Here’s the lowdown on how to create a self-care routine
Unless you’ve been living off the grid this past decade, there’s no chance you haven’t heard the term ‘self-care’. It’s everywhere you turn, and for mostly good reasons. Self-care is one of the most important ways we can prioritize our overall personal health and well-being and is so much more than mani-pedi's or fancy lunches.
What does it really mean to practice self-care? Here are some excellent explanations. It's been defined as the practice of establishing habits and behaviors to ensure a 360 approach to well-being, promoting health and actively managing being unwell. Some say it means taking the time you need to do things that help you live your best life, seeking to improve both your physical and mental health.
At Saje, we are big believers in the art of routine when it comes to elevating our physical wellness, our mental wellness and our holistic wellness. We want to help you create practices, routines and rituals that support your best self each and every day and that feel realistic and attainable for helping you reach your personal goals. Below, we’re sharing some of our favorite ways to create a self-care routine that you can feel good about.
How to create a self-care routine: managing your stress levels
Countless articles, books, podcasts and TED talks will tell you that one of the utmost important ways you can prioritize self-care and well-being is by managing your stress levels. If left unchecked, elevated levels of stress can wreak havoc on body and mind and simply put, chronic stress puts your health at risk.
We believe in the power of plants and create 100% natural wellness products to support easing feelings that are heavy or difficult, encouraging relief from physical and emotional manifestations of stress and helping to quiet the mind and settle the body. A few of our go-to's below:
Stress Release roll-on: One of our oldest formulations in support of mental and emotional wellness, helping to curb feelings of stress and overwhelm. Blended with balancing and stabilizing essential oils of lavender, clary sage and roman chamomile to encourage feeling at ease, we like to roll this soothing blend along the forehead, neck and shoulders to help us feel grounded and in the moment.
Stress Release bath salt soak: Another one of the well-loved product mediums for our Stress Release formula is our bath salt soak. The warm, comforting bath is a prized self-care ritual that works by encouraging ease and relief in the body and mind. Bath salts offer two main pathways; their aromatic benefits come from breathing in the vapors of essential oils released in the water and their topical benefits come from having the skin immersed while in the bathtub.
How to create a self-care routine: prioritizing your sleep
Another one of the crucial ways we can place emphasis on self-care that supports us from head to toe is through choosing to make a nighttime sleep routine an area of continual focus. You’ve heard it all before, but good quality sleep is about more than waking up feeling refreshed; it’s the gateway to proper digestion, stable energy levels, lowered feelings of stress and less likelihood of feeling emotionally dysregulated. In short, a good night’s sleep is the beginning of feeling our best each day.
Sleep Well roll-on: Our most potent and powerful roll-on in support of a calm and restful nighttime experience is also a beloved fan favorite. We’ve expertly crafted a blend of plant essentials that are studied for the way they create feelings of ease, peacefulness and tranquility that can help lull us to sleep sans side effects of prescription or OTC medications. Oils of valerian root, vetiver and neroli can be applied to the pulse points like the wrists, throat and temples about 30 minutes before you intend to crawl under the covers to help you drift off to dreamland and wake up feeling clear-headed and ready to tackle the day.
Sleep Well body butter: The same powerful formula of herbs, florals and citruses in the Sleep Well roll-on is also available as a luxurious and hydrating body butter that supports skin health and nourishment. We love to suggest a warm bath or shower to help the body and mind begin to move towards feelings of relaxation, followed by a generous application of body butter to deeply moisturize the skin as well as positively impact overall feelings of restfulness.
How to create a self-care routine: mindfulness and overall well-being
A term we think you’ll be hearing more about in 2024 and beyond is mindfulness. Another one of those choose-your-own-adventure-type wellness buzzwords, mindfulness is having a moment and we’re here for it. Whether your personal definition is present moment awareness, a moment-by-moment awareness of our thoughts, feelings and bodily sensations or the practice of gently bringing your mind, body and awareness back to the present over and over, we’re sharing a few of the products we reach for every day to help us feel in tune with what's going on around us.
The Pocket Farmacy Mindful Edition is an empowering wellness kit we curated specifically to support, elevate and nurture your mental, emotional and spiritual relationship with yourself. The kit contains 5 roll-ons, Reflection, Connection, Confidence, Energy and Unwind that were formulated to encourage inner stillness, contemplation, renewal of spirit and meaningful connection with the self and others.
We blended these roll-ons with carefully selected essential oils that provide natural, plant-based alternatives to conventional products for mental, emotional and spiritual awareness and to help encourage both the mind and body to feel renewed, restored and to function at a high level.
These roll-ons are best experienced through what we call a Saje Breath. Roll the product into the clean palms of your hands, rub your hands together and cup over the nose and mouth. Breath slowly and deeply 3-5 times, and experience the sensations of peace, calm and presence.
One of the oldest product lines we offer and still a signature scent at Saje today is the earthy, fresh and grounding line called Yoga. This line features a roll-on, a body butter, a diffuser blend, a room and mat spray and our personal favorite product for a fresh burst of stabilizing and regulating essential oils, the Yoga face & body mist. Made with rich and herbaceous patchouli, sweet and lively orange and gentle and comforting neroli, the Yoga line epitomizes what it means to be mindful: centered, in harmony and promoting feelings of restoration. Shake well and mist over the face and body with the eyes and mouth closed. Breathe deeply for an immediate experience of being soothed and renewed.
How to create a self-care routine: elevating your at-home routine
The last product selection we’re featuring today is in support of an at-home environment that creates feelings that are nurturing, relaxing and that make you feel like your home really is your sanctuary. One of the simplest ways to upgrade your space is through the power of diffusing.
Ultrasonic diffusers use a small disc that vibrates at an ultrasonic speed, helping to create fine, cool mist. After breaking down pure, clean water and 100% pure essential oils into small airborne molecules, this mist can be inhaled through the nose and mouth to enhance overall health and well-being. Diffusers create negative ions that when released can mirror the experience that you have while out in nature, near the ocean, crashing surf, a waterfall or a fresh rain shower that encourages deep, open and clear breathing. Sounds wonderful, right?
We reach for our Aroma Om diffuser every day to create an ambience in our home that we can tailor to suit our needs that day; if we’re looking for lift in our mood and our spirits or if we’re seeking peace and quiet at the end of a long day, we can pair this heat free and whisper-quiet diffuser that runs 5 hours continuously or up to 10 hours intermittently with any number of thoughtfully formulated diffuser blends to help us reach those wellness goals.
Here are a few of our favorite diffuser blends and the need states they can address in support of personalized self-care:
For a bright and cheerful outlook on the day, we reach for Liquid Sunshine. This lively and uplifting blend of citruses including lime, bergamot and grapefruit is the perfect blend for your WFH routine, or whenever you’re looking to fill the air with sweetness and positivity.
To help invite stillness and quiet at the end of a workday or after a social gathering, we reach for Unwind. Just like the name says, Unwind was formulated with easing and relieving essential oils like lavender, bergamot and geranium to help encourage feeling calm and relaxed, and is well-suited for kicking your feet up with a good book, a conversation with a friend or anytime you want to feel balanced and in the present moment.
As part of our nighttime wind down routine, we find ourselves diffusing Power Down, one of the newest diffuser blends to join our collection. This rich, comforting and restorative blend contains frankincense, copaiba and holy basil to help turn down the volume on an overactive mind, quiet racing thoughts and help you enter a state of peacefulness each night.
Tips and tricks on how to create a self-care routine
Popularized on Tik Tok and thought to be one of the top wellness trends of 2024, particularly for Gen Z and Millennials, “Little Treat Culture” is the idea that we can prioritize joy and small moments of happiness by treating ourselves to affordable indulgences, typically $10 or less, that offer instant gratification and can help us keep aligned with the larger personal goals we have for mindfulness and overall health and well-being.
In the spirit of “Little Treat Culture”, here are some of our favorite ways to prioritize self-love, physical wellness and mental wellness:
- Buy that special coffee. Some people say we’re wasting money on frou-frou drinks and extra-soy-whip-vanilla-caramel-whatever delights, but research shows self-compassion fosters mental health, and if something as simple as treating yourself to a fancy beverage helps you feel better about your day, and in turn yourself, we’re all for it.
- If coffee isn’t your thing, try a fancy water. We know that drinking water and staying hydrated is an important part of overall health and wellness. So, what if we made water fun again, with the addition of fruits, veggies and herbs that can help take something mundane to the next level? Experiment with different combinations that are both visually appealing and that taste terrific, like fresh squeezed lemon with a sprig of rosemary, or the herbaceous taste of cucumber slices arranged with the sweet citrus of orange wedges. You’ll crush your water goals and have a good time doing it.
- Add a little greenery to your life. Another one of our favorite ways to affordably add a pop of color and a burst of happiness to your day and to your space is with the addition of a plant friend. When we all started spending more time at home a few years back, many of us discovered the joys of fresh, vibrant greenery in our spaces. Not only do plants offer a lush vibe, help clean your air and look pretty on your bookshelf, they also offer us a sense of responsibility in that we have something to take care of. And science tells us this is good for our mental health.
To our collective self-care and holistic wellness in 2024 and beyond!
