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How is winter treating you? I can tolerate it in December, thanks to my love of Christmas and the run up to it. But, I find January and February more of a struggle and I don’t think I’m alone!
We’re all a bit skint from Christmas, so need a few easy ways to cheer ourselves up at this time of year. Am I right? Read on for my top ten easy self-care ideas to cheer you up over winter – I hope you’ll to try one or two of them out.
Take Care Of Yourself By Cooking Something Delicious
The smells of chocolate or vanilla, the warmth of the oven, some happy music on the radio as you bake. It’s a great way to feel instantly happier, in my experience. My radio channel of choice at the moment in Absolute 90s. Non-stop classics! And after you’ve baked, you get the joy of eating your creation. It’s such a beautiful way to nourish your soul as well as your sweet tooth.
I had a slight banana problem last week, so the only way to rescue the situation was to make a banana cake. And once I’d finished baking it, I left the oven door open for some lovely warmth.
Or how about looking through your cookbooks and get inspiration for new meals, and rediscover forgotten favourites? Or that pile of recipes you’ve ripped out of newspapers and magazines…
Treat Yourself to a House Plant
How are your plant babies doing? Some of mine are not at all happy that we have been keeping the central heating off so much. (I can identify!) I’ve been repurposing biodegradable packing peanuts in between the outer decorative pot and inner plant pot to help insulate their roots. It seems to be helping…
Are you yet to experience the mindful boost and joy of houseplants, but want to get started? Or are you more like me and obsessed with getting new plants?
Either way, you’ll love the Mind, Body & Soil subscription box.
I got my first one last week, with the theme of ‘Hibernation’. This month’s theme is ‘Soothing Scents’, you have until the 20th of the month to sign up for it. And it’s a lovely flexible subscription you can pause or cancel any time.
Alongside my lovely new plant, I got a concrete pot, a box of Pukka organic turmeric tea bags, a bath bomb slab, which smells incredible, a notebook and a set of plantable journal prompts (see below!)
It’s a really gorgeous box of treats, I recommend it.
As well as being good for our mental wellbeing, houseplants are scientifically proven by NASA to improve our health and air. So that means they’re good for our physical wellbeing too. And they also look so pretty.
Need houseplant help? These books are good.
Journal for an Easy Boost of Self-Care
Writing goals and a gratitude diary are really beautiful ways to start the year. And of course continue!
In this month’s Mind, Body & Soil mindfulness box, there is a cute notebook, and a set of 12 plantable journal prompt cards. This is the one for January – I love the practical and inspirational questions here. I’m excited to plant it once I’ve completed the prompts!
There is a card for every month, to keep you inspired and more likely to reach your goals.
Don’t forget to write down things you’re grateful for too, my yearly planner has a corner per week for this, it’s a great reminder.
Get Cosy and Read a Great Book (Or Two. Or Three)
I am lucky to have been given a lovely little stack of books for Christmas and my birthday. Carving out some time to curl up with them is a great form of self-care. I’m trying to get to bed earlier and read (with my electric blanket turned on).
I got the three top books on my stack from my siblings for Christmas. We all went to Oxford for the day, and gave each other Blackwells vouchers and bought what we fancied. I also treated myself to a mystery book, which was wrapped in brown paper with a few clues printed on it. Exciting!
I got a bit overwhelmed in Blackwells as it’s so big, so I decided to narrow my options by choosing books with pink spines, to fill up my rainbow bookshelves even more. It worked really well as I never would have found these books otherwise!
If you want a bit of cosy reading corner inspo, then check out my guide to making a reading nook.
Diffuse Aromatherapy Essential Oils For Easy Self-Care
I have always loved scented candles, but I got an oil diffuser for my birthday and love it even more. Mine is from John Lewis. These cut glass aroma diffusers from bCalm are so pretty, I’m tempted to buy one for our bedroom! I’m enjoying experimenting with essential oils, and bCalm have a great beginner’s guide to essential oils you can find here.
Just drop a few drops of their top quality essential oils into the water in your diffuser to benefit, and help soothe headaches, migraines or anxiety.
Just Get Outside!
I am a real nightmare for never wanting to go outside into the cold. I just love being cosy at home. But it is certainly true that whenever I do go out, I never regret it.
During lockdowns, we went on tonnes of walks. But now, I tend to do the school run (which is 10,000 steps there and back, twice a day) and the occasional walk with a friend. I need to do more!
There is a saying that there’s no bad weather, just unsuitable clothes. I’m not sure I’d go that far. But now I have my new second-hand Joules wellies that I found on Vinted, I am keener to go out then when I had my old leaky wellies.
I insulate myself with a long padded coat from TOG24 made with recycled plastic bottles. It’s SO warm, kind of like a sleeping bag but more stylish.
I bought it last winter and will be wearing it for years to come. It’s on sale in several nice colours at the moment if you’re looking for a practical yet nice coat.
I take this double walled sustainable, reusable cup filled with hot tea on my walks. This one from Huski is great as it’s made of waste rice husks that would have been burned otherwise, is biodegradable, non-toxic and made in the UK. When you’ve finished the drink, you can carry it with the white flip top lid.
Mend Something You Love
There’s no better time to snuggle up on the sofa and tackle your mending pile. Giving new life to old favourites saves them from the rubbish pile, and also gives a real sense of satisfaction. Mending holes can be a really fun, mindful, and creative thing to do. Visible mending can even make your clothes look better, like this patch I did on a favourite t-shirt that had a little hole in it.
Try a New Mindful Craft
Not a sewer? What about origami or macrame, or candle making? There are so many lovely crafts you can try. I have a whole blog post here you can get inspired by.
Drinking More (Non-Alcoholic Drinks) is Simple Self-Care for Everyone
It’s pretty boring, but simply cutting down on caffeine, drinking more water and herbal tea is an easy self-care idea that works. I have an app called Water Llama that reminds me to drink, and find keeping my reusable water bottle on my desk, even at home, somehow makes me drink more than a glass. No idea why! But whatever works, right. I also no longer drink tea or coffee after midday, (unless I’m going out for Afternoon Tea or something.) I think that has made a big difference to my sleep – I have decaf or herbal tea like the turmeric tea above in the afternoon now when I want a hot drink.
Need some help getting a good night’s sleep? This post about how to improve your sleep cycles is for you!
Take Time on Your Cleansing Regime
Cleansing can either be a chore, or a pleasure. Using my favourite clean, green beauty brand Evolve’s cleansers helps make it an easy self-care treat that I do every evening.
Start by massaging luxurious Gentle Cleansing Melt over dry skin, including the eye area. Apply warm water to transform it into a rich creamy milk. You can just rinse it away but I like to soak a cloth in warm water and use it to gently wipe the cleanser and make-up away. It feels lovely and makes skin so soft as it’s gently exfoliated. I follow it with the Daily Detox Facial Wash to remove any last traces of cleanser. Breathing deeply throughout my cleansing regime is a great way to slow down at the end of the day.
The Daily Detox Facial Wash is also perfect for the morning.
Looking for more ways to relax and treat your skin? Check out how to create a home spa day – I did it with my daughters and they loved it.
I hope you’ve found my easy, gentle self-care ideas useful. I really believe that getting stuck in to practical things, away from our screens is, to get mindful is the way forward.
