Happy New Year!!!! LET’S CHANGE THE WORLD. LET’S LOSE 100 LBS! LET’S GRAB WHOLE TO THAT DREAM JOB! Okay, now I am tired.  Fortunately, I have learned to change the way I see the new year. Do not get me wrong, I am all about making new year goals, dreaming, and getting excited about the possibilities, but time as taught me to look a little deeper.   My new perspective, is this, “ I am releasing what no longer serves my life, body and mind to make space for what does.” This approach has helped me come into every season with lovingkindness, more compassion and a better focus on what needs to happen with the things, situations and people in my life.  I want to invite you to sit with this perspective as you continue to read this article. 

Let’s start with the New Year New You, for your body. After a holiday season of eating heavier foods, being inside more from the chilly temperatures and not to mention the lack of exercise, our bodies may need a jumpstart. A cleanse may be just the thing; here are a few simple things you can do to get started.

First off, think of these words; REDUCE, EXCHANGE, and ENJOY.

1. Reduce the sugar. Exchange sugary desserts with more whole foods. Enjoy fruits; like, blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries. These fruits are sweet, but low in sugar and calories.
2. Reduce the dairy. Exchange the diary for non-dairy products. Enjoy almond, cashew, and coconut milk, they make a wonderful alternative.
3. Reduce the meat. Exchange meat products with whole grains and legumes. Enjoy a meatless Monday, and add quinoa, chickpeas, black beans, and lentils to your weekly menu.
4. Reduce the caffeine. Exchange coffee with herbal teas. Enjoy peppermint and ginger tea, these teas help aid in digestion.
5. Reduce refined carbohydrates. Exchange white rice for brown rice. Enjoy adding sweet potatoes to your recipes, instead of white potatoes.

Now, let’s focus on the mind. How can we REDUCE, EXCHANGE, and ENJOY, so we can clean some clutter from our minds?

1. Reduce one thing off your “to do” list. Exchange it for some “me time”. Enjoy a walk in the park, read a good book, or just take a day to rest.
2. Reduce the noise in your mind. Exchange it for a time of prayer and meditation. Enjoy 10 -15 minutes of praying and meditating, daily.
3. Reduce the expectations. Exchange the mindset of needing to say “yes to every project with a “no”. Enjoy that space of being able to do what truly matters in your life.
4. Reduce the clutter in your home. Exchange the attitude of having to get all done, with focusing on one room, one drawer, and one closet at a time. Enjoy the little wins as you go.
5. Reduce the negative thinking. Exchange one negative thought that plays over and over in your mind, for one positive thought. Enjoy writing it down and putting it someplace you can see it daily.

I hope this new way of looking at starting the new year, with small changes to make big changes in the long run, will inspire you to find more ways to release what no longer serves your life, body, and mind, so you may have space for what does. Remember to always Live Well. Live Beautifully and Live You.