Let’s unpack the popular phrase “New Year, New You”. Notice anything problematic about it? New Year Resolutions suggests that your current life isn’t good enough—or worse, that it requires a drastic change. While progress is essential for personal growth, you don’t have to switch up everything in your life if you don’t want to, you don’t need to, or if right now, it isn’t possible. For many – especially racialized individuals navigating systemic barriers, these societal pressures can feel overwhelming rather than empowering. Growth matters, but it doesn’t mean tearing yourself down in pursuit of an ideal that may not even align with your reality.
Listen to Your Body: Symptoms Are It’s Way of Communicating
Instead of stressing over New Year’s resolutions for 2025, tune in to what your mind and body are telling you. If you’re constantly pushing through burnout without proper rest, your body will force it—whether through exhaustion or illness. Symptoms are its way of communicating with you. Pay attention and care for yourself accordingly. If you feel at peace with where you are, your body is telling you there’s no need to do more right now.
Engage Your Right Hemisphere:
If work left you feeling drained this week, it might be time to give your left hemisphere – the one that controls logic and reasoning – a break. Instead, engage your right hemisphere by diving into something creative and recharge your soul. Engaging in creative pursuits produces dopamine. According to Forbes, this feel-good chemical is released when you enter a state of flow or succeed at creating a result. Creative repetitive tasks force you into a state of flow. So reframe your free time. Think about what’s calling you. Just because others are training for a marathon doesn’t mean you have to follow in their footsteps if that doesn’t resonate with you. If what you are craving is playing guitar or spending quality time with your sister, honor that feeling and make it happen!
Winter Calls For Resting and Reflecting:
Move at your own pace—or better yet, at nature’s pace. There’s a reason bears hibernate in the winter: it’s a season of rest and renewal. Spring, on the other hand, is known as a season of “re-birth,” when the world awakens and flowers begin to bloom, making for a much better time to set resolutions, if you choose to make them. Social media often magnifies external pressures, convincing you that success means waking up at 6:00 a.m. for Pilates or quitting your job to travel. But true growth comes from aligning with what genuinely serves you, not what trends dictate.
Beyond Resolutions: Evidence-Based & Culturally Responsive Strategies
- Cognitive Reframing (CBT-Based Approach) – Restructuring Negative Thought Patterns
Identify automatic negative thoughts, challenge their accuracy by seeking evidence, and replace them with balanced perspectives that foster self-compassion. - Behavioral Activation – Overcoming Low Mood & Burnout
Recognize how action influences mood and break the cycle of inactivity by engaging in small but meaningful activities, even when motivation is low. Start with simple actions like journaling, where you track emotions, identify patterns, and set intentions. Incorporate movement—whether it’s stretching, walking, or dancing—to release endorphins and combat stagnation. Creative outlets like painting, music, or cooking can provide a sense of accomplishment, while social connection, even through a brief conversation, can shift emotional states. - Somatic Therapy – Releasing Trauma Stored in the Body
Regulate the nervous system through progressive muscle relaxation (PMR), vagus nerve stimulation (deep breathing, humming, cold water exposure), and grounding exercises, with textured objects or weighted blankets. - Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) – Regulating Emotional Responses
Use mindfulness meditation, breath awareness, and body scanning, while applying the RAIN technique (Recognize, Allow, Investigate, Nurture) to process emotions with self-compassion. - Cultural & Ancestral Healing – Reconnecting with Identity & Community
Engage in cultural rituals, storytelling, plant-based healing, and community gatherings to strengthen resilience and find collective support in identity-based healing.
There’s a deeply ingrained societal misconception that independence means doing everything on your own. Sometimes, you need to ask for help, and recognizing when you need to do so is far more important than checking off any new year’s resolution.
If you are struggling with your mental health, emotion regulation, or addiction, please call us at (416) 787-3007 ext. 222 or email us at info@acrossboundaries.ca. You can find our service users testimony HERE.
