Taking time for yourself and being alone is good for your physical and mental health. Maybe you have experienced a lot of time alone during the corona period with its many limitations and you might think otherwise. But being alone is not the same as loneliness. And creating time for yourself is something you do consciously.
Did you know that having Me Time is as important as having social relations, good nutrition, exercise and good night sleep?
Why can being alone be difficult to do or create?
Me Time is essential but often we find it difficult to get this done. How quickly we distract ourselves with for example our phone when there is a spare moment, calling and seeing a friend or watching something on tv?
I think there are two elements in here:
1. It can be challenging to be alone.
Because as soon as you are alone, your own thoughts become more audible. And sometimes those thoughts are annoying, complicated or overwhelming. You might feel restless.
2. What are you going to do? Alone!
You may have a list of things you like to do, but like to do it with someone. Going out on your own may feel uncomfortable, that people might have an opinion about you, or you feel you might enjoy less as there is no one to share with.
Why is Me Time important?
If you do not take time for yourself, you may become restless, insecure and less happy.
When you keep running around, always busy and don’t take a step back sometimes, chances are you will become stressed or even depressed or anxious.
For your Me Time you consciously choose in advance what you are going to do, as well when and how.
What are positive effects of having time for yourself?
- Me Time will make you calmer, more balanced, happier and more loving.
- When you are alone you can think better, create space for creativity and have the freedom to try new things.
- You grow and develop yourself, so eventually you have more to offer others.
- Life becomes more fun for you, and you get a greater capacity to influence the lives of the people around you more positively.
- Through ‘Me Time’ you will be more authentic and become the best version of yourself, wiser and a more successful person.
- Having peace with yourself gives you more self-confidence, more self-knowledge and more resilience in almost all areas of your life.
If you get better at being alone, you need less confirmation from others. You know you’re okay. This allows you to interact with people in an open, loving and authentic way.
The power of doing nothing
Besides doing things on your own, you have another kind of Me Time: doing nothing.
When you are doing nothing you allow a part in your brain to become active to get insights, ideas and creativity. As this part is suppressed when your brain is constantly burdened cognitively.
I don’t know about you, but it took me some years to be able to really do nothing. Yes, while meditating, but besides that? Not that much.
It took some practice, time and being aware to implements moments of doing nothing.
The difference between loneliness and being alone
Time of solitude is not the same as loneliness.
You can be alone but not feel lonely and you can feel lonely when you are alone or in company with others.
Loneliness is a feeling and Being alone says something about the number of people around you.
In my blog Feelings of loneliness? Meditation helps, I talk more about what loneliness is, the types, social isolation and being alone.
How to create more Me Time?
If you look at your average day and week, how often do you take time for yourself? And when you have, did you plan this time?
Advice would be not to wait until the weekend or a holiday to give yourself rest and relaxation. A few holiday days are not enough. Best is to take 1 or 2 hours a day for yourself!
- Once a week, you plan your Me Time in advance.
Make an ‘appointment’ with yourself at the beginning of the week, and monitor this appointment. Like you make an appointment for work or seeing a friend. You decide in advance what, when and how. - Along this appointment, try to integrate small moments of me-time into your daily life.
Try to find things that inspire and improve yourself AND moments you just enjoy and relax, time to pamper yourself.
Make sure that these moments are “quality time”.
Some ideas you can do during your Me Time.
-Have a massage, pedicure or other nice treatment
-Spend time in nature.
-Read a book that helps you grow.
-Do something you loved to do when you were a child
-Go to a yoga class
-Meditate – 5 minutes a day is a great start
-Exercise
-Minimize something in your home, such as a closet or your clothes.
-Relaxing on the couch in front of the window and take a deep breath
-Make a puzzle
-Knit draw, paint, sculpture
-Go out and make some pictures
-Practice Mindfulness
-Have your weekly ‘home beauty day’ with scrubs and masks
-Watch a documentary.
-Take a long walk
-Write in your diary.
-Take the time to look at your own needs.
-Take the time to view your thoughts, fears and desires. write them down. This is a way you learn to make the right choices in your life.
-Think about your life, about how you can make it better. What are your goals and dreams, about what do you want in life. Also, write this down.
-View your problems with a fresh perspective, and find out if you can find new solutions
-Read articles that appeal to you, and implement the tips.
Small moments you can do every day by yourself:
-Drinking a cup of coffee or tea (without your phone, just doing nothing)
-Going to the shop alone.
-Walking the dog with attention or a small walk anyway
-Arrive 15 min earlier at an appointment and just do nothing
-Sit or lay down and listen to some music
Inner inconveniences you may experience when you do not pay enough attention to yourself
- No energy when you wake up.
- You are moody often and for a long time
- Feeling that you have no time for anything.
- Continuous sense of failure
- You feel undervalued.
- Psychosomatic complaints
More time for yourself can truly help you. Of course it is not standing on it own, and it is always good to look at your complete lifestyle.
But when you recognize any of the above points, it can be useful to look at how you spend your time and what you can change or add.
Wrapping up:
Me Time is not only about to relax and to pamper yourself, it is also to get inspired, motivated.
Plan your own time, allow yourself to implement activities for you, and you alone.
Continue to do this for a longer period of time, or actually all the time.
After a while you will notice the positive effects, mentally and physically. And ideas what you want to do might change and that you are going to make decisions that suit you much better.
So make ‘Me Time’ a priority!
Hi, my name is Jolinda, and I work as a massage and Reiki therapist, happiness coach and provide yoga and meditation classes.
With my blogs I hope to inspire you to make positive changes into your life. For more ideas and tips check out my page Jolindas inspiration. Free trainings and videos you can find at free downloads and videos
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