Setting New Year intentions that make you feel good
The thought of New Years resolutions can be in themselves hugely stressful. At a time when we are often already pretty frazzled by Christmas, now having to think about some kind of major transformation for the new year is really not the most brilliant thing to do for yourself. We might have had children off school for two weeks who are quite frankly driving us up the wall. We might have eaten and drunk too much and feel we need to loose weight or start a strict exercise regime. We may have had a stressful time mentally or emotionally with the whirlwind of family gatherings, excited children, and lots of entertaining to contend with. We might have spent too much money and are worrying about how we are going to pay for it all at the end of January. The pressure for the festive season then leads onto the pressure of new years resolutions. Or we may have had a lovely Christmas, and actually we feel good in ourselves, so we don’t want a drastic change but feel we ‘should’.
So, lets take a moment to regroup. Lets not hit ourselves with ‘shoulds’ and put more pressure on ourselves. How about instead prioritising some self-care and set some simple intentions for the year ahead.
How to set intentions to make you feel good
Being intentional about what we are doing, and who we are being, is part of mindfulness. Setting some simple intentions that are set with love in your heart can help you create a calmer and more present year ahead. You ca do this at any time over the next month - don’t feel this has to start in the first day of the year. Take time when you have a moment for yourself to do this. Perhaps light a candle, then grab a notebook and a pen, and make yourself a nice cup of tea. Set aside half an hour when you won’t be disturbed, or feel rushed or pressured to do something else. This little bit of time for you is important.
It’s all about asking yourself some questions, exploring how you feel and how you want to feel (not what you want to ‘achieve’). This is a much more heart centred way of approaching the year ahead. Keep your answers somewhere close at hand to remind yourself of your intentions throughout the year. Here are some questions to consider that can help you explore how you would like the year ahead to be for you:
How would you like to FEEL during 2019?
Is there a WORD or PHRASE that describes how you’d like your year to unfold?
How do you want to feel at the end of the year?
What can you do to support yourself?
What support could you ask for from others around you?
I hope this is a useful and interesting way to approach the year ahead, do let me know how you get on
Susan x