Creating a self-care basket is one of the best ways I've found in making self-care consistent.
In this article, I'm sharing how I make self-care easy by creating a self-care basket that I keep in the main part of my house.
Creating a self-care basket
I have a beautiful self-care space that I love. But recently I've just found myself not wanting to sit there, especially in the mornings, which is when I usually do some form of self-care.
I started skipping out on self-care activities because of it. And when I go without self-care, it's not too pretty. I wrote about that in this post.
So I didn't want to get in a bad rut where I wasn't practicing any self-care, but I also didn't want to create another full blown meditation space elsewhere in my house.
Enter my idea for a self-care basket. I decided it would hold all of my most necessary self-care items in it so that when I'm in my living room, which is where I hang out the most, I would have self-care items right next to me.
This has worked out so well which is why I wanted to create a whole post on it. The basket can be moved anywhere I am, and it just makes it so extremely easy to incorporate calm and realignment into my days.
Benefits of a self-care basket
- It makes creating a consistent self-care routine EASY
- I'm more mentally and emotionally organized
- I stay feeling connected even when I'm busy
- You instantly create sacred space anywhere in your house that you place the basket
- It keeps your area tidy without creating a pile of things on a side table
What to put in a self-care basket
You can put anything that makes you feel more calm, aligned, and connected. This will also change every so often, so it's good to keep your basket filled with the most current items that you're needing.
Before I share what I keep in mine specifically, here's a list of ideas of general self-care items that you could put in your basket:
- Daily spiritual/self-care books
- Mind-expanding books
- Essential oils
- Journals
- Room sprays or incense
- Tarot or oracle card decks
- Mindset worksheets
- Crystals
- Headphones
- Yoga mat
- Vitamins/supplements
- Sleep mask
Here is what's currently in my own self-care basket.
1. Mindset binder
A few years ago I really fell in love with mindset and self-care "worksheets." Another name for them could be journal prompt sheets, but the overall purpose of them is to get me into a realigned mental and emotional space.
I've created many of these types of sheets, and I found them to be so helpful and transformative that I decided to create a self-care binder and keep them all in one place. This eventually became my moon self-care binder when I incorporated the energy of the current moon phases.
I simply looked on Amazon for a binder that felt uplifting and then I put my journal sheets from Manifesting Magic with the Moon inside the binder.
These are my favorite daily self-care sheets because get me thinking about how I want my day to flow, how I want to feel, and I especially love the incorporation of a daily card pull.
2. Planner
I don't use my planner a ton, to be honest, but every Sunday I do like to write out everything I have to do the following week so I don't forget.
Usually at night, I'll open my planner and just look over my schedule and priorities for the week. This really helps me from feeling overwhelmed and unorganized.
I like to try and get a planner that focuses on mindset. This year I got the law of attraction planner but I honestly just use it more for its calendar than anything.
3. Journal
Journaling for me is like keeping a little therapist in my basket. It's also one of those things that I will put off to do later unless I have the journal right in front of me.
Having the journal in the basket has made it easy for me to just pull it out anytime during the day or evening and rage write, ha! But I'm not really kidding–it makes it easy for me to release pent up feelings and thoughts in the moment rather than holding them in.
This one has been a favorite journal of mine for a long time (I've purchased it more than once). But I also really love to write in a digital journal. I use the Nebo app for my digital journal and it's also what I use for a dream journal. It's very simple and also free (if I did pay for it, it wasn't much but can't quite remember now since it's been awhile since I got the app).
Related posts:
- 50 Journal Prompts for Clarity, Well-Being, & Healing
- How to Use a Spiritual Journal for Happiness & Growth
4. Kindle reader
Well technically it's my iPad tablet but I have the Kindle app downloaded on it so I can keep all of my books in one place.
I do love reading "actual" books but honestly my house gets too cluttered. I'm a book whore so reading ebooks is not only neater for me but I can also read them at night without having to have a light on.
Here's some books I've currently been reading (and re-reading):
5. Daily oracle deck
As I was mentioning before, I love pulling a daily oracle card. I feel it's one of the easiest, quickest ways for me to tap into non-physical guidance. I have had so many card pulling sessions that left me speechless, and I'm not a professional card reader or someone who is super experienced. It's all energy, so this is why and how it works.
My favorite deck for the last several years has been Wisdom of the Oracle.
It's a beautiful deck but beyond that, the energy of the deck is really aligned in my opinion, or at least it's aligned with me.
I created this list of my favorite oracle decks, as well as decks that I want to purchase, and I wrote this article on the decks I have and how I use them.
6. Daily mindset books
Daily mindset books shown above that I highly recommend:
- Journey to the Heart
- A Course in Miracles
- The Power of Now (not truly a "daily" book in the sense of the word, but so transformative to read a little bit out of this book on a frequent basis)
- The Book of Awakening
Simple Abundance isn't pictured but it's also an absolutely beautiful daily self-care book.
Daily mindset books such as these are so helpful because they help shift your mindset in a short amount of time and put you in an inspired, reflective mood.
7. Room spray
For me, sprays that are designed for a sacred space and that contain grounding and calming essential oils are such mood boosters.
It really doesn't matter what kind of spray you use as long as you find it calming or uplifting. There was one spray that I did purchase more than once, and it's called Empath Grounding Mist. The spray pictured above is from the same Esty shop and it also was a very lovely, grounding scent.
I recommend some type of grounding or uplifting spray for your self-care basket because it can help any space feel transformed no matter where you are in your house.
8. Headphones
Lastly, I currently keep headphones and my ear buds in my self-care basket, for more than one reason. The first being that I can use the headphones for music or calming sounds when I'm sitting down journaling or relaxing. Secondly, I can use them for listening to audio books, Youtube videos or podcasts while I'm cleaning or cooking.
I've become a real fan of audio books in the last few years because they help me be productive AND inspired. It's a win-win. I pay $15 a month for Amazon's Audible program and it gives me access to lots of books but also gives me one credit a month, which I use to get audio books that are normally priced in the $25 range.
If you have Spotify, I created a pretty awesome playlist (in my opinion at least) of spacey/dreamy type music.
Not mentioned in this post is my little supply of incense I keep in my living room. Lighting incense can make whatever room you're in feel more calm instantly.
I hope you enjoyed this post and I also hope that you put together a self-care basket for yourself soon if you haven't already. It's a small but powerful way to consistently practice self-care.
To stay updated on my self-care blog posts, you can keep in touch by joining the Dwell in Magic weekly newsletter.
With love,
Jessica
Jessica is the creator of the ritual worksheet bundle Manifesting Magic with the Moon. Connect with her on Facebook and Instagram for more inspiration and updates.
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Alea
Great tips as usual! I always find your posts at the right time. Thank you for everything that you do (:
Jessica Dimas
Thank you Alea, I appreciate that! <3