Jan-year-ary was long but now gone, and February is flying by.
I know we're past the "Happy New Year" ph(r)ase but I've not said it to you yet, so here we are. We're now closer to Spring with the evenings getting lighter. Yeah! I don't know about you, but I'm just recovering from what felt like a year last month, so the season change can't come soon enough!
Looking back, though, here are three things and thoughts from January.
One of my self-care plans was to break my habit of hibernating until the weather gets warmer. I made sure I had a few good reasons to get outside, and walking my borrow dog Winston was a big one especially when I combined it with meeting people a few times to max out on the positive vibes. I am not one for exercise, don't always move enough and rebel a bit because so much physical activity is linked to losing pounds. That said, movement matters - getting out and about has helped with my mood and my aches, and I plan to do it more to help with my sleep too.
The weather may have been dreary but I wore colour to combat that, and to hold on to the Christmas vibe, and that meant red and green were my colours of the month. In my card deck, I talk about colour as part of the D is for Dress reflection because I'm a great believer in the impact of colour on and creating a mood. Our wellbeing is about our environment and what we put on, as well as what we put in our bodies (in my humble opinion).
Social-media-wise I did a post on LinkedIn about going back to work and snuck in a reminder for people to be mindful of 'New Year, New You' and exercise/diet chat which had 1,978 impressions. As you may know, it's a regular thing for me to push back on such narratives, and I also posted "5 ways to push back" on the subject in my Facebook group. As some of us move into Lent (February through March), I'd say the same again. (IYKYK)
In general the month was long and had its challenges, and* it was also pretty good... on reflection!
*Note that 'and' giving space for both - replace 'but' with 'and' for a softer take on plenty 😉
And now, here we are in February...
The big news at this point is that I finally took a long-overdue trip to get my hair done! That might sound like a 'so what?', but for me, it's an important act of self-care (look at the blogs labelled 'hair' and you'll get it).
Given Valentines Day (and Galentines) is upcoming, look out for lots on self-love but remember, self-care can happen even in the absence of 'self-lurve!' and simply being respectful, neutral and kind to yourself is important - more important, and often less expensive and harder than the marketers will tell you such as setting boundaries, speaking kindly to and about yourself, saying no and just having a proper rest. And actually, that is all part of self-love!
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So, how have the first six weeks of the year been for you and what's up next? I hope Jan-year-ary wasn't too bad for you and that there are lots of loves to live for in FebrUary... take care of U and don't forget to find time for self-care (and self-love if you can) with all the talk of romance that will soon be upon us!
Back soon with more Feb in focus, take care until then.
Denise x
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