10 Resolutions for 2024

The beginning of a new year is often seen as a chance for a fresh start and inspires people to make new changes. While it's great to take care of yourself and set health goals, sometimes people set unrealistic targets without realizing the amount of work involved. As a result, around 80% of resolutions tend to "fail" by February.
This usually happens because:
The goals are not narrow enough
The time frame is too big
We set resolutions for the wrong reason
We don’t have help
To prevent this from happening, I suggest that you don't set the bar too high. Your resolutions don’t have to be all or nothing. Instead, focus on more achievable goals that you can maintain and sustain throughout the year. Set goals and work towards them with kindness and forgiveness. The truth is that if we want resolutions to be successful, we have to set the right kind of goals at the right time and with the right intentions. Once you understand the power behind goals with the right intention, you’ll never go back.
Here are some naturopath-approved resolutions that you can implement at any time of the year.

Develop A Mindfulness Practice
Mindfulness and being in the moment is a powerful tool. Think of mindfulness like a muscle—the more we practice, the stronger and more natural we get at it. The cultivation of mindfulness, involving acceptance and nonjudgment of present-moment experience, often results in transformative health behaviour change.
It allows us to fully engage and focus on the opportunities in front of us.
It minimizes the stress that comes with the ‘what ifs’. We don’t have the power to change the past—our power is in the now.
It minimizes the stress that comes from worrying about the future.
It allows for a better connection with our body and environment.

Here are some mindfulness suggestions:

Mindful Eating

It's a good idea to use your daily mealtime as an opportunity to practice mindfulness. When you sit down to eat, take some time to focus on the full experience of the food. Start by paying attention to the smell of it, and how you feel as you anticipate eating. Then, as you take the first few bites, pay attention to the textures and sensations of the food. Be grateful for the nourishment the food provides and the support it gives your body to create a strong and healthy body.

Take a screen break

Instead of habitually reaching for your device during the five minutes between meetings or while waiting for something, try looking out the window and focusing on nature. Practice mindfulness to give your brain a break instead of filling every tiny gap in your day with screen time.

Body Scan

Please take a moment to scan your body from head to toe and notice any sensations of discomfort or tension. If you notice any such sensations, try to soften them by taking deep breaths and imagining healing light filling those spaces. Once you have done that, scan your body again and try to find areas of peace and relaxation.

Guided Meditation

Guided meditation, also known as guided imagery or visualization, is a technique of meditation that involves creating and focusing on mental pictures or scenarios that promote relaxation. This process is usually led by an instructor or guide, hence the term "guided." It is recommended to use all your senses, including smell, sound, and touch, to create a peaceful and calming environment.

2. Nature Bathing

There is increasing scientific evidence that supports the idea that spending time in nature and engaging in outdoor activities such as "forest bathing," connecting our bare feet to the earth, or taking a walk in the park can help us escape from our everyday surroundings, leading to a feeling of relaxation and reduction in stress. Seeing and hearing nature will help to calm the nervous system, improve mood and centre oneself. Exposure to sunshine and absorption of vitamin D will enhance these actions too. These activities can also improve our overall well-being, and the best part is that they are free.

3. Expand Your Health Care Team

Regular check-ups with your General Practitioner are a great way to stay on top of your health, and traditional medical advice can certainly be advantageous. But maybe it’s time to add some holistic doctors to the mix. There are multiple types of holistic healthcare professionals to choose from and add to your healthcare team. The stronger your team of help and support, the higher your chance of long-term success.

A Naturopath may be able to offer a treatment plan that encourages self-healing and long-term wellness. Naturopaths provide advice and recommendations for a range of natural medicines, including herbal medicine, supplements and much more.

A Chiropractor can provide musculoskeletal adjustments that are famously noninvasive and promote just holistic wellness. They focus on treating the spine by using their hands to examine and treat health conditions related to the bones, muscles and joints.

A Nutritionist may be able to point you toward the right foods to fuel your body.

A Reiki healer uses gentle hand movements to guide the flow of healthy energy (what's known in Reiki as life force energy) through the client's body to reduce stress and promote healing.

A Psychologist examines the relationships between brain function and behaviour, and the environment and behaviour, applying what they learn to illuminate our understanding and improve the world around us.

A personal trainer may be able to guide you toward an exercise routine that truly meets your needs.

4. Know When To Say ‘No’

Knowing when to say ‘no’ is important. This is particularly crucial for those who are becoming burnt out and need to prioritise yourself and rest. Stand by your decision despite FOMO (fear of missing out). This resolution applies to various aspects of life. It involves making choices such as financial goals, opting for healthy food portions, maintaining a healthy balance between work and personal life, socialising, and sometimes declining new opportunities that may seem important. There are plenty of chances to collaborate with competent and motivated individuals engaged in meaningful work. It is essential to remain focused on the priorities set for the upcoming year.

5. Learn Your Love Language

When family or friends feel cherished through their unique love language consistently, emotional tanks fill up measurably fostering long-term relational resilience. Ultimately, knowing your love language will lead to a better understanding of each other as individuals, and a better understanding of what needs to be done to improve and keep your relationship positive. Dr Gary Chapman’s research on relationships and love found that each person instinctively gives and feels loved primarily through one of five love languages:

physical touch
words of affirmation
quality time
acts of service
gift giving

Learn more here https://5lovelanguages.com/learn

6. Embrace Contrast Hydrotherapy

No, you don’t need to buy an ice bath. Temperature exposure can have an acute effect on the body but also an adaptive response. For example, cold exposure first thing in the morning can increase norepinephrine, epinephrine, and cortisol (stress hormone), while warmth at night can begin to lower cortisol. When taking a hot shower, bath or sauna, what happens is all the blood vessels dilate, they start to dissipate heat and cool the body down. That cooling sensation is a natural signal for bedtime and can help with syncing a disrupted circadian rhythm.

Hokey-Pokey Method: Take your shower as normal. When you have finished, turn the water temperature up to as hot as you can handle it (safely). This will get your body flushed and vasodilated.
Next: this is the hardest part - deciding to take the cold plunge (you can do it!) Turn the water temperature to cold.

Remember to keep breathing the whole time and SMILE.
Put your left foot ONLY under the cold water. After a few moments add in your left leg. Then take your left leg out of the cold water.
Do the same thing with the right foot and right leg. Then take your right leg out of the cold water.
Place your left hand under the water, then the left arm. Followed by the right hand and right arm (that wasn't so bad).
Take a deep breath in. As the back of your neck hits the cold stream of water - make a loud sigh as you breathe out “haaaa”. This allows you to feel the cold but avoid the natural gasp/stress response.
Keep breathing calmly. Let the water run over the tummy, head, groin and armpits.
Get out of the shower and feel invigorated and warm.

30, 60 or 90 seconds of this technique will help you to feel alive and warm when you get out of the shower. Controlling the breath and relaxing under cold stress can help the body and mind to build resilience and adapt to stress better in life.

7. Eat The Rainbow

Eating a variety of colourful fruits and vegetables can provide numerous health benefits. These foods are packed with essential vitamins and minerals that can help keep your body healthy and protect against certain diseases. By aiming to eat a rainbow of colours each day, you can ensure that you're getting a diverse range of nutrients from your diet.

When grocery shopping, consider buying some produce that you’ve never eaten before. Grab something that looks interesting, don’t be afraid to try something new. You may even find a recipe that you and your family will love by experimenting with different produce. To get more colours of the rainbow on your plate, salads are always a smart choice, as are soups and stir-fries. These dishes make it easy to throw in whatever produce you like, often without a recipe.

8. Incorporate More Natural Light

Modern environments trade sunlight for artificial lighting, yet we evolved intrinsically dependent on its nourishing spectrum for optimal functioning mentally and physiologically. We can enhance our circadian rhythm and balance hormones by waking up with the sun or exposing our eyes to daylight. Circadian rhythms are physical, mental, and behavioural changes that follow a 24-hour cycle. These natural processes respond primarily to light and dark and affect most living things, including animals, plants, and microbes. By doing this, the body will regulate the cortisol response better at night and can help with sleep. Sunlight also elevates mood, reaction times and sleep quality while lowering inflammation and disease risk.

Aim for more light exposure in the morning and less at night.

9. Daily Movement

It is incredibly important to have daily movement. Exercise helps with weight reduction, stress reduction, muscle building, fat reduction, improving bone density, heart health and the production of ‘feel good’ hormones. It is recommended to have 1 hour of activity per day. However, what is best for you is to start with what you CAN do right now and build this over time.
If that is 10 minutes a day, that is better than no activity at all.

To make it sustainable, choose a movement that you enjoy and do it often. If you do not know what to choose, perhaps it’s time to broaden your horizons and try something new or go back to something you loved doing for movement as a kid.

10. Connect With Your Spiritual Side

Spirituality is a beautiful concept, but it may not be everyone's resolution. For me, it means feeling connected to my innermost self, the world around me, and a higher purpose. If you have read "The Power of Now" or "A New Earth" by Eckhart Tolle, you know what I mean. Spirituality is, in essence, about finding peace with the present moment. Often, we focus on things that are out of our control, either in the past or the future, and this takes us away from what's happening right in front of us.

Practising gratitude is one of those things that you can do anytime and anywhere, and it can work wonders for your mental state. Starting or ending your day with gratitude is one of the most powerful things you can do to tune into your spirituality. Writing down your gratitude or voicing it out loud is a fantastic way of acknowledging them.

Yoga is one of the best ways to connect with your heart centre and find inner peace. Regular yoga practice helps you maintain a clear mental state to continue your personal development in everyday life. While practising yoga doesn't guarantee a spiritual awakening, it can be used as a tool to connect with your spiritual self more often.

As you begin to cultivate a spiritual practice, watch for signs. You may find that the universe sends you little hints and clues to encourage you on your seeker's path. These signs may be as simple as having three different people recommend the same book or connecting with a kindred spirit through a seemingly random occurrence. One of my favourite practices is to write the universe a letter and request help with whatever you are struggling with, thanking it for its guidance. Stay open, and you will begin to feel subtle course corrections as you travel through life.

Wishing you all the best,

Meredith

10 Resolutions for 2024