10 Amazing Self Care Ideas for Summer

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Summer Vacation can be rough on us. Maybe the kids are home or your routine is messed up. Or maybe your office is now an A/C ridden icebox and you pray you to make it to the weekend. If you’re anything like me you can throw in an anxiety-ridden vacation and several sunburns too. 

Summer Vacation can mean taking a break from many things but self-care should not be one of them. I’ve curated a list of self care tips to help you kick off the summer in bliss.

Self Care helps to:

• Decrease Stress
• Boost your Mood
• Reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression
• Boost Productivity
• Increase Creativity

I practice self-care regularly. Recently, however, I have found myself switching up my routine for the summer months. The hotter weather, change in routine, traveling, and more can make it harder and harder to take time away from the day to day and focus on yourself. Below is my summer self care list , to show you how I’m changing up my self care routine this year!

10 Amazing Summer Self Care Tips

Practicing self-care can really help us to maintain a mindful balance in our lives. Plus, it’s much easier to take care of everything else in our lives when we care for ourselves too. And many of these tips can be incorporated into your summer lifestyle with ease!

1. Hydration for Self Care

The warmer weather and sunshine can really dry us out. Our bodies are over 75% water. Dehydration is a serious risk during the summer months. Make sure to drink a recommended half of your body weight in ounces of water. Especially on days, you plan to hang out outside or do a lot of physical activities.

Three Tips for Drinking enough Water

• Keep a Pitcher of water in the fridge to keep your water nice and cool and ready to drink.
• Purchase a cute insulated tumbler or water bottle to take with you everywhere. I love my Hydroflask and bring it with me all summer. It’s also the perfect place for all those fun travel stickers I love to collect. 
• Track your water- using apps like My Fitness Pal or Fitbit you can track your water consumption to make sure that you’re drinking enough water each day. Having a visual aid can be super helpful especially when out and about.

2. Protect Your Skin

Your skin can really take a beating while on vacation; sun, salt, sand, chlorine, you name it, it’s probably not great for your skin. A great summer self-care practice is to switch up your skincare routine. Focus on moisture and SPF. 

Sun protection is very important, so make sure you’re buying a quality reef safe sunscreen. Apply sunblock thoroughly and reapply after you get wet or after 80minutes (or however long your sunblock is rated for. Check the back. Additionally, wearing a coverup, hat or rashguard can offer you sun protection for your outdoor activities.

My Favorite products for skin protection are:

3. Get Active

Your physical body can often get neglected during self-care and travel, so summer is the perfect time to switch things up. Try fun outdoor activities like hiking, swimming, mountain biking, kayaking, and more!

There are so many fun outdoor activities you can do to get your body moving. If none of the above are your cup of tea, try walking for 20-30 minutes 5 days a week. This will have a major impact on your mood, hormones and cardiovascular health.

4. Meditate Outside

Just 3-5 minutes of meditation can quiet the mind and help us to recenter. Experiencing calm from within and tuning out the outside world promotes peace of mind. (Insert Facts about meditation here) So try taking your practice outside.

Sit comfortably on a towel or blanket on the grass or sand and close your eyes. Take deep breaths. Meditating outside can be a whole different experience. You may find your mind wanders more, just refocus on your breath. You can also do this on a porch, patio, or in front of an open sunny window if sitting in the grass isn’t your jam. 

5. Read a Fun Summer Novel

Reading as a form of self-care is one of my favorite activities but most passed on self-care tools. It’s inexpensive, easy, and super portable. I love taking a book with me when I am waiting for appointments or meetings to begin. Unlike my cell phone and social media, a good book allows me to escape reality for a little while.

Books are perfect for road trips, the beach, picnics and more. Growing up I always had my nose in a book during summer vacation. My summer reading list right now consists of City of Girls by Elizabeth Gilbert and Becoming by Michelle Obama. 

6. Get Creative

Summer is the perfect time of year to create something. Our energy levels are often higher due to all that summer sun. Put your energy to good use creating an inspired masterpiece. You don’t have to be a world class painter or musician, taking the time to participate in a creative hobby helps to release stress no matter your skill level. So let’s get ready to create!

Great Ways to Express Creativity During Summer:

• Outdoor painting can be a really gorgeous way to use nature as inspiration.
• Try upcycling some old furniture. A quick trip to a yard sale and a little paint can be an awesome way to add a pop of color to your space.
• Get out your camera (or heck even your phone) and snap some artistic photos.
• Dust off that ukulele and learn a few new chords.
• Write a creepy ghost story to share around the campfire.
• Stop by your local garden center and stock up on colorful flowers and delicious vegetables and fruits. Planting a garden is a great way to express your personal creativity while giving back to your environment.

7. Wash Away Your Worries

Head to the pond, lake, ocean, pool, or sprinkler it doesn’t matter. Water is very healing. Swimming and snorkeling are great low impact exercise too! But, you don’t have to swim to enjoy a day at the lake, or a nice glass of wine on the banks of a river.

Be mindful of the sound a flowing stream makes. Maybe head out and chase a waterfall or two. Taking your mind off of your stresses to explore can really help to boost your mood!

8. Meet a Dear Friend for a Picnic Lunch

A strong and dedicated support system is non-negotiable when it comes to mental health. Build yours, or grow your current support system by going on a picnic lunch with someone you trust and enjoy being around. Spend the day eating sandwiches, drinking wine and laughing. 

9. Disconnect

Take a day away from the woes and stresses of social media and the internet. Shut off your phone. Get a little lost. Nowadays we are attached to our phones. This can lead to a lot of anxiety and worry surrounding our connection to the world. Unplugging for a whole day can feel like a daunting task, but the reward on your mental health is huge.

Tips for Disconnecting:

• It can be easier to disconnect when you’re not at home, so try placing your phone inside your backpack on a hike.
• Or leaving it in the car or better yet at home when you go to the beach.
• Start your morning off with a good book and a cup of coffee instead of checking Facebook or Instagram.
• Have a no phones dinner with friends. You can even have a little fun by having everyone put their phone in the middle of the table and the first person who checks theirs has to pay for the meal!
• Charge your phone in a separate room during the day so you’re less tempted to reach out for it.

10. Plan a Vacation or Staycation

Taking a vacation is a great way to give yourself a change of scenery or routine. You can even try taking a staycation by camping in your backyard or staying in a resort/hotel close to home.

Examples of great vacations and staycations you could plan:

• Look up campsites within an hour of your home and plan a great weekend away from home.
• Look up discount travel on Groupon and book an inexpensive flight to somewhere you’ve always wanted to go. Several years ago, I scored amazing flights to the Bahamas using Groupon and went scuba diving with sharks (it was AWESOME!)
• Choose an amusement park within a few hours drive from home and plan a long weekend there.
• Set up the tent in the backyard and get your tiki torches out! Have a bonfire if you can. Enjoy a night or two out under the stars. (This idea works particularly well for those with children. We did this a lot growing up and I loved it!)
• Don’t love the idea of sleeping outside and want to stay close to home? Roll out the sleeping bags and Christmas lights and set up your living room or den like a campsite 🙂 You can even make shadow puppets with a flashlight on your wall.

Important Reminder about Self Care Tips:

Self Care Ideas for summer don’t need to take a lot of time or effort! And spending a bunch of money isn’t required! The most important thing to remember about self care is that you’re doing it for you. You do not have to do anything you don’t want to, or that doesn’t feel good to you. Here’s hoping you have an amazing summer filled with great self care ideas that help you to make the most of your summer!

Let us know below what your favorite self care tips for summer are!