NEW YEAR, NEW TRICKS (and some old ones too)

Enjoying the sunshine on our favorite morning sun spot. Also known as my office!

January 2025 newsletteR

Uusi Vuosi, Uudet Kujeet

(No newsletter goes by without some Finnish)

The holiday season is over for most of us. I really enjoyed mine, and I hope you enjoyed yours. My two weeks were pretty chilled. There were no big trips and no visitors this year, I mainly stayed at home, started new projects, and enjoyed the lake. Summer is truly my time of the year, I could stay in the sun 24h! One day walking back from the lake my partner commented that I’m the least Finnish-looking Finn he’s ever met. Instead of blond hair, fair skin, and blue eyes, I’m all shades of brown and orange, it just me practicing for my next life, reborn as a ginger cat, haha. Sunlight is energy, and we should all enjoy it, calibrate our circadian rhythm, and charge our batteries well for an amazing year 2025!

How did everyone’s festive season go from a well-being perspective? I would love to hear about your success stories and possible struggles as well. Mine was pretty good, apart from a few late nights and some wine. I got back into a really good yoga routine and, swimming daily, so I was off to a good start for the new year. I did make a few promises to myself that I have managed to keep, at least until now. One of them is daily journaling, it is like one of my friends said, free therapy. In addition to writing my thoughts down, I make notes of sleep time, fasting time, exercise, supplements, and food, to hopefully be able to tell what’s causing my joint pains that are still lingering around. This is something I keep reminding you guys regularly. Especially for some of you who are struggling with chronic or severe health issues, it makes so much difference, to be aware and be able to understand how certain habits and events make things worse or better. Human memory and mind are not reliable sources, they forget and alter reality. Another big promise is to do more creative stuff, I love it, but it’s definitely something I neglect. Currently, I’m creating some changes around my workspace and also have bought more acrylic paints to start painting more cat pictures, haha. If you are struggling with creativity and play, I highly recommend listening to The Power of Vulnerability by Brene Brown, you can find it in Audible (probably somewhere else as well) I have listened to it at least 3 times, and I still find it useful. Creating time that you are doing either nothing or something that really brings you joy is extremely important, but we often forget it as adults. When was the last time you sat down to watch as the clouds go by without any agenda?

This month's challenge, buy a journal/calendar and write a few things every day. Writing takes 2mins of your evening, obviously more if you want to embrace the change, but a little bit is better than nothing. I have encouraged this in the past few newsletters, so do it now if you haven’t yet. Another one is to be. Sounds simple but seems to be really tough. Sit down minimum 5mins a day, just breathe, let thoughts go by don’t engage with them, no phone, no recordings, no TV, nothing. Sounds easy, but can be a real challenge! This is the first step of meditation and it’s good for the soul. Stopping also provokes creativity, so if that’s something you struggle with you need it badly. There will be a sign coming up to the porch about this as well, so you will be reminded every time you come for treatment. Do nothing time is important business.

Good to be back at work, thanks for keeping me busy❤️

Love

Kaisa❤️🐾