Hi everyone! Today I’m going to be talking about my self care routine and what I do to relax! I thought it would be great to share my own routine with you all to hopefully give you some ideas on what could help you self care and relax.

What is self care?

Self care is taking care of yourself – it’s that simple! Taking care of your mind as well as your body 🙂

What Is PFFD?

Proximal femoral focal deficiency (PFFD), also known as Congenital Femoral Deficiency (CFD), is a rare, non-hereditary birth defect that affects the pelvis, particularly the hip bone, and the proximal femur.

The disorder may affect one side or both, with the hip being deformed and the leg shortened.

Because of this condition, I have had to wear a prosthetic leg from birth, and undergone operations to fix the deformed leg including having the foot amputated.

Here is my self care routine:

Candles, candles, candles!

I absolutely LOVE candles.. scented, tealights, pillar candles – I think I own almost every different type! I find it so relaxing to have candles on as my source of light.

They help make me feel calm and of course the scented ones can let off many beautiful smells that can be unbelievably soothing.

As amazing as candles are they can be dangerous too so please always use a suitable candle dish and never leave one unattended.

Tea anyone?

Resting with a cup of tea is one of my favourite things to do.

Especially if I’ve had a day where I’ve been in pain from my disability and need to get more rest than usual; a cup of tea becomes my best friend! I enjoy lots of different types including green tea, chai tea, English breakfast tea – and of course I’m no stranger to swapping a cup of tea to a hot chocolate either.. which is just as yummy!

If you are looking to try new teas I strongly suggest emailing your favourite tea company as sometimes they are happy to send out samples for you to try so that you can explore the different types of tea even further!

Pick up a pen and paper!

As you’ve all probably guessed, writing is the most therapeutic thing for me.. I love writing my blog posts so much and planning out ideas for my next one!

I think lots of people would be surprised just how fun writing can be – you could write about anything! a piece of paper is your free canvas to do whatever you like with it.

Sometimes if I haven’t had the best day I just load my laptop, type out a blog post and when it’s finished I feel so proud of myself and any negativity that I was feeling beforehand just disappears!

I’d advise everyone to try writing.. how about starting with a journal?

Bargain hunting

Retail therapy is fantastic and a really quick and easy fix to cheer yourself up, but what if you don’t have the money? I’ve found that searching clearance sections in some of my favourite stores seriously pays off!

I’ve found top brands for so cheap by browsing the clearance section and people are usually so shocked at the amazing things I find!

Also, I love browsing through charity shops too – especially as any money you spend goes straight to a worthwhile cause.

I usually set myself a small budget (£5-10 for example) and come back with so much for my money..you should try it too!

Music heals everything

There’s nothing better than listening to your favourite music! I’d go as far as to say that listening to music is my favourite thing to do.

It can make you feel so much better just to shut the world off and put your headphones on for a little while.

I am so much more productive when I put my playlist on – I get blog posts written quicker, cleaning done and my concentration just seems to improve dramatically while I’m listening to music!

I always take my headphones to hospital appointments to deal with the waiting around and it really helps distract me from the hospital setting.

Friends are forever

The people that we care about also care about us and our wellbeing.. they want us to be ok, to be happy and cared for!

It’s something that many of us probably forget to do but just simply chatting to the people that you love about your day or how you’re doing is a great feeling.

I have people in my life that I know I can just text, call or go and meet up with whenever I feel like having a chat or sharing my feelings with someone.

I always feel emotionally cleansed afterwards and the other person will usually feel happy and grateful that you were able to confide in them.

Getting squeaky clean

There’s nothing more refreshing than a shower, and nothing more relaxing than a nice hot bath! If I’m feeling stressed I jump into the shower and use my favourite shower gels and soaps.. the beautiful scents instantly lift my mood!

If I’m having particularly bad lower back pain it helps so much to run a bath – I’ll always put some bubble bath in too, usually one with a mild scent that focuses on relaxation.

For me, being in the warm bath really soothes my lower back pain and muscle aches from wearing my prosthesis.

It’s always a good idea to add some candles to the bathroom too just to get that little extra relaxation fix!

Letting go with Yoga

My physical disability means that exercise is pretty difficult for me and there’s only a few specific exercises that I feel I can actually do comfortably that don’t cause me pain during or after the movements.

Surprisingly, yoga is one of these! I absolutely love the slow pace of yoga as it gives me plenty of time to get into the different poses and give my body a workout without causing me pain and discomfort.

I do yoga without wearing my prosthesis and I’m actually pretty good! I don’t attend a club – I have a yoga mat at home and I just load YouTube and look for a routine that I can comfortably do.

After a yoga session I feel amazing, surprisingly energetic and a million times healthier than I did before I started the session. I’d highly recommend yoga.. there is even chair yoga that you can do from a sitting position that is still a workout!

I hope that you all enjoyed this post and I would love to hear all about your own self care routines.. I’m always looking to add to mine! ❤



As always, feel free to message me and share your stories with me!

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