Make self-care your top priority

Taking a holistic approach to self-care is being touted as bringing the most benefit to your physical and mental wellbeing

An expensive holiday or a day at the spa can be quick fixes, but building out how you practise personal care is the key to achieving long-term benefits and consistency in maintaining a well-deserved positive mindset and lifestyle.

The factors that contribute to balancing your mental well-being are well known – people need to take care of their mental, emotional, physical, environmental, spiritual, recreational, and social health to really thrive.

Often, all it takes is for one of these factors to be thrown off balance for the scales to be tipped, starting a domino effect on your overall well-being.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found more than 40 per cent of Australians between the ages of 16 and 85 had experienced poor mental health at some point in their lives, with one out of every five people having dealt with this in the past year.

“Self-care is the cornerstone of a fulfilling life; it’s not a luxury but a necessity for our wellbeing,” Ugly Beauty co-founder Jessica Leonard said.

“Taking time for ourselves, both emotionally and physically, empowers us to face life’s challenges with resilience and a positive mindset. It’s a reminder that we deserve the same care and compassion we freely give to others.”

Here are Ugly Beauty’s five tips to prioritise self-care in 2024:

1. Relax and rejuvenate
   • Meditation, deep breathing exercises, or simply taking a break to read a book can help lower your stress levels. These practices trigger the release of calming neurotransmitters, such as serotonin, and reduce the production of stress hormones scu has cortisol
2. Become your own fitspo
   • Physical exercise is one the single most underrated factors in overall mental wellbeing and is a crucial part of overall self-care. Regular exercise and a balanced diet are all essential components of self-care that can boost your immune system, mood and cardiovascular health all of which have a noticeable trickle down effect on overall wellbeing.
3. Become your own hype person
   • Taking time for self-reflection or practising mindfulness can help you better understand your thoughts and emotions. “The way we perceive ourselves can reflect on how we go about everyday life. By simply looking at yourself in the mirror and saying one positive thing a day, you are allowing yourself to focus on your own amazingness and not what others may think,” Ugly Beauty co-founder Ashleigh Potocki said.
4. Flex your creative muscles
   • Expressing yourself creatively or simply finding a creative outlet has been proven to bring an array of health benefits including improved brain function and mental health. In fact, getting into a creative flow is an excellent mood booster and has been found to reduce anxiety and heart rate.
5. Sleep
   • When experiencing a lull in your self-care or mental health, a healthy sleep pattern is often one of the first things to fall apart. Sticking to a regular sleep schedule helps your body and mind operate at its most efficient, improving everything from mental performance, memory, disease prevention, athletic performance, mood and motivation.