Be Good to You: 10 Ways to Slow Down and Practice Self Love

Valentine’s Day is weird and complicated and the way we talk about self-love in the culture, particularly in the beauty and wellness industry, is too. At Oxalis, we consider ourselves to be a brand (and a small team of people behind a brand) focused on encouraging you, our community, to celebrate yourself, and to do so by showing yourself love, care, and attention. Our hope is that our products serve as helpful, inspiring tools that help you create space for yourself through supportive daily routines.

To us, self-love often means slowing down; taking a moment or two everyday to stop and smell the literal and figurative flowers is always meaningful and important. Slowing down in today’s world sometimes feels impossible, but it can look like a lot of different things: focusing on one task at a time instead of constant multitasking, carving out some space in the morning and evening for an easy, doable skincare routine, finishing the book that’s been eyeing you from the shelf, prioritizing the personal project you’ve been pushing off, or simply doing nothing at all. That last one is a lot harder than we tend to think it is.

The fact that it’s a literal pandemic makes a holiday all about celebrating love and connection feel even weirder and more complicated than it usually does, but maybe this is the year where we need it most. Life was messy before and feels even messier now, and at the same time, slowing down has been unavoidable. Some of us have spent a lot of time with our families, roommates, and/or partners, some of us have spent most of our time alone. The world looks and feels different, and if there were ever a time for self-care, it’s now. To hopefully inspire you to make sure your own cup is full, we’ve put together a helpful list of cost-free acts of self-love you can incorporate into your day-to-day.

Free Acts of Self-Love

1. Start a gratitude journal. Write down three things you’re grateful for everyday.
2. Unplug. Go for a walk without headphones in. Put your phone on Do Not Disturb. Whether it’s 5 minutes or 5 hours, we promise you’ll feel a little better.
3. “Grounding.” If it’s accessible for you, put your bare feet in the grass for at least five minutes and walk around. This is proven to lower heart rate, inflammation, and reduce stress.
4. Say no to something you don’t have the bandwidth for. Everyone benefits.
5. Get cozy. Pour yourself a drink of choice and curl up with a book. Watch a movie you never get tired of.
6. Take a hot bath- they’re proven to help lower cortisol levels in the body as well as ease physical pain.
7. Make a self-love playlist packed with songs that help you feel like your sweetest, sexiest, funniest, most exuberant self.
8. After making said playlist, dance.
9. Write a list of 25 things you’re proud of. 25 seems like a lot, but remember, little things are important. Be proud you got out of bed today. Be proud of that one outfit you wore that you felt amazing in.
10. Have a good cry. Everyone feels better after a good cry. Let yourself feel.

If you do anything from this list, let us know. And if you have anything to add to the list, let us know what that is, too!