DON'T WAIT FOR NEW YEAR - SUMMER RESOLUTIONS

I have felt this pull to bring positive changes into my life each year during summer. I have a heightened energy, interest, excitedness and feeling of possibility. What I have failed to do in the past however is really harness these feelings by actively choosing to make long lasting positive change to my health and wellbeing, whilst understanding my motives.

I’m sure this is a common feeling for many, hence why Forbes have written about it. How many times have you woken on a sunny morning and found yourself in downward dog or any other yoga pose before you even realise what’s happening? How many years do you buy a new pair of trainers and decide to take up running yet again, despite disliking running? Maybe deciding to walk or cycle to work when driving or public transport is normal? What about a strong desire to copy a delicious salad or smoothie from a restaurant or friend's house, only to forget it exists a couple of months later?

The ridiculous thing is that we feel so great when we make small changes like this. Our body thanks us and we truly believe we will keep it up, but we haven’t committed to a conscious change or recognised why it is needed. Worse, we haven’t considered what will happen if we don’t commit to these positive changes. The end of the week, end of the sunshine or end of the holiday rolls around and we are back to unhelpful routines, blocking out the awareness of what our body craves, because we haven’t learned to listen to it.

I’ve enjoyed yoga on and off for the past few years, mostly starting the year before I got pregnant. When I felt sick, I pulled back from my usual yoga and joined a prenatal yoga with Felicity Wood instead. My body thanked me every time because as I paid in advance, my unwillingness to waste the money held me accountable. That and the community I was becoming a part of. Following the birth of my daughter, I was able to return to postnatal yoga (baby in tow) after a few weeks and found the easing back in crucial to deal with the stresses which come from holding a newborn hour after hour. This followed on to an occasional evening class alone. Every session I thanked myself and every session I was sure I’d never stop doing it.

But then I ran out of accountability. I didn’t have someone or something making sure I did it, and so I allowed my fatigue, weaker body or other interests to hold me back. I loved escaping into another world and leaving the house. I loved the way in which my yoga teacher taught. Depending on my husband’s shifts, I couldn’t always get to class, so my prepaid group of classes were not giving me the accountability I had hoped for.

Then COVID-19 lockdown hit. Yoga classes went online via Zoom, and I was entitled to use my prepaid membership there. But I didn’t. I didn’t make sure that I was given the time to disappear into a different room in the house for an hour. I got weaker, I felt less connected to my body and I lost the pull or memory of how good it felt. I knew I should, but it just didn’t motivate me. I even had access to an app which gave free classes. I managed 2 in 2 months! I was focused on self care in so many other areas of my life, but I was prioritising rest over movement, rather than balancing both. I felt so beaten from lack of sleep, the return of my menstrual cycle, the pull away from breastfeeding and what I now think was a vitamin deficiency.

The last few months have been focused on self-care and learning about my body. It has been enlightening, and I have finally learned when and how to rest. But the much needed rest has been making me weaker as well as benefiting me, because I am not as physically active as I was and I wasn’t prioritising it as well. During this time, I have also been caring for my 96 year old grandfather who still lives independently. As I help him strip off his clothes to apply one ointment or another, I see how he has lost so much muscle mass over the past few years. I see how difficult it is becoming now that he doesn’t have the same strength, and I feel the same, albeit more capable because I’m younger.

If I am weak now, what will I be like when I’m old? Will I be frail? Will I live a long time but with less quality of life because my body isn’t up to it? Will I be able to keep up with my daughter as she starts to run around?

I finally feel like I’ve got my reason to build my strength and treat my body the way it deserves to be treated. It is a slow incremental journey. Health, whether physical or mental (arguably inextricably linked) cannot be ‘fixed’ overnight. It will take many months of commitment to see the sort of change I need. Following that it will be a lifelong commitment, because if I make it to old age, I want to be able to live independently and live more of a life than the majority do.

A few days ago I committed to doing 20 mins of yoga from a free Youtube channel, Yoga with Adriene, every day for the rest of the month and then to make a plan for the next month. I have put this as my daily priority. If I didn’t do it during the daytime, I’d make sure I did it right before I go to bed. The first 5 days went really well. Then I had a glass of wine and fell asleep on my daughter’s floor putting her to bed last night. I did some stretches but really wanted to go to bed. I was exhausted and didn’t want to start looking at my phone to find a video.

Part of me wanted to beat myself up because I had failed in less than a week. Instead, I was kind to myself and said I’d do 2 sessions today. I am the one holding myself accountable and I can choose how I speak to myself. If I beat myself up and saw it as failure, it would be easy to think, well you’ve failed now, so why continue? When I woke at 7.30am today, I left my husband and daughter sleeping and headed downstairs to fit in a yoga session. Following that, I felt the creativity to write, hence this article. Later, I will fit in a second session and use this summer feeling to push forward with new resolutions which feel so much harder in deep dark winter. My aim is that by winter, yoga will be so ingrained in my routine that I won’t even consider not doing it most days. Yoga will not be the only incremental positive change.

If you are new to yoga or want to upgrade your mat and don’t know what sort of mat to buy, check out Best Yoga Mat review, which discusses a variety of options and narrows it down based on reviews.

Feel free to follow me on Instagram @incrementaljane where I share more of my journey of starting my own business through focusing on and becoming more aware of my health, happiness and kindness.

In December 2020, I launched my own business as a breathing and awareness coach. This particular experience really helped me to understand the challenges we face when introducing new positive habits. It encouraged me to learn a huge amount so that I could better help myself and others. I’m now also on Instagram at @linkbreathing.

P.S. Thank you to Conscious Design on Unsplash for the photo.