After the indulgence of Christmas, the start of the New Year can feel like a real slog, your mental wellbeing can take a real battering. Parties and festive food are replaced with porridge and dark mornings. Gyms are packed, and month-long booze free detox’s and extreme diets are started. Getting through January is a pretty daunting task, and even more so when stats say that only 64% of resolutions make it to the end of the month. 

You’re bombarded with tips and advice, ‘kickstart a healthy new year’, a ‘new you’ is just around the corner if you give up sugar, drink, work harder, exercise, walk 10,000 steps. But here’s the deal, ‘Is it all too much?’ ‘Are we biting off more than we can chew?’ You are only human, it’s time to press pause, don’t be so hard on yourself, be kind. Practising self-care is more beneficial to long-term health than any quick fix New Year’s resolution.

Selfcare is often seen as self-indulgent, even selfish, limited to those with time and money to spare but it’s a misconception that selfcare must cost the earth. It’s time to view self-care differently. It’s vital for health and well-being. If you don’t properly care for yourself, your body will let you know.

By taking five or ten minutes daily focusing purely on yourself can help you feel refreshed, recharged and ready to take on the world. With this is mind, here’s a simple list to get you through the January blues. 

‘You’ll never change your life until you change something you do daily. The secret of your success is found in your daily routine’ John C. Maxwell 

Breathe: You breathe all day every day, you’ve been breathing since the moment you were born, but research suggests that you’ve probably been doing it all wrong. Breathing properly helps reduce anxiety, improves your energy, mental clarity, and emotional resilience. Take a moment and follow these five simple steps. 

Breathe through the nose. Every breath you take should go in and out through the nose. ...

Breathe with the diaphragm. The air you breathe in through your nose should go all the way down in your stomach. ...

Breathe relaxed. ...

Breathe rhythmically. ...

Breathe silently.

Get in the Tub: Run a relaxing, hot bubble bath

Stretch: Run through a few sun salutations or join a Yoga class

Meet up for coffee with friends or your partner

Have an early night: There’s a ton of research on Ben Franklin’s old saying “Early to bed, and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise’. Getting plenty of sleep strengthens your immune system -- keeps you energized, reduces stress and makes your happier.

Give yourself a facial: Take time to pamper your skin and If you’re worried about your skin book in for a facial consultation to get the best skin in 2019 

Pick up a book: Read a chapter or an article in a favourite magazine: 

Get in the kitchen: Plan and cook a meal you enjoy

Get moving: Try a new exercise class, go for a run, get on your bike, swim, or try a HiiT class on social media

The power of touch: Release the aches and pains of daily life with a massage

Get in touch: phone a friend and catch up

Paint your nails: introduce some colour into your wardrobe, and if you’re looking for a more professional finish pop into a nail bar. 

Step out of a salon: book in for wash and blow dry

Watch a movie: choose one of your favourites or book a matinee with a friend

Put your phone down: enjoy a digital detox

‘Self-care is giving the world the best of you, instead of what’s left of you’ Katie Reed

Make 2019 the year to make time just for you.