How are you getting on with your New Year’s Resolutions? Are you still doing Dry January, Veganuary and hitting the gym three times a week?
Chances are you’re not, because research from the Baylor College of Medicine shows 88% of people who set New Year’s resolutions give them up within the first two weeks.
This is generally because people set themselves unrealistic, hefty expectations.
The first few weeks of the year are often filled with an intense desire for self-improvement and while the idea of ‘New year, new me’ sounds appealing to many, the most important thing to know when setting resolutions or goals is to focus on progression, not perfection.
It’s crucial when setting yourself a goal you do so mindfully, the worst thing you can do is put too much pressure on yourself and cause a burn out or resentment towards yourself.
Sophie Edwards, from Liverpool Pilates Hub, said: “A mindset I encourage all of my clients to foster is rather than focusing on numbers going down, focus on numbers going up, such as the length of time you can run for, the weight you can lift or the amount of time you can hold the plank.”
Sophie says: “This simple shift fosters positivity, confidence and a feeling of accomplishment and will help you stay in a healthy state of mind.”
It’s so easy to get hung up on numbers and ideas especially at this time of year but knowing there’s support out there in terms of friends, family and professionals can be vital when getting stuck in any unhealthy habits or an uneasy mindset of pressure amongst yourself.
Research published in the British Journal of Health Psychology reveals just 10 minutes of mindfulness daily boosts wellbeing and fights depression.
Mindfulness is a mental state achieved by focusing awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations.
There are thousands of practices you can take part in for a calmer state of mind and to allow your body to breath such as meditation, yoga and walking in nature.
In Liverpool we are blessed with an abundance of fantastic mindfulness events daily.
A simple search will surface dozens of events for people to engross themselves in and an event particularly favourable with the younger generations is the Girls on The Go events who engage women together to help them create new connections in the city and they have something pretty much every day of January.
Featured image (c) Melanie Dook
