Last updated on 29/12/2021
This post has some simple self care ideas to help you harvest the lessons and blessings of 2021 and let go of what no longer serves you. Get ready to welcome a wondrous New Year!
Goodbye 2021
We’ve almost done it!
Can you IMAGINE, back in March (here in Ireland) 2020, if you’d known that instead of Covid_19 being over by April 2020, we’d still be living in a global pandemic (fortunate to BE here, with so many dead and with Long Covid) nearly two years later?
You might have thought you couldn’t. That it would be impossible.
Yet here you are!
Congratulate yourself for surviving the year’s lessons ~ You might want to journal around them. Maybe do some EFT tapping. Or even make a quick mental note of them. HONOUR them. You’re stronger as a result.
Count your blessings ~ Anytime I suggest anything remotely gratitude related, I add this caveat: Don’t force yourself. Let it bubble up IF IT FEELS GOOD. The last thing you need is a harsh inner voice telling you that you SHOULD feel grateful if you’re feeling ****ty. That being said, there are so many benefits, if it feels like something you want to do, make a list of the things you’re most appreciative of from this Very Strange Year.
Send love to Younger You ~ Remember your hopes and dreams from this time last year? Go easy on yourself as you remember the additional challenges 2021 brought. Congratulate yourself on all you’ve achieved in spite of the whole global pandemic thing.
Let go ~ Make letting go a practice. Repeat this mini meditation daily or as often as you want
Simply pause, ground yourself and imagine the stream gently washing away any and all inauthentic energies… Imagine being filled with a healing, grounding golden light energy, helping to ease your path through 2022 and beyond. Creating a space in which your Miraculous Self can flourish as you take each next best step.
Having done some energetic cleansing work, you might want to take a look around your home. It may be a teeny tiny corner or one drawer. It may be the whole thing. Symbolically use this time of year to clear out old energies and let them go (donate what you can so someone else can benefit). I love an end of year deep clean to help the new year feel especially fresh. I did the windows this week (for the first time in over a year, I think!) and imagine I’ll be smiling smugly at them until July.
Think about the things you want to leave in 2021.
What do you consciously want to carry forward into 2022 and potentially (as in, your tastes may change. Not apocalypse or anything like that. Hopefully) beyond?
Reboot yourself
I generally do my annual 24 hour silence between Christmas and New Year because it’s easiest, time wise. It’s also a great way to palate cleanse between the old and the new.
My ‘rules’ are simple: No TV, music, devices of any kind (I use the microwave, cooker, fridge freezer and kettle but even avoid the washing machine for this short window of silence).
I do let myself journal, read and do other things (as well as indulging in longer yoga and meditation practices).
Do what appeals and (you’ll get to know this through trial and error – we’re all different) what works for you.
Create indulgent and sustainable self care practices to feel good in the moment AND transform your life (for the better)
Yoga Nidra is so high on the list for me that I’ve changed the format of the Feel Better Every Day online membership programme to include a bespoke Yoga Nidra for every week.
You can experiment with loads of free ones on this site and by googling other styles. They offer an opportunity for deep relaxation for body and mind while also harnessing the power of the unconscious mind as you visualise and use your other senses to imagine your Sankalpa (a positive intention or resolve that really comes from the heart) to become a reality for you.
Yoga Nidra benefits include lowering blood pressure, increasing concentration and motivation and, of course, feeling good. Mine are trauma sensitive too.
We’re so much better at making our dreams a reality when we feel GOOD about them. I hope you’ll enjoy this simple practice and that it will help activate your natural rest/digest response as well as supporting you as you connect with your inner wisdom, inherent sense of joy and ease and that limitless, most expansive part of yourself that’s so much more than whatever you’ve survived or are going through.
If a fully formed Sankalpa feels too much right now, you might want to ponder some of the transpersonal qualities that speak to you. Maybe you already have one that stands out from your Relaxation Response practices. Maybe you like the idea of adopting a word for the year – one quality for the New Year (mine is Freedom this year to help me remember to learn to drive etc etc. The last few years, I’ve benefitted enormously from the ongoing focus on Love, Ease and Joy. What bubbles up for you?
Give yourself daily quiet time ~ It might be formal meditation. It might be enjoying your hot drink outside or looking out a window. It might be journalling. It might be running. Allow yourself to connect with your higher self. Ask your angels for support. be open to guidance.
Look in all directions
One of the reasons yoga is so wonderful for mental and emotional health is the way in which we literally see our world from different angles as we move from pose to pose.
If you’ve not yet seen Don’t Look Up (Netflix), treat yourself (when you’re feeling robust enough – the satire is scarily documentaryesque). While it’s a horrifying commentary on the climate emergency we face, it can also be a wake up call.
What causes do you care most about? How might you stop averting your eyes and do MORE to make a positive difference?
And, at the risk of sounding morbid, imagine you knew that the world was ending in 6 months.
What would you do differently?
What would you prioritise?
What would you let go of more easily than you imagined when you read the start of this post?
Who would you want to spend your last days on earth with?
Which – if any – of these self care coaching ideas for the New Year resonate for you?
There’s also my book, 365 Ways to Feel Better: Self-care Ideas for Embodied Wellbeing (2017) – with a self care idea for each day of the year. Ideal to dip in and out of or to start at the beginning with 1st January.
Feel free to email eve@selfcarecoaching.net to let me know.
And please feel free to share this post on your social media etc so others who may find it helpful can read it.
Wishing you a wondrous New Year!
With love,
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