New Year, New Mind: How's it Going So Far?
If you've already failed one of your New Year's goals, this post is the gentle kindness and inspiration you probably need to hear!
At the beginning of each year, I usually teach classes and talk to clients about goal setting and sustainable detox, helping people get back on track after months of holiday indulgences. Many of my clients are feeling regret, shame, self-doubt, or overwhelmed this time of year.
Culturally, the new year is about starting fresh, resetting, and becoming everything you’ve always wanted to be. The feeling of openness and possibility is something I love about this time of year. The opportunity for self-reflection can be healthy, but it can also cause unnecessary pressure to meet unrealistic expectations or push ourselves from the voice of the inner critic.
The times in my life when I have allowed shame and perfection to drive my choices always seemed to lead to failing or repeating the cycle of self-loathing or disappointment. We all know what it feels like to believe our inner critic. I see this challenge echoed in my clients’ lives and so many friends’ lives. While listening to the inner critic is always an opportunity to improve, living in a constant state of shame and perfectionism will inevitably block you from achieving goals.
On December 31st, I found myself looking at every area of my life and where I want to be better. A wide-angle view of my goals was both daunting and exciting. As I reflected on what I did and didn’t accomplish last year, the main theme that came through in my meditation was gentleness.
Be gentle with yourself. Nourishment is a gift to yourself.
Gentleness is a concept I rarely hear presented in the new year.
Instead of nourishing and adding restorative ingredients and practices, many practitioners and coaches focus on what to remove from your lifestyle. I see it reflected in the numerous “cleanses”, “detoxes” and programs promising you’ll finally get healthy this year.
I truly believe that with an abundance mindset focused on nourishment in the present moment, we can reach our goals in the future and get into deeper alignment.
In my experience, foods, herbs, supplements, and lifestyle practices that expand nourishment help us think and feel more clearly. When we nourish ourselves and give ourselves the gift of self-care, we naturally feel more self-confidence and personal power.
While detoxifying and eating well is important, doing it from a place of self-criticism and deprivation versus abundance can feed into feelings of unworthiness, not being good enough, and all the self-criticizing statements that prevent you from making progress in your life.
I like to think of intuitive eating or intuitive nourishment as an abundant practice of listening inward and choosing what our body needs at any given moment. Instead of punishment, there is permission. Instead of criticism, there is spaciousness to observe where cravings are coming from and what choices will lead to greater healing and nourishment.
If it feels alive and helpful, take out a journal or piece of paper and answer these prompts:
*What does it feel like in your body to get permission to start the year with more spaciousness and kindness to yourself?
*What could you accomplish if you focused on gentleness and nourishment this year?
Instead of emphasizing perfection and deprivation, we can switch gears to softening, cultivating love within ourselves, and giving ourselves space to feel heavy emotions like grief, sadness, and overwhelm. The world’s political climate is asking for greater peace, and I believe that begins with self-kindness and inner peace. From this peaceful, kind self-loving place, we can make choices that are healthy because they feel empowering, joyful, and nourishing.
This year I am expanding the ways I can help you become a better self-healer and take your self-care to the next level with ease.
Many of my current offerings are focused on mental health, emotional resilience, and heart healing. By focusing on these at the beginning of the year, you can tackle the root causes of self-sabotage and begin to achieve whatever has been blocking your progress.
In my new store, I have a few protocol bundles that combine supplements, herbs, and sometimes medical equipment that work synergistically to support you:
Mental Health Support through Supplements
Specifically, these are the supplements I see making the most difference in people’s mental and emotional state, especially if they have anxiety, depression, mood disorders, or chronic pain. If you are taking medications or have a medical diagnosis, please check with your health practitioner before starting new supplements.
Omega MonoPure- Omega 3 in the form of EPA & DHA in this higher therapeutic dosage makes a potent anti-inflammatory and nourishes the nervous system. The right ratio of Omega 3 fatty acids also supports cellular function, mood, and cognitive, hormonal, respiratory, immune, and cardiovascular wellness.
Florassist Mood Improve- How you feel is related to digestive health. Research indicates that bi-directional communication between your digestive tract and your brain plays a major role in mood and emotional health. FLORASSIST® Mood Improve combines innovative probiotics with a standardized saffron extract to support emotional well-being and help maintain a balanced mood.
And for those of you looking for more support in mental health specifically, I am doing these individual 1:1 sessions:
Heart Healing: Support your heart through grief, emotional pain, physical pain, or heartbreak with herbal medicine, heart coherence, breathwork, nutrition & embodiment practices.
Intuitive Eating: Rewire your relationship with yourself and food through mindful eating tools and emotional processing techniques that help you unblock self-sabotage.
Thank you for your presence in reading this post. I hope you feel more inspired or learned something. If so, feel free to engage with me on social media!
For more updates and inspiration, follow me on Instagram @healingfromscratch or Facebook
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