A Self-Care MUST-HAVE for 2024

As we’re feeling into this brand-new year, I want to share with you the self-care must-have I could never go without.

If you’re expecting some lovely skin-care product or herbal tea, then think again because we’re going much deeper and broader. 

I love the idea that a single thought can change your life, so it’s more along those lines. 

The idea I’m going to share with you shortly has made my life better every single day for probably about 15 years. It’s helped me understand life more deeply, it’s helped me get to know myself more intimately and it’s even helped to explain the inexplicable. 

Ready for the big reveal?

The self-care must-have I’m talking about is (*play fanfare in your head) >>> determining a theme for the year. 

In case you're not yet wowed, let me explain. 

Themes - The How-To

A theme for the year is an overarching idea that becomes your guiding light. It’s almost like a best friend in the energy world that you can turn to whenever you need it. 

Your theme should be the energy you want to emerge over the year. Really, it’s a vibration that you’re getting to know on an intimate level. 

Let me give you some examples. I like to think of it as “The Year Of….”

Some themes I’ve had include The Year of Delight and The Year of Wonder and Awe. This year, it’s The Year of Exquisite Expansion. 

How Themes Work

When making your choice, it’s important to know that when you declare a theme, it will bring up everything that’s no longer a vibrational match. Sometimes, my clients will say, “My theme isn’t working! It’s my year of Joyful Abundance and I don’t feel abundant at all.”

That’s actually by grand design because energy that was previously stagnant and subconscious rises to the surface so that it can move through and be on its way, rather than running things from behind the scenes and wreaking havoc. 

The amazing thing about a theme is that it also brings you more of what you’re declaring without a whole lot of extra effort on your part. The main thing that you need to do with a theme is pay attention to it and notice how it is showing up. 

I love how themes surprise me throughout the year. They always have so many more facets than I would have expected. When I reflected on my year of Delight at the end of 2022, I was shocked to discover that some things I never would have categorized as delightful (such as running) showed up regularly throughout the year as contributing to my theme. Running = delightful??? Who knew?

Having a theme also helps to illuminate areas for growth. Just noticing how your theme shows up every day is an exercise that brings you from lack to abundance. If you focus on the absence of your theme, you get more lack in your life because that’s where you’re putting your attention. 

If instead, you really ask your mind to stretch and find an example of your theme in your day, your focus shifts to that of abundance. If you practice that habit daily, you can expect a whole lot more abundance to show up in your life because that’s where you’re putting your attention.

So what do you think?

Ready to choose your theme?

I can’t recommend highly enough the practice of having a theme. To recap, a theme for the year will help you:

• Get to know yourself better
• Amplify the good in your life
• Illuminate areas for growth
• Get stuck energy moving
• Capitalize on the experience of having a constant energetic companion
• Practice moving from lack to abundance 
• Expand and increase your vibration

If you could use a little more help and guidance picking the right theme for you, that’s something we’ll be doing during our upcoming small group session called Visioning 2024:How to Get Crystal Clear and Take Inspired Action.

For all the details on this engaging, practical and very fun masterclass, see the Christina Recommends section below. 

No matter how you choose your theme, whether it’s a solo activity or something you do with a little support, you’ll benefit in all the ways listed above when you determine your theme for the year. 

I truly couldn’t live without it - it’s one of my top self-care practices. 

May you have a week filled with purpose and clarity as you expand your vibration.

With flowing love and unusual courage, 

Christina

>Creator of Courageous Self-Care

>This close *pinches fingers together* to publishing my next children’s book - stay tuned!

>wearing a remarkable number of layers even though I’m inside because, for some reason, it’s -43 degrees

In addition to setting our theme for the year, the upcoming masterclass, 

Will help you figure out where you headed and put in place some initial action steps so that you can get started on your journey.

During the session, we’ll go through the following five steps that I talked about in last week’s post:

1-Pause

2-Reflect

3-Collect

4-Connect

5-Amplify

In going through those 5 steps, you’ll learn: 

• The most important question to ask yourself regularly and how to answer it even when you feel stuck or blocked
• A simple but effective tool for accessing the clarity you’re seeking
• The missing piece to most clarity work (and if you don’t have this piece, you’ll struggle despite your best efforts)
• The #1 mistake you’re probably making if you don’t have clarity (and if you’re making this mistake, you’re totally sabotaging any clarity work you’re already doing)
• The super-secret secret for getting crystal clear that would most likely never occur to you (at least it didn’t for me; I had to search far and wide for this secret)

For details and to register, click here

This week I’m sharing a new-to-me artist: Jay-Jay Johanson. I heard this song on the radio the other night as we were venturing out on the skating-rink-like roads. This song was so enchanting and soothing that I Shazam’d it right away. I had to have it!

It’s kind of like an updated Chet Baker vibe; very cool, very hip, very now in an old-fashioned-vibey way. 

I hope you love it too 🙂

Listen to Finally by Jay-Jay Johanson on iTunes

Listen to Finally by Jay-Jay Johanson on Spotify