The Self-Care Year: Reflect and Recharge with Simple Seasonal Rituals

by Alison Davies

The Self-Care Year reveals how to re-connect with your body and mind and engage with your surroundings, how to slow down, live in tune with the seasons, and pay attention to the present moment.

Each season is different and special, bountiful and beautiful in its own unique way. The book is divided into spring, summer, autumn and winter and covers how you can harness the changing seasons and take inspiration from the natural world, with bite-sized self-care practices, projects and mind and body exercises for each chapter.

Offering tips and rituals for better sleep, yoga positions, breathing and meditation exercises, as well as simple craft projects and seasonal affirmations, this book is for those who are seeking a slower pace and want to carve out quiet, mindful moments in their lives. Whether you're a lover of the first buds of spring, a summer sun worshipper, a fan of the fall leaves as the year turns or a winter wonderland devotee, there is something for everyone.

Genres: Nonfiction, Self Help, Mental Health, Nature, Personal Development, Health

128 pages, Hardcover

Published December 7, 2021

Reviews

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book that you can easily dip in and out of with a focus on mindfulness and healthy habits.

[Lady Megan Fischer · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice little book that offers several ideas for taking good care of yourself, all with a seasonal focus. I was drawn to that, thinking that moving with the seasons is such a nice thing to do.

The illustrations in the book are truly lovely, and I think some of the ideas given are sound; it all just felt a bit surface for me, and I was hoping for a bit more.

This likely would be a great starting point. But if you’ve read a lot already, it might feel a bit disappointing.

[Rachel Aranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5-3.75 stars

Nice yet not surprising pieces of advice on self-care and how to get through the different seasons. We even got some nice history about certain scents and colors for each season. The illustrations were the best part of the book for me. I looked forward to seeing what the next drawing would be.

[Luminea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a book to keep by your favourite chair to reach for when you need inspiration or ideas for seasonal self care. I read the ebook, and in this case the physical book would be so much better. The illustrations by Eleanor Hardiman are beautiful.

[(a)lyss(a) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty light book.

The book talks about different kind of rituals throughout the year like mantras and different seasonal scents. The self-care focus is largely things like candles, face masks, and other skin care. While there are some nice mantras and things to think about, a lot of the focus of this book felt skin deep to me.

Overall an ok find.

[Crystal Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the idea of self-care activities based on the seasons. Really great and different options to choose from.

[Megan McDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

a great one to come back to each season to embrace change with mindfulness🗓️ this was gifted to me and it’s so cutie I just love it

[Emma M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really love the idea of this book. The illustrations were lovely and I like that the author tried to incorporate all 5 senses into each of the seasons. I just didn't really connect with a lot of the suggestions and ultimately it felt like one of those things that could have just been a blog post.

[Blertë · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of those books you can re-read anytime you want some positive ideas for self-care, in any season. I am a little sad that I own this one as an ebook only, because this is one of those books that you have to have it as an actual book and flip through it again and again from time to time. Gives you a warm feeling :)

[Rachel Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is filled with many lovely self-care rituals. I love that they are categorized by season, and I am excited to start implementing the spring practices; the act of reading this book was already rejuvenating!

[Shiva Shakthi · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a short read about how to connect with the nature, but my recommendation would be to read it slow and practice it slow to otherwise this book won't be helpful.

[Carlyn (The Bookworm Mum) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this over the year. Illustrations are beautiful. Suggestions quite basic. Handy to dip in and out of in future.

[Adrienne Blaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I live in a perpetually sunny part of California, and while many consider this a place apart from seasons, I enjoy noticing the subtle shifts throughout the year. This book allows anyone to enjoy the seasons by offering self-care prompts, inspiring writing and calming illustrations. This is a cozy book I’m glad to have discovered during winter.

[heidi veerle · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 ⭐️ Such a cozy read!

[Manleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will not do anything suggested in this book but boy did I love the illustrations so beautiful

[Danielle Phillips · Rating 1 out of 5]

What kind of hippie quack granola bullshit was that!? It was like a random rolodex of ideas that made no sense. Light a candle here. Do a yoga pose there. Sprinkle pink Himalayan salt on a Thursday. Jump backwards every time you hear a sparrow chirp. Like….. I feel like my great grandchildren are going to be dumber now from me reading this.

The cover, dang it! Pretty covers ALWAYS get me! The cover was really pretty. I DID judge the book by its cover. Shame on me.

[Fi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very sweet and the illustrations were so pretty! I had hoped for it to go a little deeper, it was pretty surface level. But still cute!

[Natalie Shawver · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a quote recently that said self-care is much more than just a day at the spa, and I couldn't agree more. This cute book does, too.

The Self-Care Year reminds readers to reconnect with your body and mind, all while engaging with your surroundings and living in tune with the seasons. The author wants us to be in the present moment and slow down. She focuses on the differences that make each season special (the book is divided as such) and discusses how you can harness the changing seasons and take inspiration from the natural world. The bite-size suggestions include self-care practices, projects, yoga poses, mantras, and more.

This was a lovely, simple book to read over the past year and helped me find beauty in each season. It would make for a great gift (I've given it!) and one to revisit.

[Ricki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me preface this by saying "this book is not for me". I kinda knew it before going in, but I wanted to try anyways. You see, I'm not good at visualising stuff, I don't want to plant myself as a seed in my mind and watch it grow, I don't believe in the power of colours and my religion is not one that has me believe I can claim nature's energy. Why do I still give it 4 stars? Because despite these incompatibilities I found several things for every season that I want to try and incorporate into my habits. There are so many suggestions in this book that it would be a chore to try them all. But you pick and choose and get new ideas to celebrate the seasons.

Plus, the artwork is gorgeous.

[Willemijn · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, it has such beautiful illustrations! The colours and images truly represent their specific season.

The meditative exercises, the DIY-projects, the rituals, etc. are a great addition to my practice. Some of the ideas and/or tips felt a bit basic to me, since they've been floating around on the internet forever. But other ideas were creative and original.

Can't wait to try them, and see what they can do for me!

[Bibi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A sweet and cozy book with pretty illustrations about little self-care things you can do during each season. A good reminder to be present and mindful just enjoying the season and what it uniquely brings.

[Bethany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Heavy on meditation and essential oils. There were a few recommendations for self-care that were more appealing to me - and the illustrations are lovely! - but this is very much in keeping with the self-help gift book genre.

[Irena · Rating 2 out of 5]

Da sumiramo: stani pored džinovskog drveta, oslušni zvuke prirode, misli na boju (svaka predstavlja po jedno godišnje doba), zamisli kako te anksioznost napušta, diši duboko dok ne osetiš kako te obavija talas pozitivnosti

[Elisabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subtitle is more accurate than the title - this is a book of seasonal rituals. It does that reasonably well, it's just not what I expected.

[María · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was a gift. It’s a short, cozy read, with incredibly beautiful illustrations. Nothing mind blowing inside but perfect as a “coffee table book”.

[Emma Langford · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very relaxing read with lots of simple, practical application.

[Emily Brodke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buying a copy of this ASAP, I loved it! Super simple and helpful and super cute illustrations

[Kassandra Sweet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute! I’m excited to try some of the seasonal recommendations.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book enough that I chose to send it onto a friend who I thought might also like it.

[Selena (Life of a Random) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was expecting more practical self-care I think and this book took a much more flowery, descriptive direction which was enjoyable but not what I would have preferred.