March On: Simple Steps to Maintain Your Wellness Goals

Spring can be a powerful time to initiate or revisit a health and wellness regimen.  If we take the cue from Mother Nature, spring is a time of rebirth and renewal.  We’re not quite out of winter yet, but there’s so much happening just beneath the surface that in a few short weeks, we’ll see everything come back to life!

For many people, starting a resolution is easy at first.  You’re chalk full of enthusiasm and dedication, but then the motivation begins to wane as we are met with challenges and set backs, and soon we find ourselves back where we started.  The real culprit here is not our ideas or goals of being healthier, but how we are going about it.  The real question is: how do we stay motivated to achieve them?

It’s safe to say that you won’t magically wake up one day and have all the motivation in the world to accomplish all of your goals at once (if you do, please share your secret!).  However, you can wake up and make the conscious choice to start.  Even if it’s a small step in the direction of your goals, it’s still progress.  Breaking your goals down into baby steps helps you to track how far you’ve come, and helps reaching them feel less overwhelming.

You will be amazed at how different you can feel when you start to make your physical and mental health a priority. Join us this month and “March on” with your health and wellness goals!

1. Know Your “Why.”  This is the most important step, as it allows you to really think about the reason you are looking to make healthy changes in your life in the first place.  Whether it’s to lose a few pounds to feel healthier in your body and reduce the risk of disease, or it’s to feel less stressed in your day-to-day routine.  Whatever your “why” is, write it down so you have it as a reminder to keep you motivated along your journey.  Focus on the long-term benefits of your “why.”  This is your launch pad!

2. Write Down Your Plan.  Staying motivated when it comes to making self-care a priority can feel overwhelming if you’re trying to do it all at once.  Track your steps and you will have a diary of how far you have come which will help you keep motivated. For example, if you’re looking to gain flexibility, take a picture of you on day 1 trying to touch your toes. Take the picture again after taking 15 yoga classes and see how far you have come!  If you’re trying to lose weight, perhaps take day 1 pictures and measurements and check back in after 30 days of eating a healthy, whole-food diet. Documenting progress helps us to realize the fruit of our efforts when we look back at our journey as a whole from start to finish.

3. Buddy Up.  You are likely to stay motivated and moving in the right direction if you have a friend or a community of like-minded individuals to support you.  From encouraging you to stick to your health and self-care goals, to being there by your side along the way, knowing you have a group to share this experience with will help you stay compliant with the important goal you are working toward.

4. Be Kind To Yourself.  Reaching a goal isn’t linear.  It can have ups and downs, but as long as you keep moving, even baby steps in the right direction are progress.  They say it take 4 weeks for you to notice your body changing, 8 weeks for your friends and family to notice and 12 weeks for the rest of the world to notice.  Just because you don’t see results overnight, there is so much happening beneath the surface. Staying committed means that you will see your hard work and dedication in due time.  Spring reminds us of that!

5. Move!  As New Yorkers we have so much available to us with just a short car or train ride.  From taking a walk in the local park to spending some time in nature, to signing up for classes at Emerge . . . when you move your body, you get a healthy dose of happy hormones, which supports heart health and reduces stress.   With over 60+ classes offered every week at Emerge, fitting classes into your weekly schedule is easier than ever.  All that’s left to do is show up!