Joyous January
After a tough few years, we're ready to make it Joyous January this month! January often gets a bad press as a glum month to just endure, so how can we make it joyous? We're keen to shake off 2021 and take what we've learnt this past 12 months to make 2022 a year of positivity and exploration, join us!
We're strictly no resolutions here at Nourish, but we're not against exploring new habits and setting intentions. There have been lots of things that we've learnt about taking care of ourselves and others, mentally and physically over the last year, taking this knowledge into a new year seems like a great start to 2022. If a pandemic taught us anything it's probably that a lot of the things that we thought were important really aren't at all, and that true joy and happiness came from simple things.
Friendships, community, kindness and gratitude became watch words for many of us during the pandemic, but how do we continue to remember how important those are as life steadily returns to normal? Many of our intentions for this year are coiled around these phrases, and they form an important part of how we want to live in 2022.
- Meal planning and advance food prep - We're committed to limiting food waste at home and within the business and one of the simplest ways to avoid waste, plan your meals. Planning your meals also allows you the chance to really think about what you are eating too, making sure that you're nourishing yourself from the inside out. If you're stuck for inspiration, take a look at our recipe section, or if you're struggling to get into the meal making groove why not try a meal service like Mindful Chef or allplants for a few weeks to get back in the habit. Get snack set with Nourish and take a look at our NEW Teatime Treats box.
- Hugging more - Yes, we want to hug more this year! Hugging releases oxytocin which helps to relieve stress and gives us that all important feeling of comfort, something we could all do with. Whenever it feels appropriate to do so we'll be diving on in for a hug, we've missed them so!
- Mindful social media usage - We enjoyed the break from social over Christmas and although it's been a fantastic tool for keeping in touch with people when we couldn't see each other face to face, it's all too easy to fall down the scrolling rabbit hole. We're setting ourselves a target of no more than 20 mins a day of scrolling, and we're going to try and make it valuable, following those we admire and are inspired by.
- Saving up - Setting, and achieving a savings target for something special for you, or for someone else is really rewarding. Whether it's saving for a family holiday, a special treat for yourself, or maybe putting the money you would have spent on coffee/alcohol/incidentals for a month in a jar and donating it to your favourite charity, there's something great about hitting your goal. Later this month we'll reveal how we're saving up for something very precious with our friends from Water for Good.
- R&R - When we ask people how they are so many say, running on empty, tired, exhausted, run down. We say, take care and take time. We've been through a lot; we need time to mentally, and for many to physically, recover from it all. Don't push too hard and find a few little moments when you can just breathe deep and be calm. We love to use the Breathe app to remind us to take a deep breath from time to time.
- Make it happy - Be silly, laugh with those around you at work and home whenever the opportunity presents itself. We did a very silly car journey this Christmas where we all told jokes on our long route, we laughed like drains and it left amazing! Tune into a favourite comedian, podcast, or read a funny book. Laughter makes us feel lighter and like we can cope better with the ups and downs.
- Be adventurous - Adventures big or small just give us that feeling of excitement that we all need sometimes to feel alive. It could be as simple as a picnic by the seaside with hot flasks of soup and a blowy walk, or as big as learning a new skill like slack lining, or doing a mud trail with friends.