For the entire month of January, a small-talk question you cannot escape is “any new year’s resolutions?” For many of us, as the month crawls ceaselessly along, that question beckons in deep feelings of shame as we recognize that it took only a week for our resolutions to fall by the wayside as life returns to its exhausting, busy standard. However: what if, instead of depriving oneself of delicious food, or punishing your body at the gym, or trying to quantify wellness into a checklist that, when completed, will finally fix your life, we made new years resolutions joyful and whimsical. In the spirit of this idea, my resolutions are as follows: more live music. Go to the cinema (lots). Read longer, more unexpected, books. Move joyfully. Say yes to things. Cook a new cuisine.
Most people’s resolutions instead might look something like this: lose that stubborn 10 pounds. Eat less (processed food, junk food, or less food in general). Doom scroll less frequently. That is not to say that prioritizing psychological, spiritual, and physical health is not important, but rather entering into a new orbit around the sun thinking about scarcity will only ever lead to failure. Instead, think about what to enjoy more, do more, and live more. For a lot of people, enjoying physical movement, reading and creating, and experiencing life and culture will inevitably lead to those goals being achieved without the stress of feeling intentionally spiritually impoverished.
Doing things for yourself – like a trip to the spa to spend time alone or with loved ones cultivating peace – is key to going into the new year whimsical, joyfully, and with boundless energy. Treatments like sauna or steam create warmth and vitality in your body, which is then transferred to your spirit. Why is it that come January, we usher in the very depth of winter – especially somewhere like Calgary where it seems the desolation and darkness is endless – yet we are expected to move on from the warm festivity of December and deprive our bodies and minds of warmth? Why is January the month of asceticism when we should really continue to enjoy mulled wine, hot chocolate, beautiful displays of lights, gathering around the fire, and warming our bodies at a spa.
At Oasis, our wellness philosophy does not involve deprivation; it involves cultivation.
This blog post is 100% organic