New Year!

Happy New Year! I absolutely don't know how it's 2013 already but I'm excited! New Years eve seems to be such a big deal whether you go to a fancy party, throw a big bash with friends, or stay at home & watch movies or do yoga & meditate & reflect & set intentions for the new year... try your hardest to make it til midnight, kiss your sleeping baby, then go to bed! I did the later this year. I don't miss the old days of partying my brains out on NYE but as excited as I was to have a calm, reflective evening- it's set me up with some major anxiety. I think it's a mixture of the after-Christmas blues & the focusing on all the things I'm not doing 'right' yet in my life.
Christmas seems to take up every day after Thanksgiving- filling every day with excitement & anticipation of the big day! Once the day is over (or all 4 days if you're in my family!) you're left with a bit of a hole; what next?! Then there are those few days of recouping from the excess food & beverage & family until you hit NYE. A new start, a new beginning, so much hope & excitement with the clean slate. This year was different for me.
I've just moved & I'm starting over in so many ways. I have so many emotions flooding that I've tried to numb the not so good feeling ones with cookies while trying to hold onto the good feeling ones as much as possible. (note: you can not selectively choose your feelings!!) Do you do that? Do you notice that you do that- eat or drink your way through situations? I use food/drink as a numbing tool.. sometimes I use people- throwing myself into other peoples situations to avoid my own, or fill my time with friends instead of the quiet time my soul is yearning for.
Anyhow, it's the 3rd day of the new year & I'm just finally starting to feel the excitement of newness. I got really down on myself because I said come Jan 1, no more sugar, coffee, gluten, dairy, or alcohol.. which is everything I've lived on since I got back here. That's pretty steep! When living by yourself, it's a lot easier to do than when you live with other people who eat meat & white potatoes for every meal! Point being- every day is a clean slate. Every day is a new day. Is it the first day of the new year or month or even week? Maybe not. But, every day you wake up is a chance to make a change- however great or small- a change to live a healthier life. So, here are a few things or ideas of things that might help you. Even doing just one of these things -one per day or one per 1/2 a day... will be a change & that little change will promote more change. It's not a matter of giving up things that you love, it's a matter of doing things that will add to your overall health & well-being. If you love to eat ice cream- why do you love it? How does it make you feel? Do you eat it out of habit or when you're sad or when you're happy or when you're nervous?
So, a few tips or ideas:
1.Take 3 deep breaths. Close your eyes & feel the way your feet feel on the ground.
2.Start your morning off with a warm glass of lemon water to help cleanse your body & stimulate your senses
3. Drink more water. It's cold outside so I constantly want tea or coffee or hot drinks.. so I warm up my water!:)
4. If you're a coffee drinker, try a cup of tea first. Or, if you do make coffee, pay closer attn when you brew your coffee- enjoy the process of it.
5. Be present. It sounds obvious but if I can be totally present for one minute of everyday then I'm doing good! It is vital though. So, when you take one deep breath, be totally in that breath. When you make that cup of tea or coffee, be totally present in that process & really enjoy it. When you hug your loved ones or tell them you love them, be totally present so that you feel that love with your whole heart.
6. Do yoga. Even if it's just 5 minutes or 30 minutes- it's better than nothing.
7. Be grateful. Write down 3 things you're really grateful for each day. Make them different things everyday.
8. Note one miracle that happens everyday. Sometimes it feel like a miracle that the Universe conspires to get me through certain days! Or that I am able to eat an apple that grow on my tree in my yard (not in January, but it's one of my favorite things!)
9. Give a hug. "Hugs are like boomerangs- you get it back right away!" -Bil Keane
10. Give yourself credit for all you do. Balance the yin with the yang. The yang is all the the things we feel we need to do & be.. the changes we want to make. Yang is what keeps us moving but the yin keeps us still & gives us moments to be grateful for what we have & who we already are. We all too often beat ourselves up than give ourselves the credit & love we deserve.

May your new year be full of health & self- love!:)