Five Ways To Look After Body And Soul In 2020

New Year’s resolutions can be a recipe for failure. Despite having the best intentions to lose weight/get fit/drink less/do more, a 2012 study revealed that only 8% of people who make resolutions in January are successful in achieving them.

So with the dawn of a new year – a whole new decade – make 2020 the year that you’re kinder to yourself by starting off with resolutions to look after your body and soul. From the simple act of giving thanks, to creating a home that brings you joy and a focus on improving gut health, here are five simple ways to nourish yourself.

Cultivate An Attitude Of Gratitude

Make a habit of counting your blessings in a gratitude journal. Evidence suggests that actively choosing to practice gratitude can raise our levels of happiness. According to research published in the journal Cerebral Cortex, gratitude stimulates the hypothalamus (the stress-regulating part of the brain) and the ventral tegmental area, a group of neurons that produces pleasure sensations in the reward circuitry of the brain.

Make Your Home Happy

Danish think tank the Happiness Research Institute surveyed over 13,000 people for its GoodHome Report and learned that 73% of people who are happy at home are also happy in life and that our homes account for 15% of our overall happiness, significantly more than income (6%) or employment status (3%). The research also revealed that pride accounts for 44% of our happiness with our home, so invest in a few special touches that will help transform your home into a have that you’re proud to show off.

Sleep On It

Research suggests that if you are regularly getting less than seven hours sleep a night, you could be damaging your cardiovascular, endocrine, immune, and nervous systems, while the side effects of sleep deprivation can include weight gain, diabetes, decreased memory consolidation, heart disease, anxiety and depression. Not to mention an increase in the stress hormone cortisol, which causes inflammation and a greater risk for cancer and diabetes.

Improve the quality of your rest by sleeping in a room with black-out curtains or blinds, avoiding screens and caffeine before bedtime and creating a soothing environment in the bedroom with high-quality bedding from The White Company and calming scents from Jo Malone London.

Go With Your Gut

Visit the new Khera-Griggs Cleanse Clinic at Urban Retreat at The White House, London’s most exciting and innovative holistic destination, for a  fully integrative approach to address underlying gut issues. The clinic, founded by PR Meena Khera and Amanda Griggs, a renowned nutritionist and colonic practitioner, offers a menu that has been expertly curated to deliver results for the inner body through bespoke colonics and nutrition consultations, and the outer body through craniosacral therapy, reflexology and massage.

Colonics start from £140.

Look After Yourself

Harvey Nichols also offers a range of therapies designed to improve health and beauty, including paradigm-shifting facials by celebrated cosmetic acupuncturist Sarah Bradden, whose signature treatment begins with a tongue diagnosis and full medical consultation, before a healing cleansing ritual and gentle acupuncture to relax facial tissue encouraging renewed circulation and rejuvenation. This is followed by non-invasive LED light therapy to promote the internal healing process, and reflexology, Gua sha and facial cupping to complement to activate healing energy channels on the face and body.

Signature facial and body balancing treatment (90 mins), £250.