Slow Down, Stress Less and Blossom in 2024

For a long time now I have not been a fan of rushing headlong  into a new year, all systems go. As I tune in more and more to both nature and ancient wisdom traditions, I see that this drive we have for a whole new start through making big changes at this time of the year is really out of tune with our natural rhythms of nature, and so with ourselves.

More and more I understand the new year as an invitation to continue to slow down, to remain in hibernation and reflection. I journal a lot, dream a lot and make a few plans for the year to come, but waiting until the energy of spring can support me to bring them to life brings me much more ease and joy than rushing headlong in.⁠ I recognise and sometimes get caught up in our productivity obsessed culture  with  never-ending to-do lists, one urgent priority after another, and rarely the chance to be still for five minutes. But I’m learning to slow down, stress less and to Blossom into me. In this blog I want to invite you to consider if Slow Down January might also support you to stress less and to Blossom more.

The Invitation of January

January is a long, slow month. When we step back from the energy of new year resolutions and expectations,  we can notice that  it’s also a time when we naturally feel more inclined to hibernate than get out there and make things happen.

Let me ask you a question as we move through this first month of the year. ‘What might it be like for you to really embrace the slowness of January, to recognise that its actually ok to be low-key during this month, to align with rather than fight against the natural rhythm of these winter months, to stress less, do less, be more ?’

My January

 During January I’m learning to unhook from the expectation of an all new me. Instead of trying to muster all my enthusiasm to enter a state of ‘doing’, I am learning to just allow myself to relax into ‘being’. Being whatever feels right to me, in the moment. Listening to and responding with kindness to whatever my body and mind is needing. Some days that might actually be ‘doing’ something productive. Other days it means laziness and more rest.

I am enjoying planning for 2024, getting excited about different projects, and developing new ways of sharing simple, evidence ways we can stress less as we Blossom into ourselves. But there’s an ease and a gentleness so that I let go of the pressure of having to be ready to go as soon as January begins. Basically by slowing down, taking a leisurely approach with ample time to tease things out, I’m doing good work, laying the foundations for a happy and fulfilled 2024, but without the pressure of working flat out to meet the traditional expectations of the new year start. I’m actually flexing the muscle of learning to stress less and to rest more.

Basically, I release myself from the ‘shoulds’ and learn how to practice self care as an evidence based way to stress less.

As a younger woman, passionate about my work and wanting to support others and to make a difference in the world, I would have been gung-ho from January 2nd working flat out all day every day. No slow starts, easy afternoons, no mid-day walks – just all day long in front of a screen and then exhausted and then numbing out in the evenings. And as I setting a pattern to be repeated for the rest of the year.

By feeling my way through January, I now come through the month feeling more rested and ready for the new year that awaits.

And as a bonus, I have also been able to keep that thread of self-care all through the year, weaving it through my daily and weekly practices. I never consciously set the intention to join the Self-Care-Sunday movement, but I’ve naturally developed that rhythm for myself.

As a wisdom supervisor, meditation teacher, and burnout coach, I’ve had a morning ritual that I treat as a sacred practice on a daily basis for many years now. Now I notice that on Sunday mornings, I go deeper and longer with that. And this sets me up for the week, just as much as my daily practice sets me up for the day.

Let a self-care January ground you in wellbeing for the year

It’s normal and natural, when a new year lands, to have hopes and dreams.

In difficult circumstances that we have to accept and deal with, the best we can do is look after our health and wellbeing. This puts us in the optimal state to stress less and to cope with whatever arises. And that means taking care of our inner state of mind as much as it means getting physically strong and healthy.

Both of these aspects are important to self-care. And each one of us – yes including you who are reading this – needs to figure out how to craft a self-care regime that will best work for us.  There are no one-size-fits-all solutions, despite the promises of many of the programmes and retreats that are marketed to us every January.

Rather than getting carried away with all the ‘new year, new you’ hype – and signing up for expensive membership programmes ( note for future reference my Blossom programme is no such one size fits all response, and is available in whatever way best suits your current resources) – my invitation to you is to spend January figuring out what blossoming rather than burning out could look like in your particular life. Plan for small ways in which you can integrate some real self care  on both a daily and weekly basis. Little and often is better than an occasional deep dive with no follow-through.

Carve out some space just for you, to prioritise those  practices and activities that you identify that will support you to stress less and blossom more in the coming year.

And consider this your sacred space.

Because that’s precisely what it will become if you give yourself this time regularly. This personal sacred space, and your individual regular self-care practises will be the very best resolutions you can set yourself this or any other year.

The deep work of January might be leaning in to the ‘pause’. When we practice the pause, be that through mindfulness meditations or simple mindful exercises that we can integrate into our daily lives – we create space around us, so that in any given situation we have the room to stress less, and to choose wisely how best to respond. Practising the pause as will build the skill of responding more wisely rather than reacting to life’s stressors giving us greater scope to move forward with a wiser way of being in the world. What a New Year gift to give yourself!

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