Jan U ary!

JanYOUary

As the new year approached I thought a lot about what my New Year’s resolutions would be for 2019. There was so much to do and plan, new routines I wanted to create and I found myself not being able to focus. I started to get flustered. Why was I expecting myself to have it all planned out and in action immediately because the New Year has started? This brought me back to meditation, something I stopped doing over the holidays. It gave me an idea! Why don’t I take a loving, nurturing approach instead of a conquer and kill approach. Really explore my resolutions, sort of nest in them and nurture them into fruition. The whole month of January I was going to truly focus on just me and go back to the fundamentals and recalibrate myself for an awesome, prosperous 2019.

Meditation

This is something that people really struggle with. Meditation to most means clearing your mind of absolutely all thoughts and achieving pure enlightenment. This really is not what meditation is all about. In this crazy, anxiety ridden world meditation should be looked at as a moment for yourself to clear your mind of all the craziness around you, focusing on making complete slow deep breathes and reconnecting with your inner self. Your mind is going to wonder, your human, you have thoughts and that’s so O.K. no one is expecting you to be Buddha. For me meditation gives me clarity. It’s like when you can give a friend really great advice because you’re looking at the situation from the outside in and she is just trying to survive her situation by swinging away blindly. It gives you an advantage to tackle life from a place of calm knowing instead of anxiety ridden reacting. My favorite meditation App Insight Timer for great guided meditations, music and motivational talks.

Vision Board

To help me keep focused on my goals I’m going to make a vision board for the year 2019. A dream board or vision board is a collage of images, pictures and affirmations of one's dreams, goals and desires, designed to serve as a source of inspiration and motivation and to use the law of attraction to attain said goals.

Water, water and more water:

I am going to drink so much water my eyeballs will float in my skull. I know; you’re sick and tired of hearing, ‘Drink more water.’ Water is essential in helping to flush out toxins and promotes maximum hydration and overall health to our living cells. This is especially noticeable in our largest organ; our skin. I don’t know why but in the winter I have a really hard time drinking water.

You are what you eat:

If you’re like me you tend to eat super lean in the summer and then when the holidays come around you start eating boxed foods, gluten, sugar and an abundant amount of dairy. Totally killing all your hard work from the summer and bumming you out. To reduce your “I just destroyed my diet” winter blues; reduce your boxed, preserved or processed foods as much as possible. Always wash your produce to reduce ingestion of chemicals, pesticides and the god-knows-what else they spray on our fruits and vegetables to make them look pretty on the shelves. Try to buy organic or local produce when possible. Avoid sugar, fatty foods and large amounts of gluten and excessive consumption of dairy products. Diets should include lean proteins, vegetables, fruits and whole grains.

Detox Cleanse:

A great way to reset your body is to do a detox or cleanse diet. This aims to cleanse your blood, colon, liver and pancreas of harmful toxins. These substances accumulate in the body and have undesirable short-term and long-term effects on your individual health. A typical detox diet involves a period of fasting or meal replacement, followed by a strict diet of fruit, vegetables, fruit juices and water. Sometimes a detox also includes herbs, teas, supplements and colon cleanses or enemas. This short term meal replacement or diet can help with various other health problems, including digestive issues, autoimmune diseases, inflammation, allergies, bloating and chronic fatigue.

Exercise:

I’m a work out in nature kind of person and I hate the cold so I don’t exercise much in the winter; destroying all my hard work during the summer. I started out 2019 creating my very own gym space so there are no excuses for me and so far it has kept me on track. I cleaned out and painted the spare room in my house, set up a huge mirror and got all my work out equipment set up into stations. No more excuses about not having time to go to the gym because now I live at mine!

I hope these tips help you have an awesome JanYOUary and an amazingly happy and prosperous new year!