Ending Your Year with Care and Attention for Yourself

Marga Hogenhuis
Dec 31, 2025
3 min read

As the year draws to a close, you might feel the urge to truly pause. You’ve been through a lot and have stayed strong for others. Now it’s time to end your year with compassion and care for yourself.

I’m Marga Hogenhuis‑Flokstra – integrative therapist in Purmerend, Amsterdam and online. I support women between the ages of 30 and 55 who want to break free from patterns and reconnect with themselves. In this blog, I’ll guide you through a gentle way to close the year.

Feeling the Year That Has Passed

You might notice your thoughts drifting back to what didn’t go as planned. There’s resistance, a knot in your stomach, or a quiet sadness. These are not mistakes. They are the marks of a year full of growth, pain, love, and challenge. You carry them like a backpack that feels heavier than it looks.Your thoughts may loop, as if you’re reliving the year all over again.

Why Ending the Year with Care for Yourself Matters

Ending the year with care for yourself means recognising what you’ve been through. It means truly seeing, feeling, and valuing yourself.For many women who always put themselves last, this feeling can go unnoticed. By turning inward with attention, you begin to:

recognise what deeply touches you
feel what is ready to be released
create space for what you want to carry into the new year

A heavy backpack is hard to carry far. By feeling and acknowledging, you create space within.

The Cost of Ignoring Your Year’s Emotions

If we rush past the year without reflection, old patterns remain. You may notice:

you enter the new year with a cluttered mind
old habits weigh heavier than before
you're stuck in thoughts of what could have been
you feel disconnected from yourself

By doing nothing, this simmers like a hidden fire within. But with gentle attention, it becomes a warm and steady flame — not one that burns you out.

How to End the Year Gently and with Self-Care

Here are soft, tangible steps to bring closure to your year with care and awareness:

Take a breathing moment – Find stillness. Let your body speak to you.
Write off your year – Put into words what was heavy, what you learned, and what you’re ready to release.
Let go of what no longer serves you – Imagine your backpack growing lighter.
Cherish what kept burning – Visualise your inner flame. What brought you warmth? What do you want to nourish?
Make room for the new – What intentions do you want to carry forward?

Simple Ritual for Your Year-End Reflection

Choose a quiet spot in your home
Light a small candle
Write down 3 things you are grateful for
Let go on paper what you're ready to leave behind
End with a single intention for the year ahead

Ready to End the Year with Support?

Would you like to end your year with true kindness and guidance?Book a free, no-obligation session with me. Together we’ll explore what you want to take with you — and what you’re ready to leave behind.

👉 Contact me via my website or book a session directly.

About Marga Hogenhuis‑Flokstra

I’m Marga Hogenhuis‑Flokstra – integrative therapist in Purmerend, Amsterdam and online.

I work with men and women aged 30 to 55 who want to break out of old patterns and reconnect with themselves. My specialisations include relationship dynamics, childhood trauma, self-love, integrative therapy and hypnotherapy.