05 Jan Make Way for Self Care: 30 Great Ways to Love Yourself in the New Year
As economic and political turmoil strengthen, your peers insist on challenging convention, families continue to destabilize, and social media increasingly disrupts our emotions, it’s so easy to get overwhelmed, anxious and frustrated these days. Anxiety is commonplace in the workplace, communication gaps may be widening in your life, and great expectations tend to build up (and engulf us) around this time of year. Thusly, self-care is an urgent consideration, especially if you are responsible for caring for others. We’re not talking about vanity or narcissistic self-love; we mean conscious caring of the Self …. so that your battery can stay well-charged in order to be of service to others. Here are 30 great ways to love yourself in the New Year:
- When you wake up in the morning, rise slowly and take a few minutes to sit and be with the new day and your breath before jumping up.
- Between phone calls or appointments, close your eyes and take 4 slow cycles of deep, full breaths.
- Schedule lunch breaks and take them.
- Slow down when you eat. Chew your food slowly and really taste the food. Don’t eat in the car. Sit down and savor as much as possible.
- Drink plenty of water (a great target is 8 ounces each hour of your workday).
- Avoid sugar and white flour.
- Do some gentle, simple yoga postures and stretches throughout the day. Take a beginner’s yoga class.
- Eat whole foods. Avoid processed or “fast” food. Also, whenever possible, go organic. Support your local organic farmers. Eat seasonally.
- Rethink the drink – Alcohol is such a big part of our culture but if we really look at it objectively we will see it is a mind-altering substance that does nothing good for our bodies.
- Press the pause button before saying yes automatically. Take a moment to ask yourself if you really have the time and energy to do what you are being asked to do.
- Look for opportunities to laugh. Comedy radio or a great movie tonight, or – even better – hang out with funny people. Seek the humor in all things.
- Try acupuncture. Research indicates it is very effective in reducing stress and aiding with many health issues.
- Start a gratitude journal. Make it a habit at the end of each day to reflect on what small or large parts of your life you can feel grateful.
- Love an animal. Animals help open our hearts. Take time to nurture and care for a pet or volunteer at the Humane Society.
- Clean out a closet, drawer or cabinet each week until your house or office is spic and span and well organized. You’ll feel lighter.
- Plant flowers and notice them often (a great idea is to start an herb garden in your kitchen window. Use fresh herbs when you cook to experience their wonderful flavors and numerous health benefits).
- Learn how to use essential oils in everyday life. Aromatherapy is good for mood and a natural alternative to many of the chemical-laden products.
- Care for your skin with castile soap, baking soda, witch hazel, and coconut oil. Save money and nurture your skin naturally.
- Set firm and loving boundaries with others. Respect your own time, space, and emotions. Don’t let others run all over you.
- Clean out your refrigerator at the end of every month. Get rid of expired items and wash down the surfaces. You’ll feel so much better with this simple routine.
- Catch up on your “I love you”s. Reach out to people you haven’t spoken to in a while and tell them how much you appreciate them. Loving others is a way of loving yourself.
- When you witness someone saying degrading, derogatory or deprecating things about others, speak up by pointing out the positive and the beauty. Shining light where there is darkness will expand your spirit.
- Learn to meditate and meditate daily. Just 10 minutes each day over the course of a year will transform you in wonderful ways.
- If you feel sad, let yourself cry. Breathe into the sadness and don’t hold your breath. Meanwhile, if you feel angry, go for a brisk walk and swing your arms while you feel your anger. The bilateral stimulation of the body and brain helps even out the emotions in a healthy way.
- Go to counseling. Counseling is a place to process what you are unclear about and feel supported and often guided when you’re lost.
- Reconnect with your spiritual path. Regardless of religion or tradition, reaching out and reaching inward to what you believe in can be a wonderful way of caring for yourself.
- Spend time with little children. Get down on the floor and let them remind you how to play. Rediscover your inner child.
- Collect your personal memoirs. Start keeping a journal recounting memories from your own childhood, youth, and adulthood experiences bit by bit. It’s a way of honoring yourself.
- Don’t overextend your schedule. Leave “white space” on your calendar for unprogrammed, unplanned, spontaneous experiences.
- Take up an expressive art form: pottery, painting, drawing, knitting… it’s meditative and good for the soul to create. Art provides a wonderful opportunity to quiet the mind and recharge the soul.
