Gentle Movement For The New Year

Happy 2023! So much of the rhetoric around celebrating a new year is based on productivity and diet culture. Hustle harder, go on a cleanse, lose weight, be the best version of you. This mindset often leaves us drained, and we give up on our resolutions two weeks into January.

But what if we shifted the focus to rest, renewal, and kindness? Humans are mammals and we naturally gravitate to a different pace of life during winter. Show yourself some of the compassion that you seek from others. Gentle, joy-based movement is one way to honor the slower, lower energy this time of year brings. Here are a few ideas.

Easy hikes

You get to decide what “easy” means to you. Whether it’s seeking out a mostly flat trail or a route that takes less than an hour, moving at your own pace while being surrounded by nature can be a form of moving meditation.

Walks through your city or town

We also love the notorious hot girl walk. Pop in your earbuds and play your favorite playlist, audiobook, or podcast. Or listen to the sounds of your city and really take in your surroundings. Whichever floats your boat. Take the pressure off of yourself to take a certain number of steps or even to walk to a specific destination if you don’t feel like it; let your body tell you how it wants to move.

Ice skating

Many skating rinks stay open through January and holiday season crowds will have subsided. Though ice skating can technically be quite an athletic activity, if you’re like us, you’ll be slowly hovering on the edge of the rink with a cup of hot chocolate in your mittened hands.

Yin Yoga

This practice is focused on long holds that help with deep muscle release and relaxation. The use of props and modifications are welcome in Yin Yoga and make it a great option for yoga newbies or those returning to their practice after a while.

The Bottom Line

Tune into your specific frequency and move in the way that best serves your energy. Tuning into your body’s frequency may look like closing your eyes and taking some deep breaths to ask your body what it needs, or trying several different types of movement until you find which one suits you in the moment. In addition to its benefits to our physical health, movement is such a great way to work through our stress, thoughts, and emotions. If you, like us, are chronically online, it can be easy to forget that we are physical beings. By honoring your body, you honor yourself as the beautiful, messy, imperfect, miraculous person that you are.

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