FEBRUARY

Three Gentle Ways to Take Care of Yourself This Month

1. Lower the Bar (On Purpose)

You do not need to operate at peak performance in February.

What if you:

• Simplified meals

• Reduced social commitments

• Stopped trying to “optimize” everything

• Let something be good enough

Sometimes self-care is strategic under-functioning.

2. Regulate Before You Evaluate

If you’re anxious, sad, or irritable — don’t immediately analyze your life.

First, regulate your body.

Try this:

• Put one hand on your chest

• One hand on your stomach

• Inhale slowly for 4

• Exhale for 6

• Do that 5 times

Longer exhales tell your nervous system it is safe to soften.

Then decide what you think.

3. Practice “Self-Compassion in Real Time”

Notice your internal tone.

Is it:

• “I should be doing better.”

• “Why am I like this?”

• “Everyone else is handling life better than I am.”

What would it be like to respond to yourself the way you would to someone you love?

Try:

• “Of course this is hard.”

• “It makes sense that I’m tired.”

• “I’m doing the best I can with what I have.”

This is not weakness.
This is emotional maturity.

A Small February Reflection

Ask yourself:

• Where am I pushing when I actually need to pause?

• Where am I abandoning myself to keep others comfortable?

• What is one small act of care I can practice daily this week?

Keep it small.

Self-care that overwhelms you is not self-care.

A Grounding Exercise for This Month

The 5-4-3-2-1 Reset

When you feel overwhelmed:

• 5 things you see

• 4 things you feel

• 3 things you hear

• 2 things you smell

• 1 thing you taste

This pulls you out of anxious spirals and back into your body.