Another New Year’s Resolution

I’ve been thinking a lot about new year’s resolutions, most especially that trite resolution that the masses of women (and men) make every year: lose weight. For whatever reason, every year I make some variation of that resolution (get fit, get toned, learn how to do a pull up, etc.) and start out with good intentions, and then life happens.

This year I had a somewhat unconventional new year’s eve. I spent it with a friend I’m visiting in New York City, and instead of loading up on a bunch of cocktails and junk food, we had a fire in her backyard. We got some paper and wrote down whatever came to mind, folded it up, and burned it. It sounds kind of ridiculous, but the practice of burning your thoughts, of releasing them into the atmosphere, was kind of satisfying. Some of the notes I wrote were to release negative thoughts while others were affirmations.

One of my affirmations was to be good to my body; be more aware of what it needs. Yup, it sounds like another “lose-weight-resolution,” but this is more about making a change from my current lifestyle to one that’s more sustainably healthy. I’m not aiming to lose 15 pounds in one month, or get down to a size six. Actually, it’s not about isolating physical fitness at all. Instead I’m looking towards holism–holistic health.

Holistic. That words gets thrown around a lot now, but what does it even mean? The definition that I like is that is the idea that illness/sickness/disease results from a physical, emotional, spiritual, social and environmental imbalance. So my goal in treating my body right isn’t  just to think about the physical but all of the other parts of that list too.

This blog is going to be my journey to achieving a lifestyle that optimizes health and wellness. It won’t be easy–I won’t always exercise when I’m supposed to, I’ll get off routine, I’m sure I’ll eat foods that aren’t exactly great for me, and like anyone, there will be times when contrary to reason, I’ll invite negativity and drama into my life. But while I’ve got to take it one day at a time, I’m not going to dwell on any one day–successes or shortcomings. It’s about a longterm shift, metamorphosis, in perspective and practice, not a pair of pants, a little freakum dress, or a beach body.

I hope this blog will motivate you to join my journey and take on the task of treating your body right too. Or at least to get you thinking about making some changes–despite how uncomfortable, difficult, and annoying  necessary they are.

-J