Hello friends and Happy New Year!

How are you feeling right now? Full of energy to start all your new resolutions and big projects? Or just kinda…tired?

On January 1^st I had a weird amount of energy. Even the hubs noticed and was confused. Or amused. Or annoyed, I’m not sure. I think I felt the excitement of the new year, the promise of a new chapter, the allure of a clean slate.

So I cleaned my entire office, getting rid of all the random stuff that had accumulated on the floor, on the chair, throwing out and recycling piles of paper, even sitting down on the floor for a quick craft project to crop two t-shirts and a sweatshirt that had been sitting in a pile long awaiting some attention. No stones unturned. It felt good. I proudly showed off my clean floor to the hubs the next morning and he was genuinely impressed.

The excitement continued that next day when I started having a great idea about creating a workshop for the following week and figuring out how I could make this happen. New year, new chapter, HERE WE COME. Full steam ahead.

But then…the next day I had a lot less energy. And the next day, even less. On an off day, the hubs and I turned off our alarms and cancelled our plans so we could keep snoozing until nearly 1pm! Suddenly I was really feeling the exhaustion from the busyness that can often accompany the holidays. And I was being faced with the message of this season of deep winter and noticing how out of balance I was with it.

I started noticing how many emails I was getting everyday inviting us to this new year and new you, with new programs to start and new things to buy to make this the Best. Year. Ever. And while well-intentioned, I started to wish I was hearing a different message.

From my sleepy state, I started to wish that someone would say, it’s ok to do less.

While January is the beginning of a new calendar year, it is also the dead of winter and a time of full yin energy. A time for resting and reflecting and hibernating and yes, doing less. It is the springtime and Nature’s New Year with the Spring Equinox in March that will truly call us out of our caves, and with an energy of new beginnings that feels natural. If we don’t do something with all the new beginning energy that swarms us in the springtime, we usually end up feeling quite anxious or jittery. We must do. But this time of year, too much doing will just quickly exhaust us.

If you’re feeling guilty or confused or mis-aligned with all the messaging about new beginnings that’s coming at you right now, this is someone saying, it’s ok to do less. More importantly, give yourself permission to do less. Allow yourself to move into alignment with the energy of the winter season. Enjoy this time of yin energy.

Allow yourself time for sleeping more, and for dreaming more. Not only night dreaming, but daydreaming as well. This is such a perfect time of year for simply envisioning what it is we might like to do or create this year, without actually having to rush to put it into action just yet.

Don’t force yourself to muster up a ton of energy that maybe you just don’t have right now. Honor the amount of energy that you do have, and find the spaces in your life where you can adjust to accommodate that. Life isn’t meant to be a full-on race 365 days a year. There are periods of waxing and waning for a reason. Start to notice this, and allow yourself to move into alignment with this natural ebb, even in very small ways at first.

For me, when I shift back into alignment with the energy of the season I’m in, it feels really, really good in a very soul-nourishing way. When I align with this deep yin energy of winter, I find that I naturally want to turn inward and do some self-exploration, some soul-spelunking. I love to use this as a time to get to know myself better, whether that’s reading an interesting nonfiction book, cruising around online for self-exploration articles or quizzes, or hiring a healer or coach for some extra guidance and attention.

I also love to use this as a time to seek clarity on what’s next. We can get into such an autopilot mode about doing the exact same things day after day, year after year, decade after decade. What if we took some time each year to stop and assess, to ponder, am I living the life my soul intended? Is something missing? Is there something new that excites me, or a thread of interest I’d love to follow? If I allowed myself to make a change, what would it be?

Winter is an excellent time for pondering, because there’s no pressure to do. We don’t have to have it all figured out just yet. We can take some time to simply dream.

✨ Practical Dreaming ✨

To help you in your dreaming and to do this in a way that feels useful and do-able, I encourage you to order your copy of the book I created last year, Soul Healing & Spirit Dancing: A Seasonal Journey to Embody the Balance, Peace & Joy that is Your Birthright. Each chapter of the book correlates to a month of the year, and each chapter contains one tangible, unique practice for you to play around with each month.

The January chapter is a short and sweet dive into this deepest, darkest month of winter. It explores how can we honor this new chapter in our lives in a way that is more in alignment with the yin energy of this season.

The January practice will take you on a step-by-step journey working with oracle cards, and then you’ll use the information gained to sync up with the energy of the first New Moon of the year to cast a vision for the year ahead. I love working with oracle cards. I always have cards from multiple decks lying around my yoga room! And desk. And sometimes kitchen.

Last January I created a 4-Directions Oracle Card Spread for myself as a way to reflect on the year past and create some clarity for the year ahead. I loved the practice so much that I included it in the book.

Be sure to pick up the book, Soul Healing & Spirit Dancing, to check out the detailed practice and connect more deeply to the energy of this time of the year!

Happy dreaming and visioning! This January, may you rest well, may you know yourself more deeply, and may you nourish your soul by giving yourself permission to do less. ✨

A Look Inside the Book: Table of Contents

The Table of Contents will give you a feel for the whole book, and how it naturally moves along with each season.

You’ll notice the book begins with the month of March instead of January…if you’ve read the above, I think you’ll now understand why!

But it’s also designed so that you can jump into the book in whatever month you find yourself in.

I recommend first reading the Preface and Introduction at the beginning of the book, as well as the Winter Intro on page 233. But then hop on into January, which you’ll find towards the end of the book.

Enjoy your journey! ✨

P.S. If you’re already loving the book, would you please consider leaving a review on whatever site you purchased it from? Reviews will help the book to look more legitimate and assist other buyers in knowing if it’s right for them!
THANK YOU!