore your own life, habits and behaviours in a way that can benefit you and those around you.

If you loved this article, then you’re going to love Cosmic Cuppa, my Monday morning motivational emails, where I share a peek behind the scenes of my own life and how I use astrology, at and self-development to explore ways to show up and be better every day. I also send a digest of my weekly blog articles every Thursday.