Five Ways To Get Ready For The New Year
Step into the New Year feeling fresh and renewed. It doesn’t matter if you start to get ready a day before or a month in, you have time to get yourself prepared for the long stretch ahead. By thinking about how you want to feel and what you want to do in 2019, you can start your year off feeling empowered and even excited. People make New Years Resolutions around this time but I think there are a few easy and active steps you can take before making lofty resolutions to ring in the New Year.
De-Stress Yourself
I think the best way to start off rejuvenated and revved up about the New Year is to treat yourself. Ideally, treating yourself includes detoxing and relaxing your body, inside and out. Before or after January 1st, book an appointment with a masseuse or visit a sauna. As readers may know, I love Hugh Spa in Koreatown of Los Angeles. Hugh Spa is one great location for
There are so many great wellness centers in Los Angeles if you’re a local like me and want other ways to get your mind and body set on relax mode this new year. If for whatever reason the spa or soaking in a tub just doesn’t do it for you, you can always make time to visit places like the Peace Awareness Labyrinth, meditate and simply chill.
Cleanse Your Space
Once you have your body clear of negativity and toxins and you’re feeling content like a babe, it’s important to have your space reflect your inner environment. Clear your space of junk! It’s a new year so it’s a good time to let go of the past and cleanse your space of old things you no longer need. Feel free to disagree, but there is something satisfying to decluttering. It’s a visual and physical representation of clearing out what no longer needs to be and making room for more. I’ve already begun to clear out my closet, desk, etc. Getting rid of junk and offering items you may no longer need but are still intact to Goodwill are perfect forms of external cleansing.
If you already rock a minimalist style or are otherwise happy with your space, clearing where you live of negative energy is fantastic for your wellbeing and starting off the new year in a healthy flow. I recommend buying a nice bundle of sage and hitting the corners of your room, apartment, or house. I’ve saged my living space quite a few times and not only do I feel like my space is cleared of stagnancy, I feel good knowing that I’ve done something to promote circulation and growth. Many indigenous peoples have used sage and it’s a practice I think people can benefit from. You can even throw your windows open to get old
Write A Gratefulness list
You can take all the holiday goodness, togetherness, and feelings of fulfillment into the new year by writing down what you’re grateful for. An extra plus would be to make writing this list a reflective moment on the wonderful things that happened to you in the past year. Did someone you know bring a new baby into the world? Write that down! Did you get your dream car? Whatever it is, even if it was a moment that was challenging yet you powered through it, take the time to acknowledge it.
Over the years, I have kept gratefulness journals where all I will write on every page is lists on what I was thankful for. I find it to be a soothing and holistically reflective practice. I feel good after I write the lists and it even helps me to remember that certain life moments are made significant by you simply setting a time to acknowledge them. I usually like to do a gratefulness list before bed. During New Year’s Eve you can write out your lists before midnight but the most important thing is to make an effort to create the list when you can.
Create Reasonable Goals
Now that you’ve centered your body, cleared your living space, and made a note of what you’re grateful for, you can set your clear intentions for the new year. Like the Gratefulness list, I recommend you write out goals you want to achieve over the next 365 days. Call it New Years Resolutions but the key is to make your goals reasonable and fair for yourself. You don’t have to set yourself up for disappoint by saying I want to drop 30 pounds. Make goals that are affirmative like I want to take a kickboxing class with my friends. In that statement you have accountablity and a good feeling associated with the goal.
Once you’ve figured out a list of goals that you want to accomplish, post your list somewhere you can see it. Making the list visible to you will definitely keep it in the forefront of your mind and you’ll be more likely to complete what you wrote. Also, after thinking about it, actually visualizing what your goal will be like and feel like will also help you keep it up. I know that I want to do more writing this year and offer creative writing prompts on this blog, focus on organization for my projects, and plan more adventures for the new year!
Volunteering: The Goal Everyone Can Include
Volunteering is a step in itself because of how powerful and necessary it is. Volunteering is another way to keep the holiday spirit going. I defintely feel the call to give more. So often those of us who live in cities are easily more inclined to recieve rather then take to the time to give back. Yet, it really does feel so nice to help others even if you do a day of service, it’s impactful. I’ve done community service days and I truly enjoy them. For instance, my beautiful day of helping local Compton horses at the home of Compton Jr. Posse was transformative.
One way to find opprotunities is to check out VolunteerMatch. It’s easy to look around and feel like the world is crumbling, but doing active work like volunteering can have such a healing effect on the people you’re helping and also yourself. Give your time and attention this new year!
Follow Me: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook
Best,
Kai 😀
