Sticking to your New Year’s resolutions in 2019 doesn’t have to be hard, in fact, it can be fairly easy if you know what you are doing. Here are my top 5 tips on how to stick your New Year’s resolutions: 1 Patience Our minds …
Mantras Vs. Resolutions With a new year comes a fresh start. Many people feel inspired and motivated to make bold changes in their lives and this is a beautiful thing. Seeing people striving to better themselves is wonderful however a lot of people go about …
Self-care is needed when you’re healthy and when your body is off balance. It helps keep you grounded and happy. It shows yourself that you care about you. A powerful message that is highly underrated if you ask me.
So how do you practice self-care if you can’t afford a monthly trip to the Hamptons?
Self-Care Routine Basics:
Select things that you actually want to do
Self-care should not be a chore, it should be enjoyable and energizing.
Ask yourself:
“What makes me feel like the best me?”
“What makes me feel whole?”
“What makes me feel balanced and energized?”
“What makes me feel happy?”
“What drains me?”
“What resets me?”
“What negative thoughts and habits are holding me back?”
“How can I make the most of my mornings, afternoons, evenings, and weekends?”
“What inspires me?”
Don’t pick things that don’t inspire or appeal to you
This might seem like common sense but often people add things to their self-care plan that they don’t enjoy.
For example: adding cardio workouts (like walking on the treadmill) to your self-care plan when you hate the treadmill isn’t helpful if you aren’t actually going to do it. A better alternative might be walking the dog or following along to a fitness dance video.
Don’t neglect the necessities
Make sure that you have core components of a healthy lifestyle in your self-care plan/routine. Things like getting enough sleep, physical activity (that you enjoy), and a healthy balanced diet are all important for self-care. I mean even things like flossing and brushing your teeth every day are forms of self-care. They involve quite literally taking care of yourself.
Take Advantage of and Plan for Pockets of Spare Time
Have a long commute via public transportation? Have some extra time between classes? Did you arrive early for a doctors appointment? Plan for and use found spare time to practice self-care.
You might use this time to:
Catch up on reading
Send a text to a loved one telling them how much you appreciate them
Send a text or email to check-in with someone you have been meaning to get in touch with
Meditate
Walk or practice some yoga (ain’t no public same in the self-care game)
Be Mindful during your Practices
Staying mindful and present during your self-care practices can help you maximize the benefits by helping you stay connected to the experience.
You are more likely to feel more refreshed and happy after self-care if you are fully present for it. Meaning, focus on what you’re doing and leave your running to-do list at the door.
Often times our yearly rituals come in the form of running a marathon every year or setting the intentions for the New Year. These routines are powerful because they often take a while to prepare for. They are our main focus for the year. The overarching goal that we want to achieve.
Whatever yearly ritual you set for yourself, know that it’s important and it plays a role in the overall year-long health.
Some Yearly Routine Ideas:
New Year Resolutions – Set your intentions for the year. Develop personal goals that will help you work towards promoting a better you.
Yearly Mantra – Every year set a mantra or theme for yourself to help guide your decisions. For example, for 2018 my Mantra was “Let Happiness Be Your Compass” and when I went to make a big decision I asked myself if it honored my mantra.
Self Focused Vacation – plan a vacation for just yourself (can be a day or three) where you can rebuild and nurture your relationship with yourself. After all, if you are taking care of yourself it greatly impedes your ability to help others.
Planned time of service – if you can (and are in the right space to do so) schedule time where you give your time to others. Helping others can do wonders for inspiring and rejuvenating the soul. This can also fit into your monthly and weekly routines if it’s possible for your schedule.
Monthly Routines:
Monthly routines are a great time to check-in with yourself and see how things are going. How are your yearly goals going? Are you living by your yearly mantra?
Assess where you are at and where you want to be. What parts of your life are imbalanced? What can you do to better balance them this month?
Monthly Self-Care Routine Ideas:
Check-in with your yearly goals and assign yourself “homework” to help you work towards them
Schedule time to help re-balance yourself (whether it be a beauty appointment, a bath, a weekend or day trip)
Sign-up for a class
Dedicate a weekend to a project
Assign yourself a book of the month
Weekly Routines:
What can you do weekly to help better improve your life? Weekly routines can help you set a positive tone for the week and help you stay on track with goals.
Weekly Self-Care Routine Ideas:
Meal-plan / Meal-Prep
Tidy your home
Review your finances
Check-in with your Monthly Goals and assign yourself “homework” to help you work towards them
Daily Routines:
Ask yourself when you can fit in time for yourself during the day and plan for self-care. Self-care is vital daily because it helps set the tone for the day and keep stick to your weekly intentions.
Small things like flossing and brushing your teeth count as self-care and should be planned for.
Daily Self-Care Routine Ideas:
Draft your meals for the day (to help guide you and keep you on track)
Do a braindump (to help gather your thoughts)
Set your daily intentions
Enjoyable 15-30 minute physical activity
Enjoy your coffee/breakfast (be mindful during your first meal of the day to set a tone of presence throughout the day)
Journal
Set a bedtime
Read for 15 minutes (or longer)
Listen to a podcast
Shower
Self-Care Routine for When You’re Sick
When we are sick or exposed to foods we need to avoid, it’s important to have a self-care plan in place to help maximize recovery. Learning to self-soothe healthily is so important.
When you aren’t feeling well ask yourself “what do I need to feel better?” and give it to yourself.
Sick-Day Self-Care Routine Ideas:
Take a nap
Literally “Netflix and Chill”
Make soothing and nourishing meals
Delegate tasks you’re too exhausted for
Give yourself a break
Take a bath/shower
Meditate
Drink fluids
Stretch / Yoga
Self-Care for When You’re Unmotivated or Uninspired
We all have been there, that moment where you are excited about something and suddenly don’t have the energy to do it. When you have a due date or a project you need/want to finish but lack inspiration. It’s like a motivation or creativity block.
Having a plan in place to help you revive your motivation and inspiration is important when you need to stick to your plans and goals!
Inspirational and Motivational Self-Care Routine:
Go for a walk – often times when we can’t push past our creativity and motivational walls it’s because we’ve been sitting and focusing for too long. Switching things up and getting the body moving can help revive your energy and creative levels.
Coffee and Creativity – when you are just feeling in a slump plan some coffee and creativity. Take the time to brew yourself the perfect cup of coffee (or tea) and enjoy it while ruminating in your thoughts. Let this coffee or tea open up your mind to new ideas and inspirations.
Read – reading can help inspire you and think of things in a new light. Often when I am uninspired I read things that are related to my niche or focus and gather inspiration from them. I try to read pieces and think about how I can apply them to my knowledge, profession, and life.
Socialize – going out with friends and connecting with their lives can be a huge source of inspiration and or help recharge your motivation.
Do something fun – let yourself let go and enjoy! Do something that is fun to help revive your spirits and rebalance your work/hobbies.
Free Self-Care Routine Planner Printable
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You’ve heard of S.M.A.R.T. goals (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) and setting that kind of goals a good start. But how do you make sure that you set yourself up for success in goal-setting? Set No-Fail Goals No-fail goals are goals that you know …
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My friend Autumn graduated from the Baking and Pastry Arts program at the Columbus State Community College (that’s right, we are both alumni of the amazing CSCC). One day after class last semester she came to me and said: “Tayler, I need to make these …
Gluten-free cookies are either so soft you wonder if someone actually baked the cookie or they are so hard you feel like you chewing stale crackers. Neither are the mouthfeel you want when biting into a cookie.
Honestly, I almost gave up on cookies. I mean how hard is it to find a cookie that isn’t hard as a rock or mushy like a banana?
When it comes to cookies, you want, no you need better than that. You want the edges to be crisp but not crumbly and the center to be soft but not gooey. A mouth-feel that has proven to be hard to achieve when it comes to gluten-free cookies.
However not to fear, I have developed a gluten-free sugar cookie recipe that is both crispy on the outside but soft on the inside without compromising the flavor (yeah I know, just when you thought it wasn’t possible, here I am with this beautiful gift of a recipe).
Not to mention this recipe is easy. The only thing that is hard about making these cookies is waiting for the dough to sit in the fridge (the anticipation really gets to you while you wait).
Comment below your favorite kind of cookie!
Easy Gluten-Free Sugar Cookies
1 cup sugar ((room temperature))
1/2 cup butter
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour ((I used a blend from Namaste Foods))
1 tsp baking powder
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit
In a medium-sized bowl, cream together the sugar and butter
Once well creamed, beat in the egg and vanilla
Once well combined, slowly add and mix in the all purpose flour and baking powder until a dough forms
Wrap sugar cookie dough in plastic wrap and let sit in the fridge for 15-30 minutes until firm
Once firm, portion out 1 tbsp sized cookies onto the cookie tray (make sure you flatten them into cookies)
Alternatively, you can roll out the dough and shape the cookies with cookie cutters
Bake the tray of cookies for 10-15 minutes until the edges look slightly crispy and the middle is still soft (the edge may or may not be slightly brown)
Let cookies cool before enjoying or frosting
If you choose to for-go letting the cookie dough sit in the fridge for 30 minutes, know that the texture will be impacted. Letting the dough sit in the fridge is vital for the texture to come out just right.
Not to mention, if you do chill your cookie dough, it will make it so much easier to use cookie cutters on the sugar cookies!
To make the cookies dairy-free, coconut oil can be successfully substituted