Self-Care: Starting the Year with Healthful Intentions

As you step into this new year, why not take some time to set the tone for the months ahead. As a therapist who works with many women experiencing anxiety, overwhelm, stress and burnout, I am passionate about promoting self-care as a protective factor for each of these challenges, and believe it is the cornerstone of a fulfilling life. 

In this blog I share the power of self-care to transform wellbeing, and how starting the year with healthful, self-care inspired intentions can shape a positive 2024.

The Essence of Self-Care:

At its core, self-care is a compassionate act, acknowledging that you are deserving of love and attention.

Self-care is an affirmation of your worthiness. When you practise self-care, you are saying to yourself ‘I matter’. 

Self-care encompasses setting boundaries to protect and nourish your energy, and is also about making intentional commitments, followed by action, to nurture your physical, emotional, and mental well-being. It's not a luxury but a necessity to sustain a balanced, fulfilling life. 

The aircraft safety reminder of ‘place your own oxygen mask on first, so you are equipped to help others’ is a useful reminder to prioritise your self-care.
Extending this metaphor, I often ask my clients ‘how much oxygen do I have in your tank?’ If your tank is 100 litres, how much capacity are you currently running at? What refuels your tank? and what depletes it? The refuelling activities can be considered your self-care.

Understanding Healthful Intentions

Healthful intentions are the conscious choices you make to foster a healthy and balanced lifestyle. These intentions align with your values, desires, and goals for well-being. Healthful intentions refers to identifying what you need to protect your physical, mental and emotional health, and your energy. Your intentions represent a commitment to behaving in ways that promote a positive impact on your life. It’s about doing the things you’ve decided are beneficial for your health—physically, mentally, and emotionally.

How to Build Healthful Intentions into Your Life

1. Set Clear Goals: Start with defining what your healthful intentions are. Some examples are - having a daily movement routine, prioritising sleep, taking breaks (a very underrated self-care practice), and fostering meaningful connections or conversations, scheduling a regular time to check in with yourself - how am I feeling, and what do I need just now?

2. Mindful Movement and Nourishment: Engaging in physical activities that resonate with your body and soul can help connect with your body and support your mental well-being (through the mind-body connection). Be sure to choose movement that feels good for you and that you want to do. This could be gentle yoga, a run, dancing, jumping, walking, swimming , or mindful stretching, kicking, bouncing, shaking, weight training, organised sport…. Choose movements that appeal to you and either energise you, inspire you or calm you, depending on what you need more of. Similarly, nourishing your body with sufficient water, and nutrition in your meals and snacks, will fuel your energy and can have a significant impact on how your feel.

3. Prioritise Mental Health: Dedicating time for a healthy mind can look like
   1) Practicing mindfulness practices (see 5 Benefits of Mindfulness, and 10 More Benefits for some reasons why to motivate you to explore this option)
   2) Trying meditation (read my tips on how to start here)
   3) Creative expression
   4) Time outside in nature
   5) Time with your attention turned inward, for introspection, to foster mental clarity and peace.
   Managing the mind’s response to stress and anxiety is of huge benefit for good functioning and enjoyment of life. Check out Dr Dan Siegel’s Healthy Mind Platter for more information and inspiration. 

4. Connect and Communicate: Consider nurturing your relationships by actively connecting with those you love and enjoy spending time with. Who do you feel safe to have open, honest communication with, and who do you feel safe to be vulnerable, and share your thoughts and feelings with? These relationships are valuable in experiencing human connection in a way you feel accepted and not judged. As social beings our connections with humans is a protective factor in cultivating good mental wellbeing. If you struggle with this in any way; whether it is opening up, or having someone in your life you feel safe to open up to, please know you’re not alone and help is available. As a therapist, this is often a role I play with my clients, through deep connection and an opportunity for you to be open and honest about what’s going on in your inner world. This can then lead to understanding yourself better and determining what helps and hinders, what needs some attention, and where the healing opportunity lies. Genuine human connection supports meaning and purpose, and a more fulfilled life.

5. Rest and Relaxation: Prioritising sleep and utilising relaxation techniques are great ways to refill your tank, and maintain sufficient resources to manage daily life demands and challenges. Tip - practising relaxation techniques will support quality sleep. Adequate rest is essential for physical recovery and mental rejuvenation. Read more ‘6 Tips for a Good Night’s Sleep’.

Practical Steps Towards Healthful Intentions

1. Create a Self-Care Plan: Inspired by the above points, you can create a structured self-care plan that aligns with your healthful intentions. Include specific activities, when you could do them, and define your achievable goals. Or, check out a version I created here.

2. Practise Gratitude: Expressing gratitude, to yourself, for the opportunity you are making to care for yourself is a good start. Alternatively, acknowledging the progress you have made, especially the little things - this has the potential for training your brain to notice the good, and balance out the natural tendency we have to be critical due to our negativity bias. Learn more with my simple gratitude practice.

3. Accountability and Reflection: How can you keep yourself accountable? Is it having a friend to check in with, or a coach or therapist to share your progress with and reflect on what’s working and any blocks or sabotaging behaviours that are getting in the way, to tend to these, and continue to make progress toward the self-care activities that support you to not only function well but to thrive. This can include regularly reviewing your self-care plan, celebrating your successes, and reflecting on areas for improvement. You can then adjust your plan as you see fit.

Self-Care is an ongoing process & practice

Remember, self-care is not a destination, or an outcome, it is a lifelong practice which will evolve as your seasons, and phases, of life change. The aim isn’t for it to be perfect. It’s helpful to embrace the imperfections that arise, learn from your behaviours, re-adjust after any setbacks, and adjust your intentions along the way. I encourage you to go gently, find a way to remember to celebrate your progress, and include handfuls of self-kindness and self-compassion in the mix, as you continue to make adjustments from learning what works for you, and what doesn’t. And please don’t compare yourself to others; just compare yourself to you and how you’ve changed, and progressed. Especially noticing the ‘one percenters’. They all add up.

As you move into this new year, your invitation is to prioritise your self-care and set healthful intentions that resonate with you.

My wish for you is that 2024 be infused with compassion, self-love, and intentional self-care.

Here's to a healthful and intentional year ahead, where your wellbeing flourishes.

Learn more about self-care and download the free ‘My Self Care Reminders’ template here. It’s a resource created to be like your very own support crew, gently reminding you of the early indicators that stress is building up, and the self-care practices that can support you to relieve stress and reconnect to yourself.