Create A Self-Care Survival Kit

A self-care survival kit is a personalized box of fun things to use to pamper yourself. When you are feeling sad, stressed, or just feel like it, pull this box out and enjoy. The survival kit will help you loosen up and just relax and feel a sense of self-pride. Making a kit can be just as rewarding as using one. This can be a fun activity to do with friends and family or even just by yourself to unwind.

The first task that needs to be done when creating this kit is finding a box or basket to put things in. Buy colorful markers, glitter, and ribbons to decorate the outside if you want to. This can be super creative or just simple. Decorate until you are happy with the way it looks.

Now it's time to figure out what items to put in the survival kit. Essentially you want to fill it with anything that makes you feel good, brings a smile to your face, or relaxes you.

A good way to help you get started is by using all five senses as you fill your kit. Let’s look at a few ideas.

• Sight – Photos of loved ones, a favorite book or magazine, a list of affirmations, postcards from friends and family, or adult coloring books.
• Smell -- Scented soy candles, incense, or essential oils.
• Hearing – Favorite music CD, an audiobook or a list of your favorite videos on YouTube.
• Touch -- Anything that you can feel and want to touch. Avoid textures that make you uncomfortable. Face masks, foot scrubs, calming lotions, stress ball or extra paper or a journal to write poems or thoughts. Silly putty and kinetic sand are other great stress relieving toys.
• Taste -- Try to avoid high calorie or extremely unhealthy foods. Gum, flavored lip balm, mints and tea bags are all good options.

Add as many items in each category as you like. If there are certain categories you don't care for. feel free to avoid it. Maybe you want complete quiet when doing these activities so you might add in some earplugs instead of music. You want to feel excited when you open this box, so make it worth it.

Keep this box somewhere you can see it every day and easily get to. Don't hide it away. This box is a way to remind yourself that you need time for you. The more you see it, the more you will remember that you are just as important as everything else going on in your day. Eventually, it will become a good healthy routine to look and play with the items in your box.

Do you have a sense of play? What kinds of collections do you have that bring you joy? I have a library of books and piles of fabrics that bring me joy and inspire me in many ways. What inspires you?

One of the goals of A House With Four Rooms is to build an encouraging and supportive place for folks to feel wanted, inspired, and supported...Our Village.

Please like, follow, and share our social media pages: www.facebook.com/ahousewithfourrooms and www.instagram.com/ahousewithfour.rooms.

We want to grow our community and support one another to create and live our best lives.

Let me know if you have any comments or questions.

Cheers!

Lisa