Begin Gently: Let Nature Guide You
At the turn of a new year, there’s often an unspoken pressure to reinvent ourselves. To set bold resolutions, make sweeping changes, and emerge renewed almost overnight. But this year, I’m choosing a different beginning — a gentle awakening.
No long list of goals. No urgency to be more or different. There is still plenty of room for growth here — it just doesn’t need to be visible yet.
Just like in nature, much of winter’s growth happens below the ground.
Intention over outcome
Rather than focusing on outcomes or achievements, I’m beginning the year by setting intentions. An intention isn’t something to reach or complete — it’s something to live by.
For me, this often looks like choosing a quality or value to act as a North Star for the year. Something that gently guides my choices, rather than a fixed goal that can quickly turn into pressure or self-judgement.
Goals ask, “Did I succeed or fail and did I do enough?”
Values ask, “Am I moving in the direction that matters to me?”
This subtle shift makes all the difference.
Values as roots
Values work quietly, like roots beneath the soil. They don’t always show on the surface, but they provide stability, nourishment, and direction.
When I centre my year around values rather than goals, I start paying attention to what I need in order to live them:
- Nourishing connections with people who lift me up
- Time and space to rest and listen
- Small daily rituals that help me feel healthy and happy
These aren’t dramatic changes. They’re gentle, repeatable actions – and that’s where their power lies.
Sustainable habits and the wisdom of yoga
Yoga has taught me that sustainable habits are what truly create change.
An old teacher of mine used to say:
“Just roll your mat out every day without expectation and see what happens.”
Not every practice needs to be strong or deep or impressive. What matters is the willingness to show up — again and again — without demanding a particular outcome.
I think life works the same way.
Rather than setting rigid goals that can lead to disappointment, it’s often kinder — and wiser — to take right action in the direction we wish to go. One breath. One step. One small choice at a time.
Showing up
Earlier this year, I asked my yoga teacher and mentor how to build my classes. Her response was simple:
“Just keep showing up.”
Sound advice for yoga – and for life.
Showing up doesn’t mean having it all figured out. It doesn’t mean feeling motivated every day or being perfectly consistent. It means meeting ourselves where we are, with honesty and care, and choosing to stay in relationship with the practice.
A gentle beginning
So this is my invitation for the year ahead.
Begin gently. Let intention guide you more than expectation. Choose values that feel like home in your body. Tend to your roots.
And trust that what needs to grow will do so in its own time – just as the snow melts, the light slowly returns and spring begins to emerge.
Wherever this year leads, may we meet it by simply showing up as we are.
Winter invitation: Winter Glow Mini Retreat
If you’re craving space to slow down, reconnect, and begin the year gently, you’re warmly invited to my Winter Glow Mini Retreat on 7 February in Breakish, Skye.
A nourishing half-day to support rest and renewal through:
- Gentle yoga and mindful movement
- A warming vegetarian soup lunch and herbal teas
- A deeply relaxing wood-fired sauna session
This retreat is an opportunity to step out of the busyness of winter, tend to your roots, and set intentions for the months ahead – supported by movement, warmth, and community.
✨ Spaces are limited. You can find full details and booking information via the link below.
Begin gently. Let yourself be held by the season.
