10 Ways to Take Care of Yourself (in 10 minutes or less)

It’s Mental Health Awareness Month, and in this episode, Krys gets right to the point—sharing 10 quick, practical tools you can use to reset your mind and support your mental health. Most take under 10 minutes, and all of them are grounded, simple, and powerful. Whether you’re overwhelmed, stuck, or just need a vibe shift, this episode is your go-to audio exhale.

💡 Think: less overwhelm, more action. Less pressure, more presence.

What You’ll Hear in This Episode:

🧖‍♀️ Face Mask Reset – Turn your bathroom into a 5-minute sanctuary.
🙏 Privilege Pause – The mindset reframe: “Would I hope for this problem?”
🧘‍♀️ Quick Yoga – 10–15 minutes of movement to shift your state.
🔎 Keyword Search Therapy – Someone out there already put your pain into words. Find it.
🥊 One Song Jabs – Put on a banger, throw some punches, feel it move through you.
📻 Analog Hour – One hour. No screens. Just you and the real world.
📧 Boomerang Email – Write to yourself. Then write back with compassion.
🍉 Fruit & Veggie Prep – Healing in motion. Chop something juicy.
📅 Plan Something – Even a little plan gives your brain something to look forward to.
🧘 Stretchy Shavasana – Lay down. Breathe. Let the tension go.

Krys’s Closing Reminder:
✨ Big healing doesn’t always need big fixes.
✨ Try one or two small resets today—let them ripple.
✨ When you care for yourself, time expands.

🎧 Listen, Share, and Subscribe
If this episode helped you, pass it on to someone else who needs a reset. Don’t forget to follow and review—it means the world.

🔗 More from Krys:
🌐 FitLikeKrys.com – FLK Method, Couple Shred & more
📲 Follow @fitlikekrys on Instagram

Transcript

Krys [0:00 - 20:21]: Foreign. What's up, y' all? Welcome back to the Fit Like Chris podcast during Mental Health Awareness Month. The first two episodes of this month, I was sort of just letting off some steam, sharing some personal stuff, giving you guys some tips. And I'd like to do these next two episodes with focusing on. On tools, tools that anyone can apply. Really straightforward. And before I get into it, thank you so much for listening. I mean, I really get so much joy out of just even one person telling me that, you know, the podcast helped them in some way. And even if you don't tell me, you know, you don't even have to tell me. Even if it does, please share it with someone. If it. If it does inspire you or motivate you. Thank you so much in advance for sharing it. And again, thank you. Just, I know there's so much you could be doing with your day and your time, and time is so valuable, and we feel like we don't have enough of it. So the fact that you're taking time out to listen, even if you're multitasking, I still appreciate that you chose the Fit Like Chris podcast. So please remember to, like, share. Subscribe wherever you're listening to. Hit the thumbs up, the heart or the share button. And today we're going to do 10 tools that you can use to take care of yourself. I put like a little sort of in parentheses, like in 10 minutes or less. And these aren't. All of them aren't necessarily in 10 minutes or less. So I think I'm going to just keep it to the 10 tools and I'm going to get right into it. So grab a pen, get a piece of paper. If you're driving, save this episode to come back to. And we're going to just run through these 10 things so you can reference them and maybe the ones that stick out to you, put a little star next to. So 10 things that you could do to take care of yourself when you're feeling. Just off. When you're feeling like you just have no motivation, low energy, in a bad mood, in a negative head space. Just how do you get out of that? Taking care of yourself for me really helps me get out of that. So I'm going to give you 10 tools. Most of them you could do in under 10 minutes. The first one is a face mask. This is literally something I go to the spa almost every day at home. I put a sheet mask on my face at least five times a week, sometimes to help me, like, wake up. Sometimes I do it, like, early in the morning to help me like wake up a little bit more. Or sometimes I do it after like a hard day or a hard phone call or for my lunch break. And you know, I know some of you are in an office so you might not be able to do that. You could also like low key, do the eye patches. You know, like, I feel like eye patches are socially acceptable and like if they're not, who cares anyway? But that's just something that's so passive and like taking care of your skin is just again, it's something that takes effort. But this is something you could do really quick that could just uplift your mood in a little bit. So number one is a face mask. That's it. Five minute face mask, you're done. My favorite ones are a multi pack that I buy on Amazon. So it's like a lot of different ones in one because I don't like one thing. So maybe I'll share that as a link. Number two. So you hear a lot about gratitude, but I have number two listed as more of like an awareness mantra. So when you're feeling like in a bad place, reminding yourself that most problems come from privilege. So number two is pausing to recognize privilege because a lot of times like you get short. You know, you have a short fuse with your kids or you have a disagreement with somebody, or you're so busy or you're tired. Like a lot of times those things are happening because you have something. And so one of the things, like when my dog recently got surgery, like I can complain about the little shark fet, like they circle me all day, every day. And sometimes it gets very annoying when I have meetings back to back. Amongst the million other things that I just feel like with three or four dogs, you know, constant care, I can find myself complaining and I love them so much. And when my dog was getting surgery, I remember thinking when he was like, you know, under, when he had his anesthesia, I was thinking like, I am just anytime I feel myself getting short with my dogs, I'm just gonna, I, I, I would hope for those problems, right? Like in that situation you hope to have, you know, your dog to say, get in here, you know, So I, I really have been doing a better job at that with my dog specifically, but just pausing to notice that some that and asking, does this come from privilege? Because most of the times the answer is going to be yes, right? Like how did the problem arise? It's probably coming from a place of privilege. Number three, a short yoga practice. I have a class on FLK method called Quick Fire Yoga. I never thought I'd be able to teach a 15 minute yoga class, but here I am teaching a 15 minute yoga class and not only do I know it benefits the people who take it, but I also feel benefit even just teaching it. Taking out 15 minutes out of your day to intentionally move and to slow down a little bit and to pay attention to your breath. There's just something transformative about that. So if you could also go onto YouTube and put like short yoga class for like a 10 minute, you know, whatever, if you're not an FLK method member. And if you're not an FLK Method member, you could join anytime. Go to fitlikechris.com for more information. All right, number four. Ooh, we're going fast. Keyword search. So this I used to do when I felt really stuck. I would think of phrases for advice that I needed. So it would be like how to stay positive or how to be grateful or how to get over loss. Or I would literally use a keyword search for my Life, like in YouTube, and I would find these motivational videos or podcasts that would so help me. Like, it would literally just take my mindset from one thing to the other. And when we're talking about mental health, you have to be able to know how to not just have the information for tools, but how to apply the tools. And that's what I'm giving you today. Because the application of the tools is what's going to help you transform your mindset, not just knowing these things. So that's why I want you to write them down and put like a little star next to ones that you might try. So keyword search, whatever it is you're looking for, like put it into YouTube, put it into Spotify, look for a podcast or look for a little short. Like Tony Robbins is always a great go to, you know, to get you out. There's a lot of preachers that are like a great go to, like to get you out of sor of like a low place. But you can. And even beyond podcasts and YouTubes, you can even just find something that I have done since I was younger is find like inspirational quote. I would look up like quotes to get over, you know, a breakup. Like whatever it is you're going through, someone else has already went through it. They've written a book, they've wrote a quote, they've recorded a podcast. Like something exists out there to help you better understand what you're going through and get through it. Okay? Number five. I have this literally listed as one song Jabs. So this is something that I often assign to people as part of their routine. Not only will it be a really good workout for your arms, but it also helps to just get out that stale energy. Sometimes you need to punch something. Okay. So I like to put on an upbeat or, like, just like, a song that kind of gets you going. An artist that really, like, pumps you up and just punch your hands and all directions forward, side up, down the whole time. Do not stop punching until the song is over. You will get a great workout specifically for the arms, and you will just, like, feel better. You're, like, getting stuff out, and I like to match it with the song because you could also really choose the energy that you want to. That you want to create and kind of punch out to it. Okay, are we on number six already? Oof. Okay, this one is not 10 minutes, but you could do it for 10 minutes. It's called analog hour. This one I got from my boyfriend. We've been doing it together for a while now, and we have a shared checklist that we created during my program called Couple Shred, which I do those sort of every couple months. And it's a program for couples to kind of get on the same page. And so one of our checks is analog hour. And let me tell you, like, no phones, no tv, no technology. I have a record player. I haven't used my record player since I started doing this. And I literally put on a record like, and. And. And just doing my laundry without multitasking with something else and, like, sitting like. So we. We actually do do a lot of house stuff while we do the analog hour, but it's like, it's. It turns into a very productive hour. But sometimes when you're in a really bad headspace, the last thing you need is another screen. Sometimes the best answer is just to go analog. Turn everything off, set a timer. I always set. And as soon as the timer goes off, I'm going to be honest, I get back on my phone. But the hour that I take off, it is such a nice reset, and I can definitely say 100%, I feel better mentally after number seven. A boomerang email. This is an email that you send to yourself, and you respond back to yourself. So this is an email that you express, like, what's going on. It's like pretend you're writing an email to, like, the smartest person in the world, and they know the answer to all your problems. Pretend you're writing an email To God, okay? And you're like, listen, God, okay? This is what's going on. I, this is how I'm feeling. This. I have the weight of the world on my shoulders. This person doesn't understand me. Like, just send your complaints to the all knowing, okay? Just everything. Just get it out how you're feeling and then wait at least an hour, maybe even the next day. You're going to send that email to yourself. Send that email to yourself. Make sure you put yourself in the two line. Don't mess this up, okay? Don't send it to the person that you're complaining about, okay? Put your email in the two. Okay. Make a subject line again. Like you're writing to someone that's going to help you get it all out. And then an hour, two hours later, later that day, the next day, read the email and respond to it. Give yourself advice. Because a lot of the times we know exactly what to do to make ourselves feel better. We know exactly the advice that we should be taking, but we're so connected to it and we're not pulling ourselves out of our life to see clearly. But when you kind of put it all out there, you can kind of objectively think about an issue for your. Even though you're still connected to it like it's your life, when you're reading it, like it's coming from someone else and you're answering it with the, with sort of the idea of, let me help this person, but the person is you. I promise you that you will start to think of ways to kind of unravel and untangle and be kind, right? Like the person that's answering you back is with advice and encouragement and kindness. All right, number seven, cut up some fruits and veggies. This is just sometimes when I'm in my head, I need to get in my body. And cutting up fruits and vegetables works in two ways. One, it's really good food prep, really good food prep. Because oftentimes our fruits and vegetables go bad just for the simple fact we didn't wash them and cut them. And we never made them convenient, so we never ate them. And the, the second part is while you're cutting them up, you all of a sudden have a snack. Sometimes you're grouchy because your blood sugar is low and you didn't eat enough. Today you just need some watermelon. So cutting up fruits and veggies, you can have a little snack and you can prepare yourself for like a much healthier week. And it feels good to eat fresh fruit and vegetables. It just. Again, a lot of the things that I do to help my mental health and to stay in a good space are sort of getting into my body and in my world and making myself, like, taking care of myself. So these are 10 ways to take care of yourself. Number nine, plan something to look forward to, even if you don't have time to necessarily do any of these things. Maybe while you're scrolling on your phone, look at, like, I don't know where you could go for a night, where you could go overnight, where you could go for a weekend. What nail salon is new in your area that you want to try? Dinner with a friend. See, like, what community events are in your area. Like, there's so much happening in the world, and we spend so much time in our world, in our head that we don't. We're not even experiencing life. So planning something to look forward to is a way that I. Is a way that I get out of my head and, like, into my life. I'm like, I need to stop thinking about living and just live, you know? Number 10, I'm going to close my door. Wow, my dogs are just really going at it. I should do this, like, better. Like, I should. I should plan better for this. Okay, the last one, stretchy Shavasana. Okay? So you do not have to do a yoga class to get that beautiful last pose, Shavasana, which is essentially, it's corpse poses. You're dead, you're laying down. It's a surrender. It's a. I'm intentionally not doing anything, but that's doing something. And there's something, like, really powerful about that. But this one, Stretchy Shavasana is when I want you to lay down on the floor, okay? And if you're crunched for time, set your timer for three minutes, five minutes. Like, set your timer. I'm all about setting a timer because I'm all about time management. I don't want to, like, run the course too long with these things because you don't need to spend a lot of time for these things to be effective. So you could set a timer for however much time you want to do it. Lay on your mat, on your back and stretch a little bit. Pull your knees into your chest, open your hips, you know, move your head side to side. Just, like, tune into your body and think about what it needs. Like, wiggle around a little bit, take a couple deep breaths and just release and just lay there. Sometimes people are tired and. And they're like, I'm not getting enough sleep. You're not getting enough rest. Rest and sleep are different. Okay? You, you don't have to be sleeping to get rest. So this is a really good way to rest your mind and to rest, like, all the systems in your body. Okay, so ready for a recap? I wanted to give you guys a quick thing because May is like the busiest month for everybody, and everybody's like, I don't have time for anything. So I'm like, let me just get in this. Can I make this a 10 minute podcast? Maybe I did. I don't know. I won't know until I end it. All right, so ready? Oh, my goodness. What was number one? Wow. It would be me to accidentally delete the first one that I gave you. That's incredible. Okay, so number two, I'm gonna go back to number one. I'm gonna just. You guys can rewind for number one. Number two is pause to see if it comes from privilege. And that is a gratitude practice. That's all that is. Number two is a gratitude practice. And there's a lot of ways you could say out loud a couple things you're grateful for. You could. There's so many ways to practice gratitude, but I really like this one because it brings. Brings you back to the space of. Wait a minute. Even though I have these problems, I'm really lucky. So pausing to notice that your problem is probably coming from privilege. Number three is a short yoga practice. Number four is a keyword search. So whatever you're, whatever advice you're needing, whatever you're going through, look for a book that was written about it. Look for a podcast that talked about it. Look for a quote that addressed it. A really powerful sentence can go a long way. Number five is one Song jabs. Punch it out. Pick a song, punch it out. Okay. Number six, analog hour, which can be an hour. But again, you could choose any time, you could choose two hours, you could choose 10 minutes. But it's like all technology off for that amount of time. You could do whatever you want during that time just with no technology. Boomerang email number seven, right? Write an email to yourself and then answer it. The email goes to you and then you answer it and it goes to you. So you're going to have an email with all your issues and then with kindness and encouragement and clear headedness, you're going to answer that email with what you would do. So it's like what the other you would do what the. Not in the emotion you would do. So that's why you want to wait a Little bit to answer it. After that initial email, number eight, cut up some fruit and veggies, right? It helps for snack time, but it also helps for food. Food prep. Number nine, plan something to look forward to. Free things happening in my area. Everybody on here should Google that right now. Free things that are happening in my area. Because there's so much going on within probably a 10 mile radius of you and you have no idea because you've never looked. And you can put it in your calendar and even if it's like two weeks from now, it really helps like a day to day, your day to day when you have to look forward to. And the last one is stretchy Shavasana and that's different from Shavasana, but. Well, first of all, it's not after yoga class but second of all, you're coming down to the floor, connecting to your body and just moving a little bit. So and, and whatever number one was, hopefully you wrote it down. And if you didn't just, you know, I don't know, rewind the podcast. I can't believe I accidentally deleted it. I have them all written in here. I'm showing you guys on YouTube and I just deleted it. Let me see if I had it in my other note. But thank you for tuning in. Yeah, I have no. Oh, the mask. The face mask. How could. That's my go to. That one was too obvious. That's why I forgot the face mask. Five minute face mask. Okay. Even you don't have to have a lot of time. It could be in between meetings. I promise you these are 10 ways to take care of yourself. And understand that when you're struggling with your mental health, there probably is a gap between you and self care. You might need to spend a little more time taking care of yourself. And I understand that time is precious, which is why I'm going to end this podcast now. So even if it takes 10 minutes or less, you do have the time. I promise you. And it's only going to make your day better. It's not. You're not going to be more rushed because you took care of yourself. I promise you, when you take care of yourself, time starts to extend. It's this thing that happens where you're, when you're, when you take care of yourself, you become more productive, you just feel better, you have more energy. So if you have tried these things and they worked well, do them again. And if you haven't tried some of these things, but put one or two into play, especially when you're in sort of like a really negative or dark place. And yeah, I love the rain. I'm looking outside of my window right now and the rain. A lot of people can complain about the rain but you know what? I don't have to water my flowers when it rains. So that makes me really excited. So that's that. That's a number two. We're pausing where things come from privilege. Remember last year when we had the drought? Well, in New Jersey. Anyway, it didn't rain for like two months. It was super scary. So I love the rain. But anyway, guys, thanks so much for listening. Please remember to take care of yourself. It doesn't take long. Do not let yourself give yourself that excuse. Okay? It does not take long. It takes a little bit of effort and it goes such a long way. Take care of yourself because you are so important. And thank you so much for listening.