New Year, New Beginnings and New Year’s Resolutions

It’s a little late, but Happy New Year, and welcome to my brand new website and brand new blog, for those of you who have read my previous blogs on Theraphealing, I was a little sporadic, I am planning to be more regular with my musings, who knows I may even throw in the occasional vlog (video blog) – I just need to do a bit more tapping on myself to get over my fear of doing this. 

So in January, the internet is awash with all things clean slate, New Year’s resolutions, healthy eating and exercise etc, I wanted to write about something a bit different. I have recently been on Natural Health Radio, where I was interviewed by Sara Turner for her Nature Connections Show to talk about Goal Setting and New Year’s Resolutions, if you missed it, you can catch the podcast here.  I was initially a bit apprehensive about being on the show, because in all honesty, I am not very good at New Year’s Resolutions. I have good intentions, but like many people, by the second week of January, they tend to have gone out of the window.

In the nature kingdom, especially in the Northern Hemisphere, we are still in the midst of winter, the days are short and the weather is generally dreary. Animals use this as a time to hibernate, seeds lie dormant in the ground and plants are resting. For us humans, bank balances tend to be low and our bodies are recovering from the excesses of Christmas and New Year. It’s little wonder then that we may not feel very enthused to follow through with the resolutions made on December 31^st (usually made under the influence of a glass or two of fizz).  I personally think that big bold resolutions or new projects are best left to the Spring, unless you feel really aligned in going for it, in which case do it wholeheartedly.

For me, this time of year is about looking inwards and reflection. It’s a time for asking ourselves questions like, what didn’t work last year? What patterns and behaviours do I need to let go of? What bitterness and resentments am I holding onto? Who do I need to forgive? It’s also a good time to de-clutter things in the home to clear out stale energy. Once we have done the preparation both mentally and physically, we then clear the space to allow wonderful new things to come into our lives.

At the beginning of this year, I took myself off to a New Beginnings, New Year retreat with best selling author, Sandy Newbigging. The retreat itself was at a gorgeous spa in the Midlands, I had the intention of writing some blog posts, and doing some work on my new website, however Sandy suggested we do nothing! So in between my workshop sessions, I did just that. It was wonderful being given permission to just flop and relax. I really felt my batteries being recharged, I ate wonderful healthy food, and was taught some really powerful yet simple meditation exercises, I detoxed my mind too. This was my hibernation.

So if your New Year’s Resolutions have gone out of the window, or perhaps you didn’t make any, or you feel like you have to wait until next January, take some time out to pause, reflect and honour the fact that this is actually a time to rest. Sandy signed his book New Beginnings for me with this “in the beginning is eternally now”, he went on to explain to me that every moment of every day is the opportunity for a new beginning.  A new resolution can be made at any time.  At the retreat, Sandy invited us to give ourselves a preview of 2015 with the following questions:

1. What advice would you like to give yourself in 2015?

2. Cleaning up what mess would have the greatest impact on your life? This could be physical clutter, workspace etc

3. What habit would you like to develop in 2015?

4. What brings you the most joy and how are you going to do more or have more of it?

My answers to these questions are as follows:

1. I am advising myself to do more things that energise me, and to not do the things that take my energy away!

2. To take 15 minutes every day to de clutter, my workspace and my living environment (incidentally that helps with Q1 too)

3. Although I meditate often, I am making it a habit to meditate twice a day every day,  meditation does for the mind what a shower does for the body. It is a quick way to get into the present moment. It is also a wonderful way to get your outer world to reflect your inner. If there are a hundred thoughts of worry and busy-ness, your reality will reflect this, however if your mind is calm and you can clear those thoughts, you may find that as a result, you will worry less, solutions to perceived problems will become more apparent  and your life will be calm. (if you are new to meditation, I recommend  either my CD Meditations and Affirmations for Life and Living, or Sandy’s Mind Calm Meditations.

4. The things that brings me the most joy (aside from my children) are time to myself and laughing. So this year I am going to make time to do lots of both.

I now invite you to ask yourself these same questions. You may find that the answers should actually shape your resolutions and intentions for this year. I’d love to hear some of your answers to these questions. Wishing you joy and peace in 2015.