With so much stress in the world, now’s the perfect time to focus on these self-care routines you can do at home.

School and life get overwhelming. Putting 100% into everything you do can get exhausting after a while. Save some of the time and care you put into work and others for yourself. If you’re not sure where to start, here are five easy ways to practice self-care, right at home.

Meditate

Sure, maybe it sounds ridiculous, but zoning out actually helps. Your thoughts can run especially rampant during difficult days. Finding a quiet space is ideal, but if that’s not available to you, you can also use noise-cancelling headphones or white noise on YouTube to drown out those thoughts. Guided meditations are available on apps like Calm and Headspace. Emptying your mind by focusing on your breath and being in the moment can make room in your head for more inspiration and motivation. You can even add a workout in and find yoga videos to follow along with. One popular channel is Yoga With Adriene.

Here’s my personal favourite meditation, it’s short, effective, and gets me in a better mood every time.

Listen to Music or Podcasts

Admit it, you’ve dramatically sung along or lip-synced to songs in your room at least once in your life. Scratch that, more like hundreds of times. This is another great way to spill the heavy thoughts out of your head for a while. Some like to listen to sad songs to remember their pain is valid, or listen to their favourite playlist to improve their mood instantly.

Podcasts, on the other hand, are also a good way to learn something new – whether it’s an informative podcast or advice podcast, there’s something for everyone. You might even find the answer you’re looking for through a lyric or something you hear in a podcast.

Journal or Draw

Sometimes the best thing to do is to let those negative emotions out. If you’re more on the artistic side, maybe you already use creative outlets to release some stress. You can write or draw out the emotions you’re currently feeling, or the emotions you want to feel after this slump. Even keyboard smashes on your laptop can be therapeutic (just make sure not to break it).

Watch a Movie or Binge-Watch a Series

Now is definitely the time to watch your favourite movie or series without guilt. Take this time for you. Forget about deadlines for a moment, about the drama in your life, and watch someone else’s drama on trash TV for two hours. Forget about investing your energy and attention on things that stress you out and invest in watching a playlist of your favourite YouTubers instead. 

Take a Warm Shower or Bath

There’s something to be said about “washing the stress away”. If mindless TV doesn’t suit you, focusing solely on one task may help distract your mind from life, even for fifteen minutes or so. Use that bath bomb you’ve been saving for a rainy day, grab a book or relaxing playlist, turn off your notifications and focus on you. 

Whatever you decide to do to de-stress, remember to be mindful when you pick one of these self-care routines you can do at home that it won’t harm you in the long run. You deserve the rest, now more than ever.