How do you find your balance?
Welcome to 2022. Welcome to our January Newsletter. I hope you had a soft Holiday Season and managed to rest up. I also hope that you will see further opportunities to restore this month. I personally do not function well after a week or two of short holidays – I prioritise making time for rest every day, week, month, season instead. In fact, I prefer to adjust my life to the seasons in nature.
This year, for the first time, I am experiencing winter as a quiet time of preparation for a new year ahead but with a sense of energy. That is what sleep is for us, humans, too. I see the pause on the surface of things, but I also notice tiny buds on trees in my local park. I open my bedroom window early in the morning to listen to the exciting bird conversations. I feel Mother Nature is quieter, but her silence is full of life waiting to burst out in spring. At least that is how I feel here, in the UK. Working in seasons and other cycles, as opposed to short linear pauses to take a breath, allows me to move forward with more energy and a better quality of attention. I feel way more balanced if I think about the effort and rest daily.
This month I am focusing on balance. Usually, this time of the year tends to prompt conversations about reinvention, health, and well-being. We are tempted to tap into 4,000 years of spiritual practice to make resolutions that most of us suspect won’t last long. Some of us follow the Roman tradition of reflecting on the year, identifying our failures and using this milestone as an opportunity to improve in the new year. However, for me, this still feels a little bit binary.
What if we could use this time of the year to reflect but use it to simply restore the balance – whatever balance means to us personally and collectively? What if we could get back to a healthier lifestyle softly? What if we could look for new local EDI (equity, diversity, inclusivity) initiatives and get involved? What if we could take up a new hobby that allows us more time off or on screens – if that’s what makes us happy?
For many of us, the last two years were challenging. I propose we move into 2022 with a soft sense of readjustment, tiny, smooth shifts of our habits. Let’s choose wisely sustainable changes.
I wish you a gentle January!
My favourite topic this month
This month my recommendations are my personal inspirations of life stories that come from place of systemic othering, trauma, but also empowerment and incredible inspiration:
Ikebana hashtag on Instagram – the art of flower arrangement which highlights the space left between carefully balanced flowers
Stone balancing ideas on Pinterest
Danny, a Scotsman who fails to obey the laws of physics
Volvo Trucks – The Hamster Stunt
India Arie & Raul Midon – Back to the middle
If you have a recommendation on this topic, please do let me know!
Resources
Today I would like to introduce you to the therapy approaches that I think support a more balanced view on our mental health:
Anchored: How to Befriend Your Nervous System Using Polyvagal Theory
When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress
The Power of Character Strengths: Appreciate and Ignite Your Positive Personality
Martin Seligman 3 Books Collection Set (Flourish, Authentic Happiness & Learned Optimism)
A Liberated Mind: The essential guide to ACT
The Compassionate Mind (Compassion Focused Therapy)
How Emotions Are Made: The Secret Life of the Brain
The Developing Mind: How Relationships and the Brain Interact to Shape Who We Are
I hope the above resources are helpful.
Thank you for reading our Newsletter. Talk to us online, check out our blog and let us know what else you would like to see here in the upcoming months.
Stay safe. Stay well. Stay connected.
Sylwia
Photo by Juliana Malta on Unsplash
