Apparently, it’s the hardest month of the year. All the motivation slowly seeps away and before you know it, you’re asking yourself, ‘what’s the point?’ and diving for the wine and the biscuit tin. You may be experiencing a strong desire to run to the sun, feel sand in your toes and sip Pina Coladas for breakfast. A bit of water aerobics maybe, to justify all those extra calories (take it from me, Pina Colados are fully loaded) or a little jog on the sand just for a minute or two (it’s hard jogging on sand). But instead you’re here, with all your new year resolutions fading away, dreading the heating bill and longing for the smell of cut grass and barbecues. See how easy it is to shift from Pina Coladas to ‘poor me’?  Let’s stick with the day dreaming, dreams are far more motivational.

I have become acutely aware of all of those wonderful smells and tastes we take for granted since Covid robbed me of both. I am someone who finds such joy in food and cooking, so this has probably been the hardest challenge of all this month. It’s amazing how something like that can have such a huge affect on how you feel. But, in true Isobel stylie, I am seeking pleasure elsewhere. I’m planning (holidays) and scheming (projects), reading more, writing more (you can unsubscribe, I’ll understand), getting into bed early (my winter bedding from Dunelm is SO toasty warm) and binge watching Netflix (how good was season 2 of The White Lotus?). There really is joy to be found in these simple things. I have even been doing an online ‘Breath Work’ course to support all the mind-blowing information I am gathering from Breath, a revelatory book by James Astor – it’s life changing, you’ve got to read it.

I’ve managed to get a couple of worthwhile jobs done too, like the online booking system for my Classes  and I’m sticking to my plan of going to sleep earlier, because I know if I steer off course the February blues will really kick in.  I’ve written some more about this below. I’m sharing all of this in the genuine hope it inspires you to find your mojo (if it’s missing, that is) and see this as a time to really nurture your Vitality during these Winter months, whilst thinking about how you want the rest of the year to look.

I truly believe that this is what we’re meant to do at this time of year, sync ourselves with nature – sleep more, harvest our energy, hunker down, eat more carbs (good ones preferably) and wait for the Spring. And if this winter sunshine affords us anything, it’s the opportunity to go for lovely long walks, wrapped up warm and listen for Nature’s signals that Spring really is just around the corner.

See you on the other side.