7 Self-Care Ideas to Integrate into Your Life this Year!

"In the universe the difficult things are done as if they are easy.  
In the universe great acts are made up of small deeds."  
~ Lao Tsu

Happy 2019!  We are already a whole week into the New Year!   This first week of January is rife with New Year's resolutions to go to the gym everyday, never eat sugar again, and always keep the house clean and an upbeat attitude.  But, seriously, those drastic resolutions, although I'm sure are coming from a place of true desire, are sometimes just too much.  They might last a few weeks, maybe even a couple of months, but then we all fall off the wagon and back into the patterns we were intending to change by making those resolutions in the first place. 

Life works a little differently.  Small, easily manageable changes are much more successful than sweeping resolutions.  Now, I'm just going to admit right at the beginning that I am no expert on making changes in life.  But, I've been learning, through my practice and my own life, that little things make a big difference - and that taking care of yourself is crucial to your well-being and improves not only your own life, but those closest to you. 

Self-care can take many different forms.  Sometimes it does look like going to the gym every day and starting a new healthy diet, but other times it looks like more manageable little things you can commit to doing on a regular basis. 

Here are 7 Self-Care Ideas to Integrate into Your Life this Year!

1. Go to Bed 15 Minutes Earlier - We often feel this push to add more things to do in our lives just because the calendar changed, but Nature isn't ready for all that change quite yet.  It's still Winter - the Yin time of year - which means that our bodies still need that extra sleep, just like the Earth is still experiencing more darkness than light in the 24 hour day.  Night is the yin time of day, and the best time to allow your body to replenish itself.  Don't add so much to your life that you are losing much needed sleep.  Get to bed earlier during the rest of Winter and preserve your energy for the Spring....which isn't too far away.
2. Eat a Warm Breakfast - Like the sun, our body's energy isn't at it's fullest until Noon, which means that at breakfast our digestion is still warming up from the coolness of the yin-night.  If you eat something cold first thing in the morning, your body has to work extra hard to warm it up because it first has to warm up your digestion and then warm the food in order to transform it properly.  Help your digestion wake up by eating or drinking something warm for breakfast.  This is one of those times of day when the new healthy smoothie routine you've committed to might need to wait until later in the day, or at least until after a bowl of oatmeal or a mug of warm lemon water.   
3. Do 10 Minutes of Gentle Movement - Yes, going to the gym can be a good thing, but balancing out the weightlifting or cardio workouts with gentle stretching and slow movement is essential.  Traditional movement exercises like Tai Chi, Qi Gong, and Yoga integrate the entire body with the breath and allow your mind and muscles to work together in a truly holistic fashion.  Gentle stretching and strength building movements like these also improve your overall qi and actually give you MORE energy to work with rather than expending energy that you later have to rebuild.  Find a YouTube clip that you like, and add just 10 minutes of gentle movement to your day.  I promise you'll feel better.  
4. Relax Your Jaw - I often have patients come in with physical complaints like jaw pain, headaches, neck tension, or indigestion that can be traced back to a TCM pattern of qi stagnation.  In a nutshell, qi stagnation is when the flow of qi in the body is stuck....usually from physical or emotional tension.  Think about what happens when we feel frustrated, irritated, annoyed, angry, or are simply concentrating very hard.  Our shoulders raise, neck tightens, jaw clenches, and stomach turns in knots.  If you notice yourself feeling this way, open and stretch your jaw, take a deep breath and relax the muscles in your face.  You may be able to prevent that tension headache or indigestion. 
5. Wear a Scarf - There is an acupuncture point on the neck, just at the base of the skull next to the bony spot behind the ears called "Wind-Gate".  There are also acupuncture meridians along the back of the neck all the way down the body that are the first line of energetic defense against external pathogens.  Keeping your neck covered in the cold and wind is crucial to preventing "evil-qi" or external pathogens from entering the body at these points or meridians and making you sick.  During cold and flu season, and as we enter the earliest days of Spring, wear a scarf.  You'll find yourself less likely to get a runny nose or have early seasonal allergies. 
6. Keep Your Low Back Warm - The Winter Season is governed by the Water element in Nature which corresponds to the Kidney system in TCM.  The Kidneys reside in the low back and are in charge of warming the body and storing the body's qi reserves (among many other jobs, like filtering urine).  When the Kidney Qi is weak, the lumbar area can feel cold to the touch and achy.  Since it is Winter (the Kidney time of year), and we are innately turning our back to the cold wind, it is very easy for the Kidneys to get depleted.  Keep a heating pad on hand to place over your low back after a tiring day, or a day outdoors, and make sure you use your seat warmers in the car if you have them!  
7. Drink an Extra Glass of Water - The Winter can be a very drying time of year.  There is less moisture in the air, which can lead to less moisture in our systems.  We see this with dry, cracked, flaky skin, dry sinuses, even difficult to pass bowel movements.  We need water during this water time of year.  Add an extra (warm) glass in the mornings and maybe one before bed.  It doesn't have to be summertime to feel dehydrated.  Listen to your body, and drink more water!

I see amazing improvements in my patients' health when they tweak just one small thing in their eating habits, or add one stress management activity into their day, or switch one small thing in their bedtime routine.  It's the small things that add up to a manageable change in the body, the mind, and ultimately the qi.  Then I get to observe that internal change in the pulse and tongue.  These improvements are what give me such excitement every time I see a patient.  Use what you can from this list, and see if one small manageable change can impact the way you FEEL for the better.  

I'd love to hear from you!  Let me know in the comments if you try any of these ideas!  All the best wishes for a happy and healthy and manageable 2019!