Self-discovery can be fun and fascinating—while still nurturing our emotional health. I want to share with you some of my favorite ways to promote joy as we begin another year by thinking out of the box!
Numerology
Aside from being interesting by itself, it is also part of many Kundalini yoga practices. When you utilise your personal number (we all have one) you can learn about your strengths, relationships, struggles and path in life.
Your personal number is determined by adding all of the numbers together of your birthday, until you get to a single digit. For example, my birthday would be 4+1+5+1+9+6+5=31. and 3+1=4. Once you know your personal number, you can look up the meaning on websites like numerology.com.
2022 would be reduced to a 6, which symbolizes domestic happiness, harmony and stability. It represents unconditional love and the ability to support, nurture, and heal. The world could sure use that!
Decluttering
Organizing and decluttering are great tools for self-care as when I declutter my surroundings, it helps to declutter my mind.
I often speak to people who want to organize and declutter, but they tell me that it feels overwhelming and that they don’t know where to start. My advice is to pick one room, one area or even drawer at a time. Don’t stop or move on to another area until that area is completed. Throw things away or put them where they belong without lingering. This rule has worked for me since I can easily get distracted when I’m moving from place to place.
Decide the method of organization that works for you. It could be by size, color, purpose, most and least used or all of the above. Organization is also a great excuse to find pretty containers and it isn’t necessary to spend a lot of money. You can even recycle delivery boxes by covering them with attractive wrapping paper or fabric. There are so many great ideas on Instagram and Pinterest.
Movement
Exercise is often a popular item on everyone’s resolution list. I prefer to call it movement, because exercise is often connected with weight, which can lead to feelings of guilt, shame and pressure if we don’t exercise “enough”. I cannot imagine my life without nearly daily movement, especially now that I have found something I love to do, looking forward to every class and for once in my life, not connecting it with weight. For me, that activity is pole fitness and aerial arts.
If you do not have movement you love, think about what activities you enjoyed as a younger person. I loved gymnastics and have looked for an adult form of that for a very long time. Aside from just being pure fun, pole and aerial fitness is challenging, it helps me love and appreciate my body, and has made me feel stronger than I’ve ever been. It has also eliminated back pain and low bone density and have helped me find an amazing group of supportive friends. It helps me with focus, stress reduction and anxiety too!
Creativity
Don’t forget creativity as an important form of self-care and relaxation. There are many forms of creativity, including but not limited to visual arts, music and dance. Some ideas are to garden, decorate, craft, create or expand a business or play with children. If you are already a creative person, try something totally mindless and fun without the pressure of having a “perfect” finished product.
One of my favorite activities, for kids or adults, is to make paper beads. You want to use paper with some weight and you can paint it first or use already decorated paper. There are plenty instructions on the internet, but you cut the paper into pointed strips, use glue to wrap it tightly around round toothpicks and let them dry. It’s so easy. I have some necklaces I created hanging in my office for decoration.
Self-care is anything you want it to be. Think outside the box. Throw out the rule book. Do what makes you happy!
Katie x
Katie Beecher, MS, LPC is an Internationally known Medical and Spiritual Intuitive and Licensed Professional Counselor. She creates an extensive report and symbolic painting for her clients, people and animals, knowing just their name and age.
Katie is featured in many publications and blogs, including Poosh, Well and Good, Lyme 360 and Goop, who calls her “eerily accurate”.
Heal from Within: A Guidebook to Intuitive Wellnes, is her book about connecting to intuition, healing and wellness – using the same techniques she uses in her readings and knowledge from her intuitive guides and Jungian psychology.
