Simple Self-Care for Midlife Women

Are you longing to reconnect with yourself again? Are you feeling isolated, overwhelmed, or simply not like yourself? At Grace Space Wellness Holistic Health Coaching, we work with women every day who are feeling burned out and exhausted. Our Simple Self-Care Checklist helps our clients start a renewed journey to themselves.

At Grace Space Wellness, please know… you are not alone. I’ve walked that path too. Through Grace, I found my way back to healing, peace, and a deeper sense of self. My journey inspired the heart behind Grace Space.

To support you, I’ve included a simple self-care resource to help you begin taking those first steps toward caring for yourself again. A check list to guide your mind, body, and spirit to feel more energized and healthy through daily routines.

GSWC Midlife Self-Care Checklist.pdf

Download PDF • 1.69MB

What's in the Checklist?

The check-list includes several mindful ideas to guide your mind, body, and spirit throughout the day toward a healthier you. Included in the checklist are tips such as drinking water in the morning before your coffee or tea. Also moving your body for at least 10 minutes to start your day, include fresh air and sunshine. Add protein to your morning after fasting overnight. Start your morning with prayer or mindfulness for mental and spiritual grounding. Practice gratitude with affirmations and journaling. Connect with someone who adds joy into your world. These are just a few positive habits in the list to ease your day. Below are a few of my favorites from the list.

Drink Water Before Coffee

• Water boosts our metabolism and filters our morning high cortisol levels before adding our morning coffee that elevates cortisol in our blood.

  
  

• Water fights off dehydration and its side effects. Our brain and motor function will decrease when we are only 1-2% dehydrated. The caffeine in coffee, yes even decaf coffee, acts as a diuretic, which means it stimulates your kidneys in order to excrete sodium in the urine. When you add coffee or tea to an already dehydrated system, your body dehydrates even more, leading to side effects such as hypertension, hypotension, headaches, dizziness, confusion, harm to kidneys, and decrease in motor function. 

  
  

• Water protects against mineral deficiency, digestive problems and more. Drinking coffee before water can elevate the hydrochloric acid in your stomach that then raises the acidity that irritates the stomach lining. If you consume more than two cups of coffee, your body will kick into overdrive and produce more hydrochloric acid than needed, resulting in mineral deficiency and digestive problems. Stomach ulcers, heartburn, indigestion, kidney stones, bladder infections can all be side effects of too much acid. To minimize this damage, drink water first.

  
  

• Water protects teeth, coffee contains tannin, a chemical responsible for discoloring your teeth. As you drink your coffee (or tea), tannin creates a layer on those pearly whites. Drinking water fifteen minutes before that first cup of coffee produces a protective layer that reduces the chance of staining. 

Practice Gratitude or Journaling

• Gratitude improves emotional resilience. Practicing gratitude can help you reduce future stress and rewire cognitive pathways so that you can better cope with emotions that arise from difficult circumstances.

  
  

• Gratitude improves focus. The release of dopamine enhances concentration and vitality, which can help you better achieve tasks and personal or professional accomplishments.

• Gratitude improves immunity. It triggers the release of hormones that regulate the immune system and help it function efficiently, so that you can fight off infections and more quickly recover from illnesses.

  
  

• Gratitude improves sleep. It triggers the hypothalamus, which has an important role in regulating sleep. So expressing or experiencing gratitude can help us get better quality, deeper, and healthier sleep naturally. This further strengthens immune function and resilience.

• Gratitude helps with social bonding. Expressing appreciation enhances our connection to others. This helps to build and strengthen community and cooperation.

https://www.americanbrainfoundation.org/does-gratitude-rewire-your-brain/

Print Self-Care Checklist

Unplug from Screens an Hour Before Bed

• Decrease Your Daytime and Nighttime Electronics Use: Using electronic devices for long periods during the day can negatively impact sleep. Common effects include shorter sleep duration, longer sleep onset, and more sleep deficiency. 

  
  

• Establish a Relaxing Bedtime Routine: A regular bedtime that ensures an adequate amount of rest is essential for healthy sleep. The hour before bed should consist of relaxing activities that don’t involve devices with screens.

• Make Your Bedroom a Screen-Free Zone: While a lot of people prefer to keep a television in their bedroom, watching TV before bed is generally discouraged due to the negative effect it can have on your sleep. In fact, we recommend removing all of your electronic devices from your bedroom – and encourage your kids to do the same.

• Keep the Bedroom Lights Dim: Light intensity is measured in a unit known as lux. Some studies have shown that normal indoor light levels of 100 lux or more can suppress melatonin production and interfere with your sleep-wake schedule. Dimmer indoor lighting affects your melatonin production to a much lesser extent.

https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/how-electronics-affect-sleep

Do You Need Additional Help?

I would be honored to walk alongside you on your journey back to yourself. All it takes is that first step. Schedule your first call today.