25 Self Care Tips for when life gets hard
Self care recommendations from the Self Care Social Community
I have been inspired by the last Self Care Social to write a blog post,
What is the self care social?
The Self Care Social started life in early 2018 when I started working with a local charity called Grapevine. My job title is Community Organiser for people with Long term Health conditions. However, I feel the role is much more than a title. We work with people with chronic illnesses to help them to think differently about what their lives might look like. The Self Care Social was based on people’s ideas around some of the things they find difficult – practising good self-care, social gatherings and knowing where to go for support. We meet up regularly to plan and host events and gatherings
Who can get involved?
You don’t have to have a long term condition to be involved. Everyone has lived experiences and skills that can help each other to flourish. We have found bringing people together can have positive effects on their health and wellbeing. It gives people opportunities to connect and use their skills to help to grow the movement. We are always on the lookout for more people to get involved so keep reading to find out more…
people powered
Thursday 24th Jan 2019 – 22 people gathered at the Coventry University Enterprise Hub.
Self Care bakers

People brought food for us to share, some even spent their afternoon baking. Naomi and her Dad made the most amazing homemade rolls, pizza and Chelsea buns. Self Care comes in many different forms and baking for others really helps to generate the
Doing the rounds
One of the ways we like to connect people is by asking a round question (this idea was kindly shared by Stephanie Leonard from Act, Build, Change). Last
Self Care top tips for the people by the people
- Trying something new keeps your brain active and helps to release the feel-good chemicals.
- Playing games on Xbox or on phones
- Baking for others as well as yourself
Creative ideas
- Creating an old school playlist of songs that hold special meaning at different times of your life
- Get creative, short projects are fun but longer term ones can give you a purpose and something to work towards
- Looking at old pictures
- Listening to music while you are out walking, carrying a small speaker so you don’t have to wear headphones, we also found out that hearing aids can be blue tooth so hook up to your music library on your phone!
- Attending theatre and music events
- Looking out for things in nature – when you have things going on it can help to make you realise that you are part of something so much bigger, Kerry’s blog gives some perfect examples of how to do this
- Writing about the positive things in life can help you to refocus where you should be
spenfding your time and energy
Ideas to help you connect with others
- Joining a community choir
- Volunteering – helps you to create happiness for others and gives you a sense of purpose
- Sharing your passion with others
- Seeing friends
- Call a friend or find someone to talk to when you are feeling low
Ideas to help you relax
- Realising that retiring to bed can be the nourishment you need when your day gets too much to handle
- Relaxing in the bath
- Watching films and documentaries, suggested by Alan who also produces insightful documentaries
- Sitting in your car listening to music before going into work or returning home
Ideas to get you moving
- Playing sports like badminton, table tennis, etc
- Buying a FitBit for encouragement and to track your activity
- Getting on your bike or taking to the streets for a run
- Going to the gym and eating chocolate
- Being brave and starting to
go the gym and recognising how good it makes you feel after each session - Being outdoors, going for a walk
Word of mouth
Another thing I love about
- The Coventry Men’s Shed in Spon End runs a weekly meetup for Crafty Blokes. At the mo, they are building models but have previously done other activities such as cooking
- Art Strolls and grub – started by a couple of our regular attendees. Who had mentioned that as you get older and especially if you have a visual impairment you don’t find opportunities to go to places to
explore. The first stroll was around the Herbert Art Gallery and the second was around the City Centre followed by food at Arabian Bites. They have just set the date for the next one on Wednesday 13th February. - The WildLife Trust run different courses and activities that have positive benefits on health and wellbeing. S
uch as bushcraft and wildlife walks at Brandon Marsh and the Memorial Park
Skill sharing and learning new things
We encourage folks to bring along things that help them to practise good self-care. Last night we had people stitching Feel Good banners, making feathers and sharing knitting patterns. Anna who works for the NHS played a game with us called How Much Sugar? We were all shocked out how many sugar cubes were in things we eat! Gutted that a bag of crisps has 10 sugar cubes in.
What people think..
I went for my first time, and enjoyed myself meeting new friendly people, and doing my favourite icebreaker, getting people to guess my age, I’d recommend it to others 100%, some were making feathers out of wool
Self Care Social welcomes everyone in our community from all walks of life who want to make a positive difference in their own lives (and the lives of others) through self care. Everyone is welcome, it’s a lovely friendly informal atmosphere with opportunities to share ideas, hear other people’s thoughts, make plans or just listen and enjoy a piece of cake and a cuppa! ???? Come along and be part of something that can really make a difference!
How to get involved
- To keep up to date with events and related things like the Self Care Social FaceBook Page
- Come along to the Self Care Social, event details can be found on the Facebook page. You can bring a friend, share some food, bring a skill you would like to share
- Become a member of the Feel Good Ambassador Facebook group
- If you would like to get involved with developing the Self Care Social or have an idea that you think could positively impact people’s health and wellbeing then get in touch: mvsmith@grapevinecovandwarks.org
February 7, 2019 @ 12:31 pm
A self-care social, such a brilliant idea (especially to bring along baked goods, nom nom)! You’ve also given some fab suggestions for self-care, which can be hard to do when things get tough because it tends to slip down on our priorities, when really it should be all the more important.
Caz xx
February 7, 2019 @ 5:50 pm
Thank you for your comment! The suggestions are really cool as they are tried and tested methods from people who have had experience. The food was very nom nom! Mel x