March: An Alternative New Year?
Here at Elements Counselling and Nutrition, we’re all about the power of the sun, the sunshine, sunrise and every sunrise representing new beginnings and opportunities.
This week, this philosophy has been brought into sharper focus than it has been in previous months as the sun has made its first consistent appearance in several months. And what a difference it makes!
With the start of meteorological Spring on Saturday, which coincided with 1st March and this beautiful weather, it felt like a new year.
The whole New Year/New Me culture that comes round on 1st January has never appealed to me. No resolutions, dry January, detox or exercise routine for me.
Why?
Because we’re still in the thick of the darkness. It’s hard to be motivated when its dark, cold and we’re all still tired from the festive season. During the time when we need self-care the most, why put unnecessary pressure on ourselves to achieve? We’re setting ourselves up for failure. I prefer to embrace the hibernation and give my body what it needs during January. I’m still Wintering.
Come March and that‘s when my motivation picks up. Here in the Forest of Dean, we see lambs being born by the roadside and wandering along with their mothers, as well as road signs warning us of toads crossing. These are all daily reminders of new beginnings and opportunity.
Being a follower of nature’s rhythm, I feel a direct link to the flowers poking through the soil, the buds on the trees and of course, the light. The light! Just waking up in either day light or that navy blue morning promise and experiencing longer evenings makes such a huge difference to my motivation and hopes for the future.
As such, I’ve been making plans for the practice and will be launching a series of workshops focussing self-care, compassion fatigue & secondary trauma, navigating mental health during menopause and nutrition for mental health. If you’d like to know more, please contact me for further information.
I am offering Walk & Talk counselling sessions in the Forest of Dean, Symonds Yat and along the River Wye in Ross. Drawing parallels with our own lives while watching the river flow by can be hugely powerful in a therapeutic setting. Therapy in nature can be so beneficial when we consider the different seasons of our own lives.
March, the longer days and the impending summer can also be a time for us to become more in touch with what we need in order to grow. For nature around us, the lighter days and warmer weather encourages growth. Seeking therapy can be one way of establishing what you need to grow and develop.
During Springtime we live in hope and with the promise of good things to come. I can help you overcome the barriers that you may have in order to fully thrive.
Over the coming weeks I will be sowing more seeds that will flower in the Summer months. What seeds do you need to sow now in order to thrive in the coming months?