January Lessons and February Intentions
January - where do I begin. To me, January felt like a bridge month. A month between the energy shifts of 2022 and 2023. It was a time to integrate all that the past year brought and continue to slow down and soften into who I am now.
My whole being was asking for rest, often times demanding it. It brought up a lot of fear in me. Rest, slowing down, softening, stillness… these are qualities I have known I’ve needed to embrace for awhile in theory, but have struggled to put into practice. Yet, this month I have honoured this need more than ever and although I have a long way to go, I am proud of how far I have come. It is a reminder that we all need rest, we all deserve rest. Sometimes you just need to turn yourself off to be able to work properly again. We were all born to rest, it is embedded in our being. Yet our society has taught us to feel shame and guilt around it and tells us we have to earn it or it has to look a certain way. One thing is for sure, if you do not honour your body and mind’s needs for rest, in the way they want it, they will force it upon you eventually. And, if you honour these needs before that time comes, all parts of you can work together in harmony. You will feel more excited about life, and more alive and at peace. Life will feel more easeful and joyful.
January reminded me, it is ok to slow down. When you honour your needs for rest, you are able to tap into more peace and ease. Emotions don’t feel as heightened, you can see life from a more neutral place. When you are able to slow down, you are also then able to speed up when you want to. We must honour the natural ebbs and flows of our lives instead of forcing ourselves to be machines, always going at the same speed. If you never slow down, you may find yourself always wanting to slow down. When you allow yourself to slow down, and tune into where your energy is truly at in each moment, you can enjoy all paces of your life.
And, just like we need to honour all paces of life, we need to honour all the emotions as well. If you are always trying to push away an emotion, it will eventually demand to be felt and engulf you. If you allow yourself to move through each emotion as it comes up, embracing neutrality around each emotion instead of labeling anything as “good” or “bad,” you can move through it all with peace.
Overall January reminded me - honour and move through all that is present for you. Do not resist any of it, soften into the unfolding of life.
My intentions for February —
Take everything moment by moment. I don’t have to think about how each decision (big or small) will impact the future, I only have to do what feels right in this present moment.
Allow myself to make grounded decisions. I want to make decisions from a place of confidence, self-assuredness, ease and peace. I want to honour my need to sit with a choice until I feel the decision in my bones. I want to honour my Yes’s and No’s and not backtrack on or speed up a decision based off of others’ reactions (or my fear of their reactions).
Be willing to shift perspectives at any time. If something starts to feel hard, uncomfortable, or confusing, I want to be open to ask myself - what do I need to do to see this differently? To feel differently? How can I shift this energy? How can I make this more enjoyable? What do I need to do to honour myself? Move from there.
I would love to know - what was January like for you? What are your intentions for February? How is your heart in this moment? I hope you take some time to reflect, even if just for a minute on your own.
