Releasing “New Year New Me”
Ok, honestly, I do feel inspired by a new year. The flashing of fireworks, striking of a calendar, deep breath from the rush of the holiday season coming to a close. Sigh, I get it.
In years gone by I embarked on extreme cleanses, dry January, hit the gym hard, all the external adjustments. After the way most of us consume from October to December, we could all give some TLC to our liver and digestive tract. (hello nightly milk thistle tea)
But life is really different for me now. My entire goal with healing was to get off the rollercoaster, step out of the rat-race, to live softer and slower. In a way, my body demanded it. You can’t get diagnosed with a watermelon sized fibroid tumor and not think about the ways your stressful life created the perfect garden for it to grow.
My body begged me to step out of the trees, look at the forest, and be wiser. I listened.
Staying with the forest and tree metaphor, following nature is really the simplest way to define how I do health and wellness. Simply put, I follow nature and I heal.
In winter, we are not mean to Spring. Look around you, at the natural world, animals hibernate and conserve food, the trees shed their leaves to conserve energy for the roots, the ground mulches and focuses on regenerating the soil. Winter is the time to conserve, to rest, to regenerate for the Spring. Not to rush ahead before the foundation is ready.
A question to ask yourself is why you want to jump into productivity when everything around you is showing signs of conserving? So often we carry pressures that are not even ours. Whose pressure are you internalizing as yours? Society, media, family?
Now, don’t get me wrong, be healthy in this time. Don’t use winter as a time to sloth, necessarily. But only we can truly gauge if the pressure we feel is ours or something we have mindlessly adopted. Only we can say if we are putting too much pressure on ourself.
But I will just ask you to consider the trees right now. Their wisdom is to follow the order of the sun and weather patterns. To focus on our roots, making sure our foundation has the nourishment it needs. How can we be wise like the trees?
It would be wise to take inventory of your daily habits right now, where are you draining energy (trying to force Spring mindset in the winter, or ways you are not using time to rest versus “rot”)?
Write out two columns in your journal: Energy Givers & Energy Takers. Be honest, observe.
Next write on, “How Can I Tend to My Roots this Winter?” Think on the ways you can set the foundation for vibrant Spring, with your energy conserved for a full blossoming.
Be good,
Amanda
