Happy New Year — Yes, in March!
It’s been cold for months and you’re inside your home all warm and toasty. You are snuggled up on the couch with a blanket. Perhaps you have a fire burning in the fireplace. Maybe you have your favorite warm drink in hand. The clock strikes midnight and all of a sudden it’s 12:01 on January first and the expectation is that it is time to kick it into gear. Anyone feel like moving?
Bears are hibernating, birds have long since migrated, and a multitude of other animals are behaving in such a way that only uses so much of their bodies in order to conserve as much energy and supplies as possible. It makes me wonder why we decide that this is the time to set resolutions, potentially make big changes, and in many cases that includes moving our bodies more than usual.
Other cultures mark their calendar as the start of their year on the Spring Equinox. Many people of different spiritual beliefs also celebrate this time of the year to acknowledge and honor the earth’s renewing energy and life while the sun is shining longer and longer for us.
Considering all of these ideas, I wonder if it would be helpful for us to take into consideration our natural flow of productivity. Often times, people who struggle with mental health have an additional difficult time during the winter with an increase in the intensity or duration of their symptoms. They could also be experiencing Seasonal Affective Disorder in addition to the struggles that come and go the rest of the year.
Timing, self-compassion, and having realistic expectations are important parts of routine setting and forming habits. If winter increases your depressive symptoms, then you may be prone to more frequent cognitive distortions — more catastrophizing, more disqualifying the positive, more emotional reasoning, or more “shoulds.” If you’re prone to this type of thinking when your mood is struggling, then setting an expectation or resolution in the middle of winter is going to give that brain more ammunition to point out all of the things one “should” be doing.
While we would want to reduce the amount of “shoulds” in general, at any time of year, if you focus on steady changes at times in which your body is more ready for change, you may see more forward momentum and consistency. Then we can also look towards the Fall and what will be necessary to prepare to sustain the progress made during the first half of the year in preparation for the winter.
Since the natural flow of energy is increasing as we have now arrived in Spring, I encourage you to reflect and create resolutions for the new year during this time instead of January. See if anything feels different for you and utilize it as a time to reset and make the changes that you want to make for yourself.
