The Anti-Lockhart Self-Care Routine

Lockhart is maybe not the best person to turn to for self-care, and frankly, we’re astounded that he’s gained so much traction as a role model lately. We’re now presenting the Anti-Lockhart Self-Care Routine for those who would like realistic advice and to be saved from the commercial side of self-care.

1. Journaling

Journaling or a similar practice can be so incredibly beneficial. It’s a chance to self-reflect, process your day, week, month, or year, and look at where your life is at. There are so many ways you can incorporate this type of reflection into your daily routine, from simple prompts to recounting the day’s activities. It can help you declutter your mind and reset for the future.

2. Exercise

Self-care isn’t all relaxation and easy, quick fixes. Sometimes to get yourself on a better track and look after yourself, you need to dedicate yourself to things that are hard. Building some exercise into your daily routine and ideally getting outside to do it can be so great for both your body and mind. And it doesn’t have to be all cardio and weights at a gym. It can be as simple as a yoga flow or a morning walk.

3. Cutting Out Toxic Influences

Sometimes to bring yourself to a better place, you need to be real with yourself. Acknowledging where your sources of stress and unhappiness are coming from can be an important part of that. Unhelpful media, influencers, and even friends who are just there to hang on your coattails might need to be cast out of your life. And if you can’t make such drastic calls on your life, try carving out time where you can be separate from those influences to gain some space and perspective on what’s important to you.

4. Reading to Expand Your Mind

Reading is one of those relaxing hobbies that has so many proven benefits – increased attention spans, memory retention, simply widening your perspective and stretching your imagination. I mean, just look at Hermione. It can be so rewarding to unwind with a good book, but don’t then plagiarise and steal other people’s experiences as some wizards do…

5. Bubble Baths

Okay, okay. Maybe sometimes, a bit of pampering can’t hurt. It can be good to get some relaxation time from daily tasks like hygiene and skincare that you do anyway on a day-to-day basis. Just remember that it’s more about the feelings and headspace that it creates for you and not about using fancy products or getting an aesthetic picture for social media. Even Hogwarts prefects know that sometimes all you need is a good bath – but perhaps not every morning.

Self-care has become a hot topic and can genuinely help people improve their daily lives and wellbeing. But we have to be careful to follow practices that have actual benefits and don’t just feed into mass marketing and promote unhelpful role models – Gilderoy Lockhart, we’re looking at you. Who would be your wizarding self-care role model?