Resolutions really are not my thing, however, I love the time of the year between Christmas and New Years. It is an ideal time to spend with family, reflect on the past year, and look forward to what the new calendar year might offer.

The year of 2014 has been bittersweet for me. It has been the most challenging year, but I will remember it as a year of transformation instead of a year of despair. I have much gratitude for the experiences I have had, and the people I have met, and the chaos it has brought. Because in this chaos, it becomes glaringly clear where my priorities truly are, and helps me arrange the rest of my life to support these priorities instead of compete with them.

Slowing Down

With everything on overdrive all the time, no wonder we feel guilty if we slow down to relax and recover.  The need to be on the go and get things done is a constant pressure in our society.  For many of us, we feel we are invincible and will not slow down until we are forced to…either due to injury, illness, disease, or worse!

I had a lot of travel in 2014. Usually I consider flying productive if: 1) I am working; or 2) I am sleeping.  The combination of late nights, work stress, too little sleep and jet lag seemed to be on repeat.  Eventually, after a two weeks of work travel, my body finally gave out.  Illness took over.  I missed out almost two weeks of life.  I had not been that sick in nearly a decade, all because I was pushing too much and too far.  Months of “stealing” an extra 30 minutes from sleeping, eating, relaxing, connecting eventually caught up with me.  I certainly learned how fragile and transient our health can be.

Self-Care

I admit that I always thought self care was indulgent and something I didn’t have time or money for: spa trips, frequent salon visits, shopping, Starbucks, etc.  I had it all wrong…these are activities that may nurture some individuals and be identified as self care, but I was thinking that this is the only form of self care.   Self care can include anything that benefits any aspect of health. In yoga teacher training, I learned other methods of self care and the importance of keeping track of our own health.

A few methods of self care that I highly recommend trying:

• Outdoor walking or hiking
• Riding a bike without a specific destination
• Restorative Yoga
• Dry-brushing
• Making loose-leaf tea
• An afternoon nap
• Meditation upon waking
• Adding fresh cut lemons to water
• Here are 80+ ideas for self-care from the Self Compassion Project.

In looking forward to 2015, a few lessons that I learned this past year that I will take with me and prioritize for next year.

• Be Present:  Be in each moment, notice the world surrounding you
• Be Content:   You have everything you need
• Practice Gratitude:  3 tips from Deepak Chopra
• Practice Self-care:  It is not selfish, it is smart