building a DIY Selfcare Toolkit

STRUGGLING WITH SELF CARE RIGHT NOW? GET A FREE CHECKLIST TO STAY ON TRACK

We all require self care and we often don’t allow ourselves enough time and space to spend time alone and truly give ourselves from self care. So, today I wanted to share a fun way to make self care easier for you by building a DIY Self Care Toolkit. This toolkit can be as big or as little as you want. Below are a list of many things you can include in your self care toolkit, but don’t get overwhelmed by this list. Tailor this list to suit your life and your needs. Include what feels good and eliminate what does not serve you.

1. Think of the Senses

When it comes to creating your self care toolkit, we first need to look at calming the senses. Below is a list of tangible items you can include in your basket to calm each sense:

• Sight
  • A Photo Album/Memory Book with Your Favorite People/Places
  • A Vision Board
  • A Favorite Movie
• Touch
  • A Soft Pair of Socks
  • A Teddy Bear or Comfort item
  • A Soft Scarf/Blanket
  • Dry Brush
  • Body Cream
  • Squeeze Ball
• Scent
  • Calming Essential Oils
  • Your Favorite Perfume
  • Your Favorite Candle

• Sound
  • Headphones
  • Your Favorite CD
  • Your Favorite Meditation

• Taste
  • Your Favorite Candy/Chocolate
  • Your Favorite Tea or Drink
  • Your Favorite Sealed Snack

2. Ease the Physical Pain

If you are someone who struggles with chronic pain than you may want to include some pain relievers in your basket. Your basket can include any items that you reach for on a daily basis to help with physical aches and pains you may experience. Some items could include:

• Pain relief cream/oil
• Peppermint Oil
• Tylenol/Advil
• TENS Machine
• Yoga Mat or Exercise Mat for stretching
• Massage Ball

3. Clear Your Mind

Your self care toolkit should also include some items that can help to ease stress and anxiety. It is important to add some items that can help with your mental health and to calm you down if you are struggling mentally. Some items that could help you include:

• A journal for writing out your thoughts
• A guided meditation app on your phone
• A list of your goals and affirmations

4. Include a Creative Outlet

In your self care toolkit it is important to include a creative outlet that can help to ease your mind, get you inspired, and provide you joy. A creative outlet can really be anything that gets your creative juices flowing. If you don’t know your creative outlet that is okay, test some out and see what works. If you know your creative outlet, grab the supplies you need and add them to your toolkit. Some ideas for creative outlets include:

• Painting, Colouring, and/or Drawing
• Doing Makeup
• Painting your nails (I personally love to do a gel manicure with gems and everything)
• Knitting or Crochet
• Needle Point
• Crafting & DIYing
• Singing or Playing/Learning an Instrument
• Dancing
• Writing (poems, books, stories)
• Photography
• Cooking
• Puzzles
• Content Creation (Making videos/podcasts/social media content)
• Blogging

5. Create Some Lists

Within your self care toolkit you should add a binder or another journal that is full of some lists of your favorite things, people and more. Below is a lot of ideas that you can use to fill in your book of lists. Take what you like and leave what you don’t. Making these lists is also a form of self care, so take your time making these lists and add to them as you see fit!

• A List of People to Call/Video Chat
• A List of Things That Make You Happy
• A List of Things You Love Yourself
• A List of Things You Love About The World
• A List of Your Values + Vision for Life
• A List of Favorite Places To Go
• A Bucket List
• A List of Favorite Books
• A List of Favorite Songs/Playlists
• A List of Favorite Movies
• A List of Favorite TED Talks/Youtube Videos
• A List of Favorite Articles/Blog Posts
• A List of Favorite Quotes/Affirmations

Overall, I hope you found this information helpful for you to make your own DIY Selfcare Toolkit and I hope that it helps you moving forward. Remember, this is not about making a perfect toolkit and never using it. Take what you want from this article and leave what does not serve you. Most importantly, make this something that you will use and enjoy, adapt it over time, and use it as a tool to help you!

If you liked the post make sure to share it with a friend and subscribe to receive access to my FREE 5 DAY EMAIL COURSE teaching you how to thrive. Also be sure to follow me on Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest to get more updates from me on my day to day life.  

Your trusty, gutsy gal, 

Nathalie xx