Use These Self-Care Strategies to Boost Your Mental Health (Despite a Busy Schedule)

The life of a pro cheerleader is an active one. It’s not surprising that we don’t tire easily. We eat the right foods for energy and exercise regularly to stay in tip-top shape. And while we don’t always experience physical exhaustion, it’s stress and other mental problems we’re most likely to be vulnerable to.

It’s not about the multitude of tasks we need to accomplish such as squad, work, motherhood, and school priorities - it’s the lack of time for ourselves. Here is a list of self-care strategies you can use to keep your mental welfare in a healthy condition. These can easily be done even if you follow a hectic daily schedule.

1. Sleep earlier

When the day is done and there’s nothing else to do, take a hot shower and go straight to bed. This is a great way to stop that stressful feeling of always playing catch up and getting 7 to 9 hours of sleep every night. The same strategy applies to pro cheerleaders working night shifts.

2. Make your bed

Once your alarm goes off, get up and make your bed. It will be your first accomplishment of the day. Doing so will also set your mood to feel positive and confident as you complete your daily pro cheer tasks.

3. Massage your face

Schedule some nights on which you’re going to skip your skincare routine. Instead of rushing or taking too much time applying different products, take it easy by applying lavender serum and gently massaging it all over your face.

This is the perfect time to relieve eye tension, especially if you’ve been facing a screen all day. As a bonus, you’ll also get to smell the calming scent of lavender.

4. Take a vacation when you can

No work, no squad practice, no class, or are the kids not home? Use this opportunity to go out of town. If that’s too much, you can just relax at your home, watch Netflix, or doze off on your backyard hammock.

5. Start saying no

You’re probably busy most of the time because you cannot refuse requests. Have better control of your life for this once by saying no to things that you can ignore. Did your colleague ask you to do their monthly report? Say no. Did your friends invite you to the weekly night out? Skip it.

6. Organize everything

In addition to making your bed. Spend some of your free time decluttering your life. Start by trashing out the objects in your home that you no longer need. Arrange the living room. Fold your laundry. Organize your work desk or vanity mirror.

7. Schedule at least 5 minutes to decompress

No matter how busy you are, spend at least five minutes every day to sit down, close your eyes, think of nothing, and do some simple and calming breathing exercises.

8. Make screen time the least priority

We all know that social media is a beautiful invention. It keeps us connected with our loved ones who are far away. But too much of it is also the cause of today’s mental health problems. So ask yourself before you open a social media app, “Do I really need this?” If not, then use that screen time to do other better things such as a quick workout or meal prep.

Professional cheerleaders are an icon of joy. Our job is to bring happiness to the fans of our sports team and the supporters of the community. One of the best strategies to do so is by prioritizing self-care.

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