After the holiday season, we can feel in need of rest and renewal. Here’s how to make January the month of renewal so you can start the new year with a clear and peaceful mind, body, and soul.
As much as I love Christmas and the entire Advent season, it can be a little exhausting. There are so many wonderful things to do that we can backburner our need to rest and find ourselves depleted as we enter January.
New Year’s resolutions are also great, but can spread us even thinner as we attempt to meet goals while still recuperating from Christmastide and other holiday celebrations.
So how do we start the year off strong after a long and tiring season of merry-making? How do we meet new year’s goals with strength and vibrance rather than a shuffle and a sigh.
January is the perfect month to focus on renewal. Not as a resolution but as a lifestyle shift. Winter has always been a time of slowing down and this month is the perfect time to reflect and act on the things in our lives that need renewal. Here’s how…
How to Renew Yourself in January
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Renew your body
After a hectic season, it’s time to focus on rest. Go to bed a little earlier so you can get the recommended 7-plus hours of sleep. Avoid blue light from screens that can disrupt sleep signals to the brain and work on a nightly ritual that will signal it’s bedtime no matter what time you crawl beneath the covers.
Choose to eat more whole foods over processed ones. This isn’t about weight loss, but about detoxing the body so that it runs better and serves you more this year. Eat more vegetables, starting with them at meals so your glucose levels stay consistent, avoiding spikes and making you feel better. (Read more about that here.)
Exercise to help your body become stronger to meet any challenges of the new year. This can be as simple as an after-dinner walk. The goal is to move, not go through an intensive workout regimen (though you can if you want). Just being active can benefit and renew the body so much.
Renew your surroundings
Look around at your home or your desk at work. Are they cluttered? It’s time to clean up these spaces and get rid of the things that have accumulated in the past year. Throw away, donate, or find a place for the things that are scattered around. Organize what’s left into a more usable space that makes your work both on the job and at home easier.
Light candles, get throw pillows and a blanket, choose a favorite mug so you can savor your time in your space. Renew yourself in an environment that feeds and comforts your soul rather than one that adds stress. Find what makes you most happy and productive in your surroundings and work toward it.
Renew your mind
Our minds need decluttering as much as our surroundings sometimes. Especially after a season when there were so many balls up in the air. Consider journaling or starting a planner at this time of year to get things out of your head and on paper so you don’t lose them. Journaling is very therapeutic and planning ahead takes the stress out of future obligations.
Does music calm your mind? Or apps like Calm and Headspace for mindfulness? What about reading, art, or playing an instrument? I personally find puzzles and crocheting relax my mind. Whatever works for you, use it to relax and renew your mind for this new year.
Renew your schedule
If you’ve gotten a planner to help with brain dumps so you can stress less about your responsibilities, then you are on your way to renewing your schedule. Take a look at your days. Are they busy? Really busy? Do you like that or does it leave you feeling depleted?
Oftentimes, our schedules get away from us as we add more and more with barely anything being removed. As you start this new year, prune from your schedule the appointments, commitments, and other time-users that don’t serve you or provide enjoyment. Ask yourself if the time commitment is equal to what you get out of it.
Are the kids still loving karate classes? Do you still want to go to that monthly networking lunch? Feel free to drop things that are no longer working for you or your family. Your renewed schedule will work better for you as it frees up times to do things with greater value.
Renew your soul
What makes your soul sing? Does reading Scripture center you for the day? Try a plan that helps you read the Bible in a year, like this one. Does seeing beautiful art make you feel refreshed and renewed? Get a pass for your local art museum or tour galleries. Does being out in nature renew your soul? Join a local hiking club or just walk your neighborhood.
Whatever speaks to your soul, you will find great renewal from pursuing these passions. There is so much beauty in the world that touches us in indescribable ways. For me, my morning runs and walks are a chance to be out in nature and hear the rustle of leaves, the breeze through the trees, and the cold off the grass. It’s soul-satisfying. Find what renews your soul and make it part of your routine this month.
Renew your relationships
Sometimes our relationships flourish, and sometimes they peter out. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s just a byproduct of our lives growing and changing. This is the time to renew those relationships and see if they continue to grow. Meet with friends locally, and call or text the ones that you can’t see often enough. Make an effort to put aside the busyness of life to spend time with the people you’ve chosen as yours.
And for the friendships and relationships that are dwindling, slipping away, or are just stagnant, it may be time to let them be. It doesn’t have to be dramatic, but sometimes people move from the friend category to acquaintance as they become more distant from the person you are and the life you have now. You’re not letting go of them, just holding them more loosely.
I hope that these ideas for how to best make January a month of renewal help you refresh your body, mind, and soul. It’s important to take care of yourself so that you can meet all the challenges that this new year will bring.
Looking for more on renewal and wellness? Check out these posts:
Inspirational Monday: Refresh and Renew by God’s Strength
10 Atomic Habits that have Changed My Life
How to Balance Your Married Life with Your Hobby Life
5 Ways to Relieve Stress Right Now
[Disclaimer: I am a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for me to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a commission, at no additional cost to you. All opinions are my own and I never recommend anything I haven’t used myself and loved.]
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