2018: A Year for Cultivating

Be empowered to optimize & cultivate your health with intention in 2018! 2017 was a year of great change on many levels, allowing questions about our very human state to percolate to the surface. These matters spilled into politics, the media, personal conversations, churches, schools, and businesses, bringing about a palpable dissonance that was felt by most everybody. It was a year of huge tides, rolling waves, and beaches greatly transformed after every storm, metaphorically speaking.

What will 2018 bring? I sense that the scattered energies of 2017 will become refocused and repurposed; they will move towards grounding and healing, allowing us to gain a better understanding of our world, our communities, and ourselves. Where there was a sense of unease in the past year, this year may bring with it the laying of a new foundation, from which we can build our health and resilience with purpose.

Change, motion, and activity are the definition of life. Yet, stillness and quietude are just as important. Our bodies and minds require down-time in order to reorganize and cultivate internal structure after periods of change. As the seasons allow for times of rapid growth (summer) and times of inward silence (winter), a similar balance between movement and rest in our lives is necessary, particularly when it comes to our mental and physical health.

The key is to move into 2018 with purpose. Know what you want to achieve, and make a list of actionable items to guide you towards success. Here is my suggested empowered healing action plan:

Let go of what was. Too much baggage will weigh you down.
Make a list of problems, concerns, and frustrations about your health.
Write down your health goals. Could be by time increment, such as weekly, monthly, quarterly goals, etc.
Note any connections between your health concerns and health goals. For example, a problem could be “poor sleep,” and an associated goal might be “daytime energy of at least 8/10.”
Create a list of ways to move from each particular problem to resolution of that problem. This may require consultation with your physician, health mentor, nutritionist or counselor.
Keep the list active! Check it and make progress notes daily. Our life is a work in progress; so is our health and keeping it up.
Other suggestions:
1. Take time to move. Really move. And take time to be still. Very still. Observing and syncing with the ebbs and flows of nature will help with this balancing act.
2. Become more aware of your inner voice and your gut feelings/reactions to things happening around you. Our bodies are brilliant, and all too often our conscious brains are just chatty agitators.
3. Drink more water – suggested is approx. 1/2 of your body weight in ounces.
4. Eat real food. Enough said. 🙂
5. Sleep more. Most of us are sleep deprived.