Life-enhancing resolutions for a Happier Healthier Year!
I’m not usually one to make a list of New Year Resolutions, instead I like making small, life-enhancing changes when I feel inspired. However, this year inspiration struck on January 5th! This was my second working day – already a hectic whirl of treating clients and starting to catch up on admin. Then I did something I have dreaded doing since I set up my business over 6 years ago – I double-booked 2 clients into the same appointment slot, arrgghhh! Luckily I spotted this quickly and was able to rectify things before I had two eager clients arrive for a treatment at the same time – phew! But it had the effect of making me stop and realise that I needed to make some changes so that I slow down and enjoy my year rather than rush from one challenge to the next.
It is never too late to set resolutions to help ourselves lead happier lives, which also inevitably positively impacts on our health. All you need to do is decide what you want to change and then begin! New starts and dates are great for motivation but remember if you don’t stay on track, you don’t have to wait until next January to try again!! Here are my top tips for some life-enhancing changes you could make this year:
- Choose a theme for the year – this is usually one word and helps us to focus and attract more of what we want. Examples include: adventure, renew, energize, freedom, style, music. Read Gretchen Rubin’s blog on the power of choosing a theme here.
I have been using Mandala Journaling to help me choose a word for the year. This combines writing with creative mandalas. It is a lovely step on from the popular mindfulness colouring books and I have been having fun using my new watercolour pencils to create mandalas that are beautiful as well as useful! Check out the mandala exercises in Heather Plett’s A Soulful Year here.
- Choose a fulfilling hobby that inspires and delights you.
It could be dancing, singing, reading, sewing, knitting, jewellery making… the list is endless. Then make yourself a poster with the word colourfully displayed in the centre and surround this word with ways of making it happen (times/days, classes, supplies etc). Mine this year is music – I love music but found I was not listening to it very much. So I bought a new wireless Sonos speaker with my birthday money, then 2 days later realised that I have a free music library with my Amazon Prime account so I now have over 1 million tracks to choose from! This has allowed me to listen to wonderful new songs as well as rediscovering old favourites – as well as a lot of David Bowie over the past week. This resolution has had the accidental but rather wonderful knock-on effect of my boys spending less time on screens, as they are enjoying having music playing.
These seemingly small changes can have big impacts on our mood and wellbeing in a short space of time and seem to work synergistically. For example, the arrival of unexpected veg in my weekly box has prompted me to get out my favourite cookbooks to look for recipes that use them. This has led to some enjoyable and chilled out sessions of cooking – while listening to music via my new speaker.
So grab yourself 15 minutes (and yes this is perfectly possible and if you think you can’t make the time then you seriously need to get yourself to my treatment room pronto for a good talking to followed by a lovely treatment!) and choose a word/theme for this year. Find out what lifts your spirits and feeds your soul :o)
And don’t forget to tell me all about it!
Wishing you a very happy and healthy year.