No stress relief activity in the world will be of any help; if you are not taking care of yourself at the first place. Meditation will not benefit, if your sleep in insufficient. Similarly, working out once in a while won’t make you achieve your goals unless you are consistent and taking healthy diet. In short, in order to perform your best; you need to start with self-care. The same rule applies for the avid equestrians.
In this post, we will be discussing about the self-care tips and tricks for the horsewomen out there who are missing out a lot in terms of personal maintenance. If you are one of them, don’t miss out any point. Moreover, you must only buy bulk weed Canada from a trusted seller to ensure what you’ll be getting are genuine items.
How Do We Define Self Care?
Self-care is a multidimensional process to enhance healthy functioning and overall wellbeing. Basically, the term is itself self-explanatory, which describes a conscious act of a person to promote their mental, physical and emotional health.
Self-care plays an essential part in building resilience against the stress in life that is hard to eliminate otherwise. However, a majority of people consider it a luxury rather a priority, which is completely wrong.
Why Self-care Is Important for An Avid Equestrian?
While scrolling through the social sites; you might realize almost everyone is talking about self-care these days, sharing their routine, products to try out, hacks and whatnot. However, those tips may not work for the women who spend most of the day at the barn. Even on their off days; they choose to rest than doing anything extra (let’s be real).
It won’t be an exaggeration to say that the horse of equestrians sees a vet more than their own visit to a doctor. In fact, they can name 30 horse supplements in a minute, but won’t be able to remember what they had for dinner last night. It is all about priorities, my friend.
However, the reality is, you will only be able to take care of your beloved horse when you are physically and mentally fit, and that comes with taking care of yourself. Fret not! I’m here to tell you how you can do it.
Self-care Tips for An Equestrian
The self-care routine of an equestrian is quite different from the one you see on your Instagram feed. It is more basic and minimal, but surely going to leave a great effect on their overall personality. Here are a few ideas to guide you with the venture. Hope it will help *fingers crossed*.
| Forms of Self care | How to do it? | Benefits |
| Physical | Dressing properly, eating healthy, visiting doctor regularly, using hair masks, following a skincare routine, | Boost in self-esteem, confidence, healthy lifestyle |
| Mental/Emotional | Listening music, socializing, reducing screen time, | Energetic, mood booster, calm nerves, relax mind, avoid distractions |
| Spiritual | Exercising, meditation, improving sleep | Improve focus, healthy benefits, better performance |
1. Dress Properly
A majority of times, while coming back home from the barn after a rough day; it is normal to see yourself covered with sweat, hay dust, shavings and not to forget the stink of the farm. Even in this condition, you choose to get in your pyjamas directly and call it a day! This approach is so negative and demotivating in so many ways.
Even if you don’t have any plans for the day off or just need to go out for groceries; it’s your right to dress up well and get ready for your own self. Do this once, and you will be amazed to see a prominent boost in your confidence and persona.
2. Don’t Skip Breakfast
You might have heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, and there are so many healthy reasons behind it. Breakfast acts as a fuel for your body to get through the day, and it should not be missed at any cost.
In case of equestrians, they need to wake up before the sun as a part of their job. In this scenario, breakfast is a luxury. Try preparing your first meal at night to avoid the morning hassle or just wake a few minutes earlier because you deserve to start your day with a nutritious plate of goodness.
3. Listen to Your Body Aches
Riding horses is nothing like a bed of roses. You may fall off many times during your venture or long tiring sessions can end up in body aches and back issues. In fact, you may even need therapy for the alignment, in case of extreme injury. Many equestrians ignore the initial signs of pain for months or years, and that’s when the real problem begins.
Horse lovers would easily spend years on making their horses a great athlete, but wouldn’t be able to spare an hour for themselves. Your body needs care too. Don’t ignore the aches and see a specialist for a proper treatment. It is wise to go for a check-up in the beginning than regretting later. Treatments like physiotherapy, yoga, chiropractor and even Pilates can help you in these situations. Consult your doctor for best advice, based on your condition.
4. Make a Work Playlist
Some days there is not much work to do at the stable and the equestrians get some extra time to rest. That’s when you can pop in your headphones and enjoy some music to drown work stress and calm your nerves. It will not only refresh your soul, but will also boost your energy level. Just create a playlist of your favorite tracks as per your mood and enjoy your me-time at the barn.
5. Reduce Screen Time
Cell phones are a blessing, but excess usage can be stressful for you, especially at work. For instance, if you switch your phone off, then there are chances to miss out an important text or call. On the other hand, the continuous beeping of the cell can be distracting and annoying at the same time. Now, the concern is to maintain a balance between the extremes. Well, there is a great tip that always helped me at work too.
Set a special text/ringtone for the important contacts, so you get alert for them only and can ignore the rest. This will work for your off-days too when you just want to sleep all day and don’t want to get paranoid by beeping notifications.
6. Socialize Outside The Barn
Although you may find this tip contradicting my last point, but hey! It’s time to get your heads out of the phones and socialize in person. It is a great way to relieve your stress and distract your mind. For a change, make friends outside the barn so that you can talk about something else than work-related chats (that you can do with your co-workers any time).
Meet with new people, hang out, gossip around, vent about life happenings and just relax in those moments for the sake of your self-care.
7. Pay Attention To Your Pending Tasks
Does the laundry pile scattered on the chair give you anxiety? Do you keep pending your daily tasks until they become a burden? It is time to change your habits for good.
Sometimes while managing the barn; the equestrians forget to organize other things, which includes the basic, routine chores. However, little do they know that how good and relaxed it makes you feel to see a tidy house, washed laundry, sorted clothes and other neglected responsibilities. A squeaky-clean atmosphere always gives welcoming vibes and fill up with positive energy.
8. Try Out Hair Masks
Hair suffers the most in the farms after your skin. Especially, if you have long hair; you have to be extra careful with them as the humidity, sweat, dust and hay can damage their shine and strength.
Luckily, there are a number of online tutorials that can help you make a DIY hair mask. In fact, you wouldn’t need fancy ingredients for many of them because most ingredients might be just lying in the kitchen cabinet. Still, if your lazy-self is not allowing you to make one yourself; there is always an option of buying a ready-to-use one from any nearby store.
9. Improve Your Sleep Routine
It is suggested by the experts to sleep at least 8 hours a night to function properly, but ‘experts’ never worked on farms right? It is nearly impossible for the equestrians to get proper rest during the workweek. The best you can do it is; reset your sleeping schedule. Sleep early to get the most of its benefits and try to keep away all the things that may interrupt your slumber. For example, put your phone on silent, dim room lights or sleep in a room away from entrance to prevent any sort of noise pollution.
The Division of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School revealed that lack can sleep can lead to memory loss, lack of concentration, poor focus and long-term health hazards. Now choice is yours.
10. Use Skincare Products
Even if you can’t spare time for a proper CTM routine; you should definitely invest in some products that can save your skin from the environmental damage. Follow these guidelines:
- Instead of washing your face with a regular soap, try replacing it with a gentle cleanser or face wash for better results.
- Another important thing is a moisturizer that should not be ignored. It helps with skin hydration, elasticity, acne and several relevant issues.
- Sunscreen is a must-have product for everyone who goes out in the sun, even on a cloudy/rainy day.
- You can also use a 2 in 1 moisturizer with SP 30 or more that works as a day cream and sunscreen at the same time.
- Hand cream or lotion is also required for equestrians as their hands get rough due to dust and weather.
You can keep your skin-care routine simple, but don’t neglect it altogether for the sake of your own wellbeing.
| Tip
Click here to read about moisturizing acne-prone skin and its benefits. |
Summary
Self-care comes in different forms, and it is equally significant for every being living on this planet for their physical, mental, emotional and spiritual welfare. Especially when it comes to the avid equestrians; their life is tough and the schedule is packed. In this post, we have gathered some quick self-care tips for them, which will help in boosting their self-esteem, confidence, strength and overall health benefits.
Don’t forget to spare a few minutes for yourself because only then you will be able to take care of your beloved horses better. Keep yourself first; you deserve all the good in life.