The #1 Thing to Do to Start a Self-Care Routine After 60
There is one thing you take with you everywhere you go.
Your body.
It stands to reason, then, that having a self-care routine for your body after 60 should be your number one priority.
For many people, it is. Unfortunately, for a great many more, it is not.
With all of the ways we can establish and engage in a self-care routine for our body, why is it such a challenge to not only establish one but consistently maintain it?
In part-one of a two-part article, we’re going to answer that question by starting where all self-care routines begin.
In your mind.
The Foundation
As much as a self-care routine for you body requires some level of physical activity, none of it happens without first processing the thoughts, beliefs, and emotions that run through your mind.
This is why the foundation and #1 thing to start any self-care routine for your body, is loving yourself just as you are.
But how do you engage in a self-care routine for your body if you were not taught how to love yourself?
For example, millions of people over 60 walk daily, eat healthy food and take high-quality supplements. This would appear to be the basis for a self-care routine.
Yet, for many of those who engage in these activities, they remain unhappy, unfulfilled, and longing for something better.
The main reason for this is an unconscious belief in not being enough.
You Are Enough
Whether you are already engaging in your own self-care routine for your body or want to start one, here’s where I suggest you begin.
Find a quiet place to sit with your journal and write the following:
- I am enough.
- I do enough.
- I have enough.
- I have always been enough.
- I love myself just as I am.
Once these declarations are written, begin to speak them out loud to yourself multiple times a day.
Pay close attention to how your inner critic will attempt to not only distract you from doing this, but also how it offers reasons why one or more of these declarations are not true for you.
Why is this so important for a self-care routine for your body?
When you do not believe you are enough, or you do not believe what you are doing in life is enough, it is very easy to unconsciously sabotage your desires.
Developing a Growth Mindset
When your desires are being sabotaged, small obstacles and distractions to loving yourself turn into giant ones. These obstacles and distractions become excuses for why there isn’t enough time or resources to engage in a self-care routine for your body.
How do you overcome this?
Remove seen and unseen obstacles on your path by identifying limiting beliefs and then replacing them with new, more empowering beliefs.
Limiting beliefs show up in a variety of ways. At the core of their essence is a disempowered, fixed mindset.
This means you have a fixed set of beliefs that are not serving you, but you remain convinced they are true and unchangeable.
Empowering beliefs support your desires for improvement.
They are developed through an empowered, growth mindset that does not allow past failures or perceived obstacles to get in the way of your well-being.
Stop Avoiding What Triggers You
A self-care routine for your body after 60 requires a conscious and consistent approach to observing your thoughts and emotions as they show up.
How do you go about this?
Stop avoiding thoughts and emotions that are uncomfortable. Even worse, don’t dismiss your desires or inspired ideas as being selfish or unattainable.
If you avoid what triggers you, whether it is an uncomfortable feeling or a feeling of joy, this creates added stress and emotional turmoil in your mind and body.
That is why even if you are in good physical shape, your emotional and mental state of being can be suffering greatly as a result of avoiding what triggers you.
It All Starts with You
To love more of who you are requires that you own your emotions and take responsibility for how you feel. This includes not making excuses or blaming others for why you neglect to engage in a consistent self-care routine for your body.
No matter where you find yourself on the emotional spectrum, the common denominator in all of you of life experiences is YOU.
Therefore, to establish and maintain a healthy, self-care routine for your body after 60 it is 100% your responsibility and no one else’s.
In part-two of this article and video for Sixty and Me readers, we will explore 15 easy ways to establish a self-care routing after 60.
In the meantime, join me in the video above where I share additional insights and guide you through three journal prompts and 10 empowering affirmations.
Let’s Have a Conversation:
Can you say that you love your body? Why or why not? What self-care routine have you established for your body so that it is well cared for? What obstacles have you overcome on your path to developing a self-care routine that works for you?
Tags Empowerment
I had a tough time growing up with my mom and then had a differently able child l swore l would be a better mom to him goal achieved Others keep saying l should myself first l am not comfortable with that notion l am finally almost at a point where l like myself just the way l am l have a hard time with others judgment l try to accept people for who they are
I’m not to sure if will help me to have more confidence in myself. A little background… I grew up with parents who didn’t want their child, me to be in a happy place.. mom didn’t guide me along the way to be a happy and useful person. Not allowed to make my own decisions.. It was always a firm “no” whenever I wanted to explore doing something to expand myself. They didn’t believe in higher education.. I couldn’t buy clothes I watched.. So my self esteem was squashed at an early age. Now I’m 89 and I think it’s way to late to be anything but what I’ve been for ages. I’m a widow and my marriage lasted 56 years and then it hit me I wasn’t really going to be able to change.
Thank you for sharing, you’ve had a very difficult time, but – it’s never too late. You are 89 and you are amazing! How about this week you go and do something just a little different, that you’d like to do and which would make you feel happy. It doesn’t have to be a big thing (unless you want it to be!) maybe a walk in the park or seek out a new book, buy a nice jumper or select a favourite programme, could be anything but I bet if you thought about it you could come up with something that is just to make you happy. Then give yourself permission and go and do it. You can do it. Enjoy every day, you are worth it.
Thank you….I love to read, and I have special BBC mysteries I like to watch… I do a variety of things that I do in a days time. But I still feel like I’m in a “box” without someone to talk to at times, so lonely.
Its Lent now, hopefully when Easter arrives I’ll have a solution to my inner feelings. wish me luck.
Is there a fiftyandme blog?! I’m 54 in a few weeks and I’m battling with these issues. I feel meh 😕 about myself and I never seem to have enough time. A lie I tell myself, often.
I think women in general have very poor self images. From a very young age we feel too fat/too thin/not pretty enough/not sporty enough/not smart enough/etc. And this feeling of inadequacy just grows the older we get. The teenage years are brutal. It’s very difficult to “bounce back” from our insecurities. (I’m raising my granddaughter, now 17 – it feels like I’m looking at myself through a reverse lense?! It’s hardwork teaching her to believe in herself and to LOVE herself when she is being judged by everything and everyone, from the neighbour to the media).
Changing decades of ingrained self loathing is a monumental task. I’m sort of at the stage where I don’t particularly care what anyone else thinks of me, but I am not happy with me. I have no desire to look 20 again, but I do want to be strong and supple, and maybe 5 or 10 kgs lighter.
I’ll try the mantra, and I look forward to the second part of this article.
How do I become a member?
I joined “SixtyandMe” when I was 54 too. It helped guide my mindset moving into my 60th birthday. The articles are relevant regardless of your chronological age. Don’t let yourself get wrapped around the title. I believe joining is simply adding your email account (https://app.monstercampaigns.com/c/nz10ws1ql656rrzkqocf/)
I realize based on your weight measurements in kgs, you must be in the EU/UK but there is another group you might also want to see if you can locate (more educational articles too) The Girlfriend from AARP (https://www.thegirlfriend.com/lifestyle/introducing-aarps-female-focused-newsletters).
Welcome to owning our own lives😉
Hello Bella,
30% of our readers are in the 50-60 age bracket. Welcome to our community!
To become a member means nothing more than joining our newsletter if you wish, or following our Facebook page, or any of our other channels. You can give it a try and see if you feel comfortable here at 60 & Me.
Warmest wishes,
60 & Me Team
I made a commitment to have better health by age 60, and I’ve changed my diet and exercise habits, lost 25 pounds and feel much better and more alive. I credit persistence and yoga. I walk for health or do exercise DVDs. If I miss a day, it’s okay. Rest days are important also. I also gave up eating sweets, that had helped so much. Thank you for this article. It’s important to keep positive and also to acknowledge all of our feelings and face them, if we can. Some days I do better than others, we are all works in progress.