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As temperatures start dropping and the leaves begin to change, it’s time to think about fall self-care. While self-care is important all year round, it is important to adapt your routine for the season.
Self-care in the fall is quite different from self-care in the spring or summer. As summer transitions into autumn, the bright sunny days give way to shorter, darker, cooler autumn days. Your fall routine must take into consideration.
Self-care can mean different things to different people. Ask yourself this question when planning a fall self-care routine that works for you – ‘What would help me feel happier, healthier, more content, and energized’.
The answer will be different for everyone.
When going through the list of fall self-care activities below, pick and choose what works for you. Choose activities that will help you meet your physical and emotional needs. Think of it like a fall bucket list of things to do.
Here are 25 fall self-care activities for you to get started. The first few ideas on the list are all related to indoor activities. Fall outdoor activity ideas follow further down the list.
1. Decorate your home in autumnal colors
One of the best things about fall is the stunning palette of colors found in nature. From burnt orange, rust brown, and deep green, to golden yellow and creamy beige, the array of autumn colors includes a mix of vibrant shades and subtle neutrals.
Incorporating these autumn-inspired colors in your home décor will create a cozy ambiance, evoking warm, relaxed feelings associated with the season.
You can either go all out and change everything or just add small fall touches such as using throw pillows or a table runner in fall colors.
2. Get Cozy with Fall Hygge
Hygge is the Danish practice of unwinding and focusing on being cozy, comfortable, and relaxed. It is about taking time out for yourself and slowing down, as so many people feel rushed and busy all day long.
Fall is the perfect season for hygge, as you can cuddle under a fuzzy blanket to read, watch a movie while lying on the couch, or sit in front of the fireplace with a cup of cocoa and a good book.
Get more hygge ideas for that cozy fall feeling
3. Light fall-scented candles
Take warmth and coziness to the next level with scented candles. During this season, look for candles that are specially scented with fall aromas. These candles fill the space with warm, cozy scents that are truly reminiscent of the season.
These fabulous fall-scented candles are just perfect for this season.
4. Bake classic seasonal treats
Fall is the season for pumpkin, apples, cinnamon, and warm autumn spices. During this season, nothing beats the aroma of freshly-baked apple pie or pumpkin bread wafting throughout the home.
Baking classic fall treats is one way to embrace the season, practice self-care, and express your creativity. Make sure you bake enough to go share with friends and neighbors too.
5. Diffuse fall essential oils and blends
An easy and simple way to fill your home with the scents of the season is by diffusing fall essential oils and blends.
6. Declutter
You’re going to be spending more time indoors during fall and winter. During these months, it’s more important than ever to declutter your home.
Being surrounded by clutter does the opposite. It increases levels of stress and anxiety, making it impossible to relax. The short, dark days make it even worse, exacerbating the symptoms of seasonal affective disorder.
You want your surroundings to promote a calming, peaceful ambiance and de-cluttering is instrumental to this goal. Clearing the clutter will transform your home into a cozy, calming refuge.
7. Consider light therapy to reduce symptoms of SAD
Does seasonal depression set in for you at this time of the year? This is a common phenomenon as the days get shorter in the fall. It continues or sometimes gets worse as winter sets in and sunlight is almost nonexistent.
Lack of sunlight is the main factor that triggers SAD symptoms. Exposure to sunlight boosts the production of serotonin, which is known as the ‘happy hormone’. Lack of sunlight during the darker months of the year slows down serotonin production. This causes the onset of SAD symptoms such as low energy and sadness.
Using a Light Box or Light Therapy Lamp is the most effective way to reduce the symptoms of SAD and boost your mood and energy levels. These lamps are designed to simulate the sun’s rays and maintain your serotonin levels, mitigating the symptoms.
Read more about Light therapy for SAD – Using the power of light to beat the symptoms of seasonal affective disorder
8. Soak in a warm bubble bath with essential oils
Bath season officially begins when temperatures drop. While essential oils are not mandatory, using them in the bath can take your bath from ordinary to absolutely blissful.
Learn how to use essential oils in the bath the right way.
To create the ultimate spa session at home, light scented candles in the bathroom and listen to your favorite music as you soak in the warm, aromatic, sudsy water.
9. Use a weighted blanket to reduce anxiety
Weighted blankets make you feel warm and snuggly. They give you a sense of security and can be especially comforting if you are susceptible to experiencing SAD symptoms. Many people who use weighted blankets for anxiety compare it to getting a big hug and we all know how great a hug feels!
Weighted blankets for anxiety are typically smaller than your regular comforter. They are closer in size to a throw blanket and don’t replace your standard duvet or comforter on your bed. Instead, you put it on top of your comforter when you need a little more support to help you sleep or need help with sensory processing disorder. The additional weight helps to alleviate reduce stress and anxiety so you drift off to sleep.
The benefit of the smaller size of the weighted blanket is that you can easily carry it to different rooms of your home. If you are having a bad panic attack and you want to lay on the couch, bring it to your living room and sit for a few minutes with the blanket over your body or around your shoulders – you will be amazed at how much relief you experience.
10. Maintain a Fall Journal or Planner
A journal and/or planner is an excellent tool when you want to become more organized and reduce stress. Add this to your daily self-care routine as a way to stay on top of things so you don’t stress about missing an important date.
There’s a slight difference being using a journal and a planner.
Writing in a journal focuses on penning your thoughts and feelings. You can use it as a way to express gratitude, write about your day, identify anxiety triggers, or just vent and express yourself without having to worry about the consequences. Journaling is a wonderful tool for your personal growth and development, mental health, and finding clarity.
A planner on the other hand helps you stay on top of your to-do list so you don’t forget something important. Staying organized with a planner is a great way to prevent the stress that comes from trying to keep track of everything in your head.
Amazon is the best place to buy journals and planners. They have a vast selection to suit every taste and budget and delivery is free if you’re a Prime Member. You have the option to try Prime for 30 days and check out the many benefits. You can continue if you think it works for you or cancel at the end of 30 days if it doesn’t.
11. Keep a gratitude journal
Fall is a time for giving thanks for everything we have.
Gratitude is a powerful life-changing habit. It shifts your thoughts from your worries and problems and helps you focus on the many good things in your life.
Writing in a gratitude journal maintains a record of all the positive things that you have going for you. It brings about an intentional recognition of the many little things that you take for granted.
Maintaining a gratitude journaling habit is easy and won’t take more than a few minutes. Keep a gratitude journal by your bedside and write down three things you’re grateful for. Do this either every morning after you wake up or at night before you go to sleep.
12. Sign up for a self-care subscription box
Self-care subscription boxes are one of the more indulgent fall self-care ideas but they are totally worth it!
When you sign up for a self-care subscription box, the company sends you a thoughtfully put-together package every month. Each package is customized to your needs and to the season.
You may receive a mix of bath and body care products and other self-care items. Every item in the package is relaxing, calming, and soothing. They help reduce stress, uplift your spirits, and boost happiness.
TheraBox offers one of the best self-care subscription boxes. Their monthly boxes are filled with a wonderful assortment of high-quality, self-care items such as essential oil blends, etc.
These boxes are sent to your door so you don’t have to worry about replenishing items when you run out. Receiving a personalized self-care subscription box serves as a nice reminder that you need to care for yourself.
13. Set Time Aside to indulge your creative side
With so much time spent indoors, it’s a great time to explore your creativity. Creating something with your own two hands can be immensely satisfying.
Knitting, painting, crocheting, making jewelry, writing a novel … they all count. Make sure to spend time exploring and indulging your creative side.
Go to Amazon Books and just enter the type of book you’re looking for. Within seconds, you’ll get hundreds of results covering everything from beginner to expert level in all types of art forms. Be prepared to spend some time browsing through the choices available!
14. Stay hydrated
There’s a lot of focus on the importance of staying hydrated in summer to replenish the water lost through perspiration. It’s equally important to stay hydrated in the colder seasons too.
We may not lose water not through perspiration in the fall. But staying indoors with the heater on all day can draw the water from your body just as quickly.
Drinking water regularly will help to prevent dehydration and keep your skin naturally moisturized. If you’re not too excited at the thought of drinking water throughout the day, check out these tips to stay hydrated without drinking water.
15. Savor warm comfort drinks
Cradling a warm cup of beverage in your hands and feeling the warm liquid travel down your throat can feel incredibly comforting on a cold day.
Be sure to make smart choices when choosing your comfort drinks. Reserve those calorie-laden drinks for once or twice a week and sip on warm herbal teas instead.
Herbal teas offer an array of benefits from boosting immunity to helping you sleep better at night. That’s in addition to the comfort factor.
Sipping herbal teas is a delicious way to give yourself some TLC during a hectic day or relax and unwind in the evening.
16. Create a Cozy Fall Morning Routine
How you start your day sets the tone for the rest of the day. Use these ideas to create a fall morning routine you’ll love waking up to and see the difference it makes! You’ll find that when you feel centered you can handle anything that the day has in store for you without getting stressed, anxious, or angry.
17. Unplug From Technology
Technology has become all-invasive and more often than not, it only increases our stress levels. Tuning out all that noise once in a while can be refreshing.
Stay away from social media for a while and do something different with your time instead. Spend time with friends and family. Read a biography.
18. Meditate
Meditating or practicing mindfulness can also be great for your mind and body. Meditation offers a wealth of benefits and is an excellent form of self-care.
Enhance your meditation practice with the n.o.w. Tone Therapy Meditation Device – The 3 Minute, 432 Hz-Tuned Meditation aid. This meditation device is very simple to use. You just press it ON and listen to the tone – that’s it! You don’t have to learn complicated techniques.
The n.o.w. Tone Therapy Device plays for 3 minutes, changing tone sequences regularly to release negative thought patterns and bring about a personal transformation, from lower stress to improved focus and better sleep. As many users have attested, placing the device on your chest for just 3 minutes is incredibly calming and peaceful.
19. Boost immunity & keep colds and flu at bay
This may not sound as exciting as most other fall self-care ideas but staying healthy is key to making the most of this season. It’s almost impossible to enjoy anything while you’re feeling stuffy and congested.
Implement these daily habits to build up your immunity naturally even before the season starts. Using these immunity-boosting essential oils and blends together with other natural strategies will stave off the dreaded flu and cold.
It’s just as important to avoid these 10 habits that weaken the immune system.
Cold and flu prevention tips include simple measures such as washing your hands and getting your flu shots on time.
20. Spend time outdoors
Fall self-care ideas are not all about indoor activities and staying warm and cozy indoors. Spending time outdoors is integral to your self-care practice, whether this means going on a relaxing walk, or sitting at a nearby lake or beach.
A fall stroll at a nearby park can be a refreshing change from being indoors all day long. When fall begins, the leaves change, the weather cools down, and everything smells different.
Choose a day when it isn’t too cold, and head to a nearby park. This allows you to really embrace the beauty of fall with the changing, falling leaves, the critters who come out during this time of year, and a lot of peace and calm. Make a note of how the leaves are changing.
Not only does getting fresh air and gentle exercise improve your mental health in general, it also gives you a new-found appreciation for the season. Autumn is beautiful. Even when it’s cold, drizzly, and grey. It feels like nature is packing itself away, ready to reset in the spring.
Spending time in nature offers some unexpected benefits, so get outside, soak up what vitamin D you can get, and get moving.
21. Embrace Fall Outdoor Activities
For more social self-care activities in the fall, why not go apple picking? This single activity offers multiple benefits. Walking around an apple orchard gets your body moving, new activity, and is great for family bonding.
At the end of it, you’ll have plenty of healthy fruit in your diet.
Go to a nearby pumpkin patch to pick out your pumpkins for carving
22. Move Your Body
Fall self-care ideas may stress the notion of slowing down and taking it easy as part of self-care but sitting around all the time won’t do you any favors. In fact, it can cause more health problems than you otherwise would have.
Getting some form of exercise every day should be an integral part of your fall self-care routine. It doesn’t what kind of exercise you choose. What’s important is that you make time to exercise and do so regularly.
Don’t overlook dancing as a form of exercise. Every form of dancing is great exercise. Join a community dance class
23. Socialize
What you do when you leave your house also matters a good deal. Running errands, paying bills, seeing the doctor, and so forth are necessary parts of life, but they can’t be the only reasons you go somewhere!
You need to go places just for social interaction at least once or twice a week. It doesn’t matter what kind of social interaction you’re participating in; a book club meeting, a choir rehearsal, and a lunch with a friend will give you similar benefits. But you need to have regular social interactions and spend time with other people.
Join a club, a church, or a gaming community. Start working with a nonprofit. You will find something that you like if you look hard enough.
24. Try Something New
When was the last time you did something new? Something you’ve never tried before? Was it recently or so long ago you can hardly recall? Or maybe it was somewhere in between.
Trying new things benefits you both physically and psychologically. It expands your horizons and makes you feel accomplished.
Whether you’ve always wanted to learn to play a musical instrument, master the art of cake decorating or learn a new language, fall is a good time to enroll in a class and get started.
You can find all kinds of online classes on just about anything you are interested in and you can go over the tutorials at your pace, which is the ultimate in convenience.
Few things to keep in mind when it comes to Fall self-care
Fall self-care doesn’t have to be all or nothing, nor does it have to cost anything.
Self-care comes in many forms and can include just spending time doing what you love.
You can practice self-care with your family or friends; it is not always a solo activity.
Simply making more time for activities you love is a great form of self-care.
Whether you’re prepping for the upcoming holiday season or just looking to improve your health and well-being, these self-care ideas can help you feel better and look good all season long.
Do you have your own favorite self-care ideas that you incorporate during this season? Do share in the comments below!
Disclaimer: This information is not intended to serve as medical advice. Please consult your doctor before using any natural medication or if you experience any unusual symptoms. See Full Disclaimer here.
