Has your self-care taken a back seat this winter? Spring is in the air and it’s time to revamp your mind, body, spirit routine. Here’s a few extreme-ly powerful ways to say goodbye to the long cold days of winter and bring the warm sunshine and blue skies back into your life.
1. Eat Well
Winter’s all about keeping warm and enjoying comfort food with hearty soups and stews, chicken and dumplings, and macaroni and cheese. Now that the birds are chirping and the flowers are blooming, you’ll feel better and more alive when you replace foods with little or no nutritional value with food and snacks that are rich in nutrients. There’s nothing like the bright, colorful, and crisp produce of spring. Enjoy the weather, be green, and head out to your local farmer’s market, or start your own vegetable garden. Early spring goodies include kumquats, leeks, spinach, spring onions, salad greens, oranges, and grapefruit.
2. Take Care of Your Feet
Springtime means trees bloom, flowers bud, and women – liberated from socks and shoes – get footloose and fancy-free in open-toed sandals and backless heels. Whether you’re a man or woman, if your feet are neglected and dry from a long spell of cold winter weather, it’s time to pamper your tootsies. Treat your feet to the spa for a footbath and a pedicure. Tender loving foot care is not only reasonably affordable, but you’ll love how absolutely good you feel when your feet are pampered.
3. Spring Physical Activity
Perhaps more than any other season, spring brings with it a desire to get outside into the beautiful warmer weather. If you’re used to going to the gym, shake things up by exchanging that indoor treadmill for vigorous walks around the park. And if you’ve been sedentary this winter due to months of frigid temperatures, now’s the time to get outside and get healthy. Really, it feels good to get up out of the chair and move your body. Walk, bicycle, golf, or play tennis. Choose activities that are enjoyable rather than a chore.
4. Do What Matters Most
In life there’s always a thousand and one things to do each day. Exhausted and sleep-deprived from non-stop activity, many people barely have enough time in the day to do everything on their never-ending to-do lists. Now that spring is in the air, slow down and do what really matters. Look beyond the obvious and focus on what matters most to YOU right now. Choose to live a life that matters by directing your energy into personally valued activities. At the end of each day, you will feel the satisfaction and peace of a day well-lived.
January may be a time for New Year’s resolutions, but spring is when new energy fills your body, lifts your spirit, and inspiration flows. Take advantage of the higher motivation that spring offers and use it to your benefit. I challenge you to generate a plan for nurturing your physical, mental, and physical self. Relax into life, live your values, and share the joy that you are into the world.
Want to make your world brighter and more exciting? Want to wake up each morning vibrant, energized, and glad to be alive? Check out a book that I personally wrote called, Your Highest Potential which you can find at www.YourHighestPotential.com along with a boatload of testimonials.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
A friend made a great comment yesterday…..”When a person wakes up in the morning and says to themselves that it will be a great day, then it will be”! How awesome and true.
Love the photo of self-expressions.
We are what we think. I can’t control what others think.
I’m finally getting rid of some clutter and it feels great. Spring is a time for renewal in every aspect of our lives…….mind, body and spirit.
Thank you for the fantastic articles and words of wisdom, Annette.
By the way, I set the daffodil picture on my FB profile…..wanted to share the joy.
Love, K.
Hi Kathleen,
That first breath of the day brings a wonderful opportunity to feel your life and set yourself up to move forward in a positive direction.
It took me a while to remember to wake up and breathe consciously, but now it’s amazing. I breathe and take the time to bring my own conscious spirit back into my body. Better than a bowl full of Wheeties ♥
Your additional comment about not being able to control what others think – that’s powerful. To truly be authentic…. that is the journey. I’m glad we’re taking this trip together!
Love ya,
Annette
Annette, I love your blog and I subscribed! I’m checking out your book. Keep it up. This is really good stuff!
I thought what I said to myself didn’t matter, but boy was I wrong. Changing from a negative self-talker into a positive self-talker has change my life dramatically.
Hi Stephen,
Awe, thanks for your gracious comments. We love having your positive inspirational energy as a part of our community!
This article brings together two important concepts:
1) The freedom and empowerment of knowing we have conscious choice
2) The love of self to choose what is most important and follow through
When we’re stuck in the middle of an unhappy or undesirable life circumstance, it often feels as if we don’t have any choice at all. We feel trapped in a corner, or imprisoned in our unhappy bodies or lives.
However, no matter where we are in life there is always a choice about how we proceed. We can’t change what is, but we can change what will be.
If we find that our ability to make conscious choices is not fully developed, we feel out of control, fragile and vulnerable. If we deny and disown our unique personal choices, we feel lifeless.
Conscious choice requires that we take risks, do things that are different and often out of our realm of comfort. But we can do it! We can strengthen conscious choice, and give ourselves freedom, happiness, and a life that is meaningful to Self (and therefore also meaningful to the world). It is only possible to be truly happy when we are first true to self!