Radical resolutions: take it easy, relax and adjust
3 ways to kickstart the New Year with kindness
What if, instead of starting the New Year with a list of resolutions that are going to transform your life, you decided just to be kind to yourself?
People start the New Year on a resolution frenzy which feels great after the excesses of Christmas however, at some point the effort to maintain those goals starts to feel overwhelming and unachievable.
So, this month we’re offering three things to consider as you kickstart your year, which should make success much more likely.
1. Take it easy
January is definitely a good time to reset, to come up with new goals and to make a fresh start, but all too often we take on too much.
Grand, impressive goals are admirable when there’s a solid strategy for achieving them and you don’t commit to many other new targets. A list of smaller goals can be equally achievable, as long as it’s not too lengthy.
For most of us, though, less is more!
If you split your focus, you reduce the time and energy you can commit to each goal so if you pick fewer targets and increase the time and energy you have available for them, it will make them more achievable and more importantly maintainable.
So make it easier on yourself by choosing just a fewer resolutions – maybe even just one!
When you’re hard on yourself, you may start out determined yet the motivation to keep going fizzles out because it’s not exactly joyful to beat yourself up. If you’re being kind to yourself, it’s easier to keep taking the steps towards your goal because you care in a positive way.
Whatever area of your life you are looking to make improvements in, achieving one goal is better than failing to achieve several. Avoid overwhelming yourself and remember that change takes time.
With consistency and continuity, it takes around 30 days to start creating the neural pathways that can break old habits and introduce new ones.
It’s not always going to be easy so don’t be hard on yourself if you have good and bad days.
Whatever you resolve to change, doing it with someone else who’s doing something similar really helps to keep it going. As well as having company and a shared experience, you can give your motivation a boost by setting mini-milestone targets and holding each other accountable.
2. Relax
Resolutions don’t all need to be about cutting things out or challenging yourself. They can also be about finding the time to add add things.
The run up to Christmas can be stressful, even if it’s joyful, so why not consider coming in for a massage with one of our fantastic therapists as a New Year resolution?
It’s a great way to stimulate the relaxation response. As well as releasing tension and toxins from your muscles, it activates your parasympathetic system, which is the rest, digest and healing part of your nervous system.
Your emotions will be more balanced and your concentration and thinking more effective when your parasympathetic system is more active than your sympathetic system (that’s the part that surges adrenalin through your body to deal with a perceived crisis).
It follows that this is putting you in better condition to achieve whatever goals are important to you.
Massage is also a great way to relax the physical tension that’s built up over the Christmas period from too much sitting on the sofa, over eating and all that activity throughout December.
The more we help our physical body, the bigger the knock-on effect to how we feel generally. It makes us more resilient and able to adapt to our external environment with more ease.
3. Adjust
Chiropractic adjustments are an essential kickstart to your New Year, easing all of those tensions and strains. It is also a fantastic opportunity for your chiropractor to understand your health goals.
Even if you don’t know what goal to set, we can work out what would be a great outcome for you, and help you on your path to success. That may be through support with exercise, nutrition and mindset as well as the structural adjustments.
The better your spine, the better your nervous system. The better your nervous system, the more active your parasympathetic system, so the better your healing, digestion and immune functions. All this is especially important in the winter months, when our bodies are under more strain.
A good way to start the year: immune boosting drinks
If you know someone who could benefit from this blog post, please share it with them. We offer a complimentary spine check to anyone who is interested in how chiropractic may be able to help them. You can book this online, or by calling 02082951733.
Testimonial of the month
“When I first started working with Jason, I was diagnosed with Lyme disease, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. I had to take six months off work and stop all activity.
My health has drastically improved. Jason has really helped me in many ways, not just with chiropractic care. Jason helped build my confidence back up in my body again. Jason has helped me regain my health in a holistic way, looking at all areas that contribute to good health. I am so thankful.”
– Kelly Jarvis
If there’s any other way that we can support your New Year Resolutions, please let us know. We’d be happy to help.
You might want to check Jason’s book Thrive: 5 Key Steps To Living A Pain and Stress Free Life on Amazon, or ask us for a copy. It’s packed with ways to reduce the crippling stress loads which have become the day-to-day norm and live a vibrant and healthy life with abundant energy.
Drawing on years of experience as a chiropractor and wellness mentor, Jason explains how the 5 Dimensions of Stress affect our physical and mental health and how implementing the actionable steps in the 5 to Thrive Health® System can empower you to reduce the stress on your mind and body. That’s why the sign on his door asks: why survive when you were born to thrive?
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