February is the new January!
‘New Year – New You’. How many times have we heard or seen that phrase? The idea that once the clock strikes midnight, we don’t actually turn into a pumpkin, yet we do suddenly leave behind all our ‘bad’ habits and become a new person overnight…
Statistics show that 75% of people break their resolutions just one week into them. So, how about a different approach? Now January is over and many of us might feel like we’ve failed already, let’s start again. You can make positive changes at any time and it’s even easier when the pressure is off! February is the new January.
So as I’m on my own retreat and taking time to reflect on the year past – practising gratitude for all that I’ve learnt and how I’ve grown – and the many blessings in my life, I’m still making that resolution to make big changes. And I’ve been in this business a long time now! I know that setting huge, unrealistic goals is like setting ourselves up for failure. So this time, I’ve changed the way that I look at my resolutions / promises to myself / life commitments at the turn of this year. And here are some top tips I’ve learnt along the way from my own experience and also from some of the incredibly wise souls that I’m lucky enough to meet on my path.
- Make your Resolutions En-JOY-able.
- Avoid negative language like “Stop doing X” or “Don’t do Y”. Make your resolutions something you can look forward to doing – make them more positively focused, with the emphasis on the outcome.
- Sleep More!
Research shows that as a population, most of us don’t get enough sleep. And sleep is so important for not only our appearance, but also the regeneration of our organs, our memory and also our nervous system. So allow yourself to lie-in when you need to and don’t feel guilty about taking a nap! - Travel More!
There is nothing more inspiring that taking a life adventure. New places, people and experiences can help us to get out of any ‘ruts’ that we’ve been sitting in, in ‘comfortable discomfort’. Feel rejuvenated and replenished by saving for, planning and going on a trip – discovery and learning is great for the mind, body and spirit! - A daily practise!
This is probably the most important piece of post-retreat advice we give. Take time daily to connect to yourself. We are so quick to get up, pick up our phones or switch on the TV and get out of the door, that we forget the most important thing – a daily connection to ourselves and our body, mind and spirit. Just taking the time in the morning to sit, breath and listen to yourself can change you whole day. If you feel under particular stress, then take the time to acknowledge what’s making you feel stressed, tap into your intuition and then set your intention for the day ahead. Often just imagining yourself fully protected and safe, before you go and give your energy away to the outside world, can be incredibly powerful. Even better if you have time to do a yoga practise!
(Psst! Watch out for our new February newsletter, where we will be including bite-sized yoga sequences and guided meditations and visualisations every week.) - Create a vision board!
This is basically a great excuse to get a load of magazines, photos, words and colours that inspire you and to get the creative juices flowing. We like to use as much glitter and fairy dust as possible! If you’re inspired and would like more information on how to create your own vision board, then feel free to email us at info@ibizaretreats.com – or of course you could always join us for a retreat. You can see our full schedule here – https://www.ibizaretreats.com/retreat-calendar.
Gently does it, be kind and take it one day at a time. Happy New Year.
Namaste…
Susie x
