This New Year I'm taking a different approach towards resolutions. I'm taking a step back from all of the external noise and pressure of January goal setting and instead leaning into what I genuinely care about and want to see more of in 2024.
The world has changed a lot over the past year, and it will continue to. You have to ask yourself are you doing something because everyone else is, is it because it will it help you fit in better or is there a true desire for change.
I'm sharing with you a list of areas I'm focussing on in 2024. If something resonates maybe, it's something to add to your life this year.
8 New Year ideas for your Wellbeing in 2024
#1: Focus on Prevention
Health is your greatest wealth. It can take being faced with illness to realise this or for this statement to truly resonate but may 2024 be the year that you focus on actions that can help you keep well. Small changes to your diet, physical movement, and mental fitness compound greatly over time. Many people run from their health symptoms out of fear. Instead look at anything that may need attention as a message from your body and investigate it. Your body is always working with you and wants to heal.
#2: Know where your food comes from
Educate yourself on the ingredients in your food and how it is produced, farmed, or raised. Food for me is the foundation when beginning to look at improving your health. We become what we eat. Modern agriculture is not designed for the betterment of the soil, which leads to less nutritious fruit and vegetables. Most conventional farming practices rely on chemical intervention to fight weeds and pests, like the herbicide glyphosate, also known as round up. Glyphosate has been linked to negative effects on the gut microbiome, which leads to disturbances that can create disease. Just as these toxic chemicals kill microbes in the soil, they kill the microbes in our body.
The body is best equipped to handle an acute stress but when it comes to chronic stresses that’s a different story. Soil is the same. It eventually can’t function as it did before.
Supermarkets focus on price. They're not looking at how food was produced. Not only does this affect our health, but it also affects the climate and the environment. Regenerative agriculture not only avoids harm to the land, but it also improves the land. The more we farm this way the more nutrients and beneficial bacteria we harvest.
The current way we are feeding our bodies is undermining the ecology we are dependent on.
If you eat meat and fish concentrate on eating pasture raised grass fed animals and wild caught fish.
You may think it is expensive to eat this way but the long term effects of chemical exposure to your food and the planet seems a lot more expensive to me.
#3: Connect with Nature
There is a reason you feel good when immersed in nature - listen to it. More and more we're chopping down trees for commercial use, to build housing, shops and more. There are areas close to where I live I no longer recognise due the rapid building of homes and apartments. I hope that as more people reconnect with nature and spend time outside, they will understand the importance of preserving land for future generations, investing in the soil and protecting wildlife.
There is a quote that says, "if you listen to your body when it whispers you won't have to hear it scream". I think the same applies to the earth, we're constantly being sent messages about the health of the planet. No part of the world is immune to climate change.
Nature has been proven to help with mental health. Ecotherapy helps with depression. Herbal remedies that can heal and boost health all come from Nature.
You can contribute by choosing responsibly sourced food, growing your own vegetables, reducing waste, choose energy efficient appliances, support brands that care about the planet and do your best to speak up and influence others around you.
#4: Nourish your gut
Roughly 70% of your immune system resides in your gut. You are home to a very large eco system.
Three easy ways to protect and support your gut health:
Eat Probiotics. Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts that help maintain balance in our bodies. You can take a probiotic supplement, but I love to get them from foods like kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, live yogurt, pickles or kombucha.
Prebiotics. Prebiotics are fibre, found in foods. Probiotics won't stick around for long without prebiotics to feed them. Leeks, onions, garlic, artichoke, banana and asparagus are just a few examples.
Reduce stress. Stress causes a lot of disruption to the eco system of the gut. Go for a walk outside, drink some calming tea, move your body, or find a way to slow things down.
#5: Movement
I spent some time in Ikaria, also known as the island, where people forget to die. Ikaria, is a "blue zone", a term coined to describe the places in the world where people live the longest. Eleni, local to Ikaria spoke to me about the importance of movement and the role it plays in longevity. Her Grandmother lived to 104. Right up to the end of her life she would walk across her fields to pick fresh herbs (purposefully planted far from her front door) and make fresh sourdough bread, which requires good strength. Movement doesn't have to mean the gym; it is whatever works for you and makes you feel good.
#6: Making time to pause
During my studies with IIN, Joshua Rosenthal spoke about how many health symptoms arise because we push ourselves too hard. To be successful at something you have to find the time to recover and recharge. In fact, the more you rest the more productive you can be. In a world that celebrates hustling and overworking this can be hard. If you are overdemanding of your body, there is a high chance that you could be functioning from a place of stress. And stress can cause fatigue, mental blocks, and hinder creativity.
#7: Experiences over things
A Spanish friend of mine told me a phrase which translates to "you can't take it with you to the grave". She was referring to how the Spanish tend to spend their money on experiences and living life, not worrying too much about saving for homes and accumulating things. I've always loved experiencing new places or doing something different but this year I am going to pay extra attention to this.
#8: Support sustainable brands
Last year I made a pact with myself to reduce waste with special attention on my wardrobe. I want to do my best to support brands that are ethical, brands that provide good working conditions and are transparent in their process and raw materials. I think this applies not only to clothing but everything really.
One Final note on Resolutions
One final tip for resolutions, pick that issue that has been niggling at you for a while now, that something that you know deep down has got to go.
The reason I say this is because when there is enough desire (which sometimes is unfortunately brought about by some sort of pain or suffering), you will follow through with that change. Why because the benefit outweighs the pain of keeping things as they are.
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