4 Things to Consider for a Soulful Reset this New Year
The hope of the New Year can bring with it heightened anxiety, everyone asking you what your resolutions are this year. Instead of listening to everyone else, focus on how you want to feel not what you want to achieve, being realistic will bring greater success. Nurture a calm and supportive mindfulness that incorporates hormonal harmony, wrapping your mind and body in a peaceful comfort blanket that will help you stay true to your values and achieve your goals.
1. Intentions rather than resolutions – Instead of setting unrealistic goals this new year, inspire yourself with some soft intentions you will be able to keep to. Intentions can be more aligned with your values and energy and are also kinder and more personal than society driven objectives. Intentions replace pressure and guilt with positivity and hope and add longevity, providing something you can stick to rather than a passing phase. Reframe success with intentions that heal, with gentle accountability rather than harsh criticism and potential failure.
2. Simple morning rituals – This new year enjoy a calm start to the day that creates hormonal harmony. Busy, rushed mornings drive up cortisol and can leave you feeling stressed before you’ve even left the house. Take a couple of minutes when you wake up to set the tone for the day through meditation, journalling or positive affirmations. Mindful movement such as stretching or yoga will allow your body to wake up slowly. Giving yourself that little bit of time for your mind and body to come to and reflect on the day will gently ease you into it and maintain hormonal balance. Stay away from your phone and enjoy a glass of lemon infused water and a nourishing breakfast and that will set you up nicely for the day ahead.
3. Mindfulness goals – The more pressure you put yourself under, the more likely you will become overwhelmed and crumble. There is nothing to be gained from setting yourself up to fail. Instead tune into your values and energy, think about how you would like to feel from achieving personal goals. Practicing some grounding before writing your goals, breathwork or meditation will help centre your focus and give you calm and clarity so you can understand what it is you would like to achieve. Shift the focus on the type of language you use, for eg replace saying ‘I need to lose weight’ with ‘I want to feel strong and healthy’. Give yourself gentler accountability. All too often we criticize ourselves far too harshly, this new year make a concerted effort to be kinder to yourself. Track your progress through self-reflection and think about how you are feeling rather than using harsh judgement and punishment.
4. Listening to your body’s cues – Tune into your natural rhythm this new year. Every day is different and will bring with it a different energy. You may have days when you wake up feeling like you can take on the world, energized and ready to go and on some days you may feel more quiet and reflective. Listen to how your body is feeling and it will give you a greater sense of calm to pursue the day. We don’t have to perform in the way that is expected of us but in how we are feeling. If you are feeling full of the joys of spring that may be a day to tackle a more challenging project you’ve been meaning to complete and equally if you are feeling a bit less energetic and more peaceful, that may be a day to work quietly on something methodical that requires a calmer approach. In the real world, of course, there will be days when you are feeling quiet that you will have to take on a busy day, but by taking moments to pause throughout the day and taking time to listen to your body, you will be able to understand more fully what mindful actions you need to put in place for your body and mind to deal with the day ahead of you. Being in tune with your bodily cues will give you a sense of freedom and prevent you from getting stressed and overwhelmed which will ultimately make you more productive.
Final thoughts
When the new year rocks around it is important to protect your hormonal health. The January hustle can play havoc with your hormones but by setting in place some sustainable habits and practicing a more mindful, peaceful approach to life, a greater hormonal balance can be achieved. Your body is always talking to you, you may have forgotten how to listen to it. By understanding the body’s cues, mood, hunger, energy you will become more intuitive to its needs and in doing so help yourself get the best out of your day. Instead of New Year, New You maybe adopt New Year, New Mindset.
PS Quiet the noise and listen to your soul. Contact Positive-Soul today to discover more.