How to Start the New Year Strong and Well
This week you get lots of advice about how to stick with New Years resolutions and achieve your goals. However, often these are brain-based approaches. Neuroscientists know the process of habit formation is a whole-person event.
In this article, I give you a science-based way to start the new year strong and well. The great part is, it's simple because it's already wired into your cells. The challenge is, our media messages about moving our body more often are moving stressed rather than moving well so we forget how foundational this skill is for all health habits. I've broken it down into four steps for you here.
When you restore the ability to move well you regain access to greater whole-person energy, confidence, clarity, and focus. The skill of moving well, rather than moving stressed, changes your brain and body chemistry so whether you are eating, meditating, exercising, or you do it in the Well State rather than the stress state.
Clarify My Core Why. This is the one word that restores intrinsic motivation. As I shared in this article, this is the source of motivation that is most lasting. When you know your Core Why, you have an internal compass that guides you through challenges. This is the essential first step to starting the new year strong and well. Learn how by clicking here.
Plan to enjoy 5-30 min a day to Be Well Now. Before you take action, setting aside time to shift your cells from stress to well gives you a baseline each day to ensure you are not choosing what to eat and how to handle challenges in the stress state. Choose a time of day that would work best for you, and know that it's not the amount of time but the consistency that creates changes. Having a range of 5-30 minutes gives you a boundary to know that even if you are busy, you know how to get the most from five minutes to be well now.
Rewire your foundation of alignment > core support > hinge. These three steps are the foundational principles for moving with strength and ease. They can get lost in media, however, that focuses on moving to burn calories and fix the problem of your body. This foundation was wired in your cells when you were born. Restore this foundation and you embody trust that you can move to Be Well Now. Click here to learn the why and how of this foundational, yet often overlooked skill.
Enjoy a balance of mobility, strength and stamina. These are the three-movement skills your body needs to do what you want to do in life. When you build on that strong foundation of movement from step three to practice a balance of mobility, strength and stamina types of movements, you tell your body you want to use the food you eat to keep the ability to do what matters most to you for as long as possible. When you do them mindfully, you restore whole person calm, clarity, and confidence to take with you through the rest of your day.
These follow the movement science principles I shared in this article, to restore trust in your body. Moving well to Be Well Now sets you up to Nourish Well and Rest Well. You have a way to metabolize emotions before they turn into chronic stress. That means you are not as vulnerable to the food industry's tricks to keep you using food to manage stress. The struggles with sticking with an exercise program or eating plan fade away when you have this strong whole-person, yet often skipped-over foundation.
Start the new year strong and well by restoring the ability to move well. The Big Three Health Habits of eating healthy, exercising regularly, and managing stress will happen with greater ease, sustainability, and enjoyment!
Share this with someone you know who wants to celebrate December in the Well State.
Does Pain Get in Your Way?
Get guidance from a clinical exercise physiologist and health coach to learn how to exercise to reduce, not increase pain so you can do more of what you love this year. Spend the first six months of 2025 restoring your mobility, strength, and stamina in a way that reduces stress, and inflammation and improves self motivation.
