By Hattie Parish

Summertime brings warmer days, longer nights and that feel-good factor, so there’s no better time to tune into our self-care routines. This is how you can make the most of the sunny season. 

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It seems we really are happier during summer.

A study from the University of Michigan found that warm weather improves mood, memory and creativity, while another study, published in the British Journal of Psychology, revealed that hotter temperatures have the potential to lower anxiety.

What’s more, with longer, warmer days, summer provides more opportunities to switch up your routine and enjoy what the season has on offer.

So, while enjoying the hotter months and switching up our routines, now is the perfect time to think about summer self-care.

What is self-care?

“Self-care describes and covers the deliberate things you do for the benefit of your mental, physical and emotional wellbeing,” said Belinda Sidhu, Head of Mental Health and Wellbeing at Vitality.

This will look different for everybody, but ensuring a well-balanced, healthy lifestyle is going to help. Crucially, “self-care isn’t about being selfish,” added Sidhu.

“Practising self-care can help you manage stress and anxiety and increase energy, and a general sense of wellbeing.”

And summer, according to Sidhu, is a great time to start introducing these practices into your everyday routines.

“Summer can be a good time to introduce the outdoors into our self-care regimes – as long as the British weather holds out,” said Sidhu.

“For example, try doing yoga outdoors, or swapping the treadmill for your local parkrun. Through this, we can also top up our vitamin D intake – which research suggests contributes to regulating our mood.”

Here’s how to capitalise on all that the season has to offer and make this your best summer yet.

1. Embrace the great outdoors

“Being in nature has huge benefits for our wellbeing; from reducing stress and anxiety to easing muscle tension and reducing blood pressure as we relax,” Sidhu added.

One study, which measured the influence of green environments on stress levels, found that those who strolled for just 20 minutes within a park or woodland setting were significantly more relieved of stress compared with those who walked in a city centre.

“During summer, we can also top up our vitamin D levels outdoors, plus sunlight is thought to help increase our serotonin levels. Serotonin, which is often called the ‘feel-good’ chemical, helps regulate our mood,” said Sidhu.

While the benefits of exercise for both body and mind are well documented, these are often heightened when exercise is taken outdoors. Studies have shown that outdoor exercise, compared with indoor activity, promotes greater feelings of revitalisation, positive engagement and improved self-esteem.

Make it happen:

• Embrace your local area – there might be woods to stroll in, coastline to explore or hills to hike.
• Limit your screen time – try to spend time outdoors without tech and enjoy the world around you.
• Find your local lido or wild swimming spot.
• Skip the bus; walk or cycle instead.
• Try a summer sport, like tennis or cricket.

2. Make the most of your morning

How do you start your day? With partial working from home the norm, too many of us are guilty of foregoing an energising morning routine in favour of a few more presses of the snooze button.

Not only does getting up and about set you up for a better day, it also ensures a more peaceful night’s sleep.

“Our eyes use and need light to help set our body’s internal clock, so early morning sunlight can actually help us to sleep better at night,” said Sidhu.

“This is because when we’re exposed to sunlight in the morning, our nocturnal melatonin production occurs sooner, so we enter sleep more easily at night.” (Melatonin is the hormone that naturally helps control our sleep cycle.)

Getting moving in the morning (when it’s a little bit cooler) can also help you beat the heat in summer and enjoy your exercise with a clear mind that is free from distractions.

One study found that morning exercise improves attention, visual learning and working memory, while another indicated that morning movement is associated with more physical activity throughout the day.

Make it happen:

• Unfurl your mat and make yoga a part of your morning routine. Even if it’s just ten minutes, focus on the breath and enjoy the stretch.
• Take a morning stroll, through a green space, if possible.
• The morning is a great time for reflection – try repeating affirmations, meditation or work on your gratitude list.
• Read – not the news or anything work-related, but something that you enjoy or that inspires you.

3. Get gardening

Gardening is well-known for being beneficial for our mental and physical health. “A report in the Mental Health Review Journal referred to gardening as being able to reduce stress and improve mood,” said Sidhu.

“Gardening can also contribute to non-exercise activity thermogenesis, or NEAT, meaning activities that utilise energy which aren’t specifically exercise.”

Make it happen:

• If you’re new to growing your own, plant some summer veg: runner beans and beetroot can be planted in summer.
• Not got a garden? Not to worry. Search online to join a community garden or sign up for an allotment – both are also great for socialising, and you can learn the secrets from other green fingers.
• Make any space your garden – window boxes, doorsteps and windowsills can all be planted with colourful petunias and geraniums.

4. Make socialising a habit

Feeling less confined to our homes opens the doors (literally) for more socialising in summer – and this has big benefits for our wellbeing. “Some studies show those who have social connections live longer and have a lower chance of developing heart disease,” noted Sidhu.

“Fostering social connections can help increase our mental wellbeing, reduce stress and develop a sense of meaning and purpose in life.”

Make it happen:

• Don’t fall into the socialising-equals-drinking trap. Instead, head to the beach, find an outdoor cinema, go strawberry picking, explore open gardens, or go on a bike ride.
• Try a new activity or learn a new skill with friends, a life drawing class or pottery making, For inspiration, search for workshops in your area.
• With the sun shining, you are less likely to want to rush home from the office. Set up a ‘weekly social hour’, a dedicated minimum one-hour slot on a set day every week where you meet up with friends.

5. Do what’s best for you

One of the most important ways we can practise self-care at any time, according to Sidhu, is by setting boundaries.

“While there are lots of benefits for socialising and getting out in the summertime, for some people, it might still feel overwhelming considering Covid-19 numbers are still high.

“Being kind to ourselves and practising saying ‘no’ when we don’t feel ready to go out and attend that summer barbecue can be just as helpful for our mental wellbeing.”

by Ellen Scott

Mornings are tough.

As the alarm claws its way through your slumber and all the tasks of the day run through your mind, it’s oh so tempting to just turn back over and retreat back to sleep.

But no, you’re a grownup with stupid responsibilities. You have to get up and face the day – starting with the morning.

We’d all love to be the type of people who jump up and out of bed filled with motivation and joy.

But if that’s a distant dream, here’s a more realistic goal: let’s do what we can to make mornings a bit less sh*t.

To help us in this mission, we asked a bunch of experts to share their top tips for making our mornings better. Here’s what they said.

Prep practical bits the night before

Avoid the mad rush of the mornings by preparing as much as you can the night before.

‘Pack your bag, decide what you are wearing and prepare your lunch,’ recommends consultant health psychologist Dr Sue Peacock.

And plan out your day the night before, too

Write out tomorrow’s schedule in the evening.

‘Doing so will not only save you energy and time the following morning when you already know what your priorities are, but also help you sleep better now that your thoughts have been transferred to paper,’ says Simon Alexander Ong, coach and author of Energize: Make the Most of Every Moment.

‘As a result you are able to protect your energy for what is most important and your most important tasks.’

Start your day with a stretch

‘Stretching first thing in the morning is not only an effective way to open up the body and wake it up after a long sleep, but it also activates your parasympathetic nervous system, increases blood flow to your muscles and release those feel-good endorphins which help to reduce pain and boost mood,’ says Carlos Cobiella, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon.

Keep a bottle of water by your bed

This’ll make it easier to kick off your ‘drink more water’ goal the moment you wake up.

Shaileen Shah is a happiness coach, and lists this as one of his highly effective morning habits.

‘Drink water first thing – we can dehydrate during the night and this activates the stomach,’ he notes.

Ditch the snooze button

‘Banish the snooze button,’ says life coach Avril Matthews. ‘Waking up can be tough so why make yourself do it more than once every morning?’

Start each morning by setting your intention for the day

Life coach Kerry McLaughlin recommends: ‘Set your intention for the day.

‘I’m not talking about setting goals, but more of an ethos.

‘If, for example, the intention were to be efficient with your time, make decisions from the start to the finish of your day that align with this intention.’

Ditch alcohol

Counselling Directory member Andrew Harvey says: ‘One way of having a better morning is to have a better night before.

‘It’s worth reflecting on how your evening routine is impacting your wellbeing in the morning.

‘For example, are you using alcohol to “wind down” in the evening? This may be having a negative impact the next morning.’

Wake up at the same time each day

‘This keeps your body and mind in a routine,’ notes Dr Sue.

Stick to a routine

Find a routine that works for you and stick to it. What that looks like is up to you – having any routine can help to boost mental health, as long as it’s manageable.

‘Morning routines are proven to increase productivity if they are created around things that are sustainable and maintainable in the long term,’ Avesta Panahi, psychological counsellor for Private Therapy Clinic, tells us.

‘Create a routine that does not feel to pressurising and does not set you up for failure. It may not be easy to maintain a 5am morning start when you have always been used to 9am.’

Have a tasty breakfast to look forward to

Luring yourself out of bed with the promise of something delicious? A stroke of genius, in our books.

‘My mum has always believed in a good breakfast in the morning and I share the same sentiment (plus I can’t think straight when I am hungry),’ says Dr Tina Mistry. ‘Eating a nutritionally balanced breakfast is crucial.

‘I love porridge or overnight oats, some fruit and a scoop of protein.’

Let the light in

The moment you wake up, open up your curtains and let the sunlight flood in.

‘This helps your circadian rhythm,’ Shaileen says.

Do some affirmations

‘Starting the day with positive affirmations will help you alter your brain space for the rest of the day,’ Joanna Konstantopoulou, health psychologist, tells us.

‘Affirmations are simply positive “I am” statements, such as “I am strong”, or “I am loved”.

‘Doing this helps you focus on the positives in your life, and if you get into the habit of doing so in the morning, it will set your day up perfectly.’

Plan to do one thing you enjoy every morning

‘Sometimes, people with mental health issues find that their moods are worse in the morning,’ notes consultant psychiatrist Dr Mohamed Abdelghani. ‘This is commonly seen in those suffering with depression, when it is called diurnal mood variation.

‘For many of us however, if our morning gets off to a bad start, we find that problems or irritation mount up throughout the day.

To avoid this happening, incorporate something you enjoy every morning to start the day in the best way possible.’

What that is is up to you – reading a chapter of a book, making yourself a fancy latte, stroking your cat – but having something to look forward to the moment you open your eyes can be life-changing.

Make your bedroom like a hotel

‘Check into a hotel room every night,’ says Simon Alexander Ong… but he doesn’t mean that literally.

‘The environment of a hotel room is optimised for the purpose of quality sleep and it’s something we can also do to make our bedroom a more inviting place to be in the evening.

‘Given that we spend around a third of our lives sleeping, it makes sense to invest in a better sleep environment.

‘Our happiest and most productive days always begin with getting good quality sleep, as it is this that sets the stage for better decisions, for waking up with greater energy and increased levels of emotional intelligence.

‘When you sleep better, you live better.’

True that.

Let go of what doesn’t work for you

You don’t need to get up at 5am to have a good morning. You also don’t need to start the day with a green juice, or immediately meditate, or force yourself to do all the things on this list.

‘The biggest thing you can do you for yourself when it comes to setting yourself up for a great day is understand what works for you and what doesn’t,’ says life coach Penny Haslam.

‘In the past I’ve given myself a hard time for not being a morning person – the fact is I am not particularly dazzling pre-10am.

‘I tried to emulate the 5am yoga sessions, emails read and actioned by 7am, relevant personal development chapter read by 7.30am, all in time to do the school run. It did not work out well for me.

‘After a month of that, going against what suits me best, I was utterly exhausted, with low mood and anxiety. I’m much better suited for high energy at 11am and again at 4pm.

‘It’s extremely hard not to fall into societal thinking that you’re lazy if you don’t spring out of bed and get going at first light.

‘Try out a few different ways to start the day and be conscious of what feels good for you and what sets you up for success – don’t follow the crowd on this.’

by Business-Essay

Juggling studies and work is a real struggle, as many students know. It is difficult to maintain a study-life balance, but it’s not impossible. Learn the fundamental principles of healthy productivity to avoid burnout, stress, and anxiety! You’ll see how your productivity depends on how you spend your free time. This article offers our top productivity tips to help you become the best version of yourself. You’ll find out how rest rejuvenates your motivation.

Check out the additional materials we’ve gathered – read more

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