It’s the holiday season and most of us are talking about self-care with our clients, especially clients with trauma, depression and anxiety issues. But are we talking self-care with ourselves? And more importantly, are we giving ourselves the gift of self-care by putting into practice our own self-care plan?

Following are 10 self-care tips most of us know and talk about, but tend to ignore when it comes to ourselves. Consider these your reminders for your own self-care.

• Make a plan for self-care. Write down your self-care activities so you don’t lose focus in the busyness of the holiday season and review this plan daily. Focus on your physical, emotional, spiritual, and cognitive self-care.
• Take some time off. When I was in my internship, the clinic where I worked took off the last two weeks of the year because as the clinic director so aptly said, we all need time to rest and focus on ourselves and our families and friends. She also reasoned that most clients don’t want to pursue therapy and cancellations were often high. You may not be able to take a full two weeks off, but plan to take some time off from seeing clients. You’ll be a better therapist if you rest and recharge.
• Exercise each day, even if it’s just a short walk. If you can, get outside as you exercise. Notice the beauty around you.
• The holidays are filled with rich food and rich drink. Enjoy the richness in moderation and focus on good nutrition the rest of the time. And remember, water is good for you.
• Focus on activities that bring you joy and rejuvenate you and include them in your schedule. Conversely, it’s okay to set boundaries around activities that don’t bring you joy. No isn’t a bad word.
• Set time aside to meditate, pray, read, or simply be. When I was a little girl, I loved to lay under the Christmas tree and just gaze at the colored lights. I had no idea that I was practicing mindfulness; I just knew that I found peace as I lay there. Find your own version of mindfulness and add it to your schedule. Your stress levels will thank you.
• Spend time with people who support you, especially in your self-care goals.
• Practice positive self-talk. Those “I have tos” and “I should bes” are damaging. Affirm yourself and thank yourself. You do good work for so many people and deserve a pat on the back.
• Pare down your to-do list. So many of us add a lot of extras to our holiday to-do lists that just add stress, not joy, to our holidays. Think about why you’re doing a particular activity. Just because your mom did something, doesn’t mean you have to.
• Sleep is good; really good, so give yourself the gift of a good night’s sleep. We all know what comprises good sleep hygiene. Now is a good time to put into practice what we know.

I know there are many more self-care ideas that you can add to this list. The bottom line is to not just add them to the list, but to actually do them. To quote Martha Stewart, “it’s a good thing.”