Intuitively And Intently Moving Through The (New) Year
Happy New Year!
Why it’s good to forget about your New Year’s Resolutions
Did you know that the end of December is actually a poor time to set goals? There’s a logical reason why only 9% of New Year’s resolutions are maintained.
It’s all about the natural cycle.
Life is cyclical for all creatures great and small. If you—like me—have felt the urge to hibernate and retreat inward in January, doing... not much, really, and stretching out the holiday break, that’s because January’s seasonal energy is all about hibernation! For humans, this means spending more time alone, getting more rest, reading by the fire, having nurturing conversations, and making fewer plans. If we don’t allow ourselves this downtime, we miss out on the natural surge of creative energy that begins in February and fully blooms from late March.
If your New Year’s resolutions haven’t quite taken off yet or are starting to wane, it’s important to recognise that this is okay. When we make resolutions during a time when, energetically, we’re not ready to start, we often commit to things that don’t feel quite right or that we aren’t truly ready for.
Instead, by embracing the need to restore our energy and releasing the pressure to jump into New Year’s resolutions, we set ourselves up for more success by the end of the year. When we allow time to fully recharge our batteries, we avoid burnout and increase our potential for success. As a fatigue researcher and practitioner, I’m all about avoiding burnout and keeping those batteries full!
Resting helps you to achieve more
There are different parts of the month and year that we are better wired for creating, problem solving and achieving.
You may have noticed a shift over the last week where you are starting to consider what next, and where you would like to put your energy. That is because you are in sync with the natural cycle of things. So well done if this is you!
(Ladies, if this is already resonating with you then I suggest reading ‘Do Less’ by Kate Northrup.)
Living a cyclical life will end burnout and fatigue
I believe in honouring your own personal energy and do not agree with pushing through and have been having some real breakthroughs since practicing this way of living.
Type A people are the ones who usually burn out first and hardest. Having had a 10 year experience of fatigue in varying forms I have taken a huge (and initially alien leap) into living life in a more cyclical pattern and believe this is the final part of my healing. This is due to the positive effect that factoring in true rest does to your nervous system (anyone with fatigue will need some nervous system healing).
Men have cycles too!
We often think of women as having a 28-day cycle (on average), but even after menopause, women still experience cycles of hormonal change—just slightly differently.
Men, on the other hand, operate on a 24-hour cycle, and traditionally, our working lives have been designed around this. However, there’s another cycle that affects everyone—male or female—and every cell in our body: the moon, along with the changing seasons, also influences our ability to think clearly and create.
The moon is closer or farther away at different times of the year, which affects its gravitational pull on the Earth and everything on it, including us.
The Best Times to Achieve Your Goals: A Cyclical Approach
Here’s a breakdown of the energetic phases tied to the moon and the seasons, helping you identify the best time to work on your goals:
Absorption: Winter and New Moon
(Also corresponds to the menstrual phase for women)When you are most intuitive.
Rest, gentle movement, and fewer social engagements.
Reflect and evaluate what’s working in life and business (but hold off on making decisions).
You may have ideas that are still forming.
Emergence: Spring and Waxing Moon
(Follicular phase)Planning and decision-making.
Generate new ideas and initiate new projects.
New beginnings and clarity start to emerge.
Create lists, timelines, and outlines.
Visibility: Summer and Full Moon
(Ovulation phase)You’re most receptive and magnetic.
Publish, launch, and share your ideas. Be open to collaboration.
Spend time with friends, make connections, and network.
Culmination: Autumn and Waning Moon
(Luteal phase)Your brain is primed for focus and completing tasks.
"Hunker down" to wrap up projects and finish what you’ve started.
Focus on your goals rather than being distracted by social engagements or non-essential tasks.
The good news is that there’s still time to catch up on this winter energy replenishment. It’s important to honour your body and pay attention to what it needs right now. Until late March, you’re primarily in the absorption stage—take this time to reflect on what truly makes you happy and what’s on your to-do list that you can let go of because it’s not truly serving you.
How to get the best out of your year with coaching
In coaching, we explore why certain expectations pull us away from recharging our energy. We’ll look at how filling your battery packs is a long-term strategy to avoid burnout, eliminate fatigue, and ensure you achieve your goals.
We’ll also uncover the real goals that ignite your passion and excitement for life, working through them using the cyclical patterns that support you to make success achievable.
How to use Movement Therapy for a successful year
In the studio, I’m noticing holding patterns in people who are ‘pushing through’ when their bodies are clearly asking for rest.
We are addressing this by incorporating:
Breathwork:
Using breath to shift awareness from the head into the body, allowing for intuitive movement that reconnects us to our true desires.
By reconnecting with the body, we tune into our sensations, which helps us identify what’s right or wrong for us. This ensures that the goals we set are uniquely suited to us, and we can feel the benefits of success in our own bodies.Release Work:
We are working on resetting the body by releasing the tension that builds up from constantly pushing through.
By being kinder to the body, we help manifest energy, avoid overworking the system, and ensure we have enough energy left for the things we truly want to achieve.
