This week I’ve been teaching winter solstice reflection themed classes – sensual yoga flows that cultivate lunar, calming, yin energy. I invite you to create that same type of energy this week in your practice.

This energy comes at such a ripe time. Right when life starts to get super chaotic, it’s nice to remember that now is the time to look inward, reflect, let go, and start anew.

If you celebrate Christmas, this year will be the first time in 38 years that there will be a full moon on Christmas Day! Such a wonderful time to reflect and practice peace with ourselves and toward others.

Winter Seasonal Check-In

If you’ve never done a seasonal check-in with me before, I’m diving even deeper this time to give you some reflection questions and prompts to think about as you look back over the past 3 months and the past year.

I find it’s easier to set intentions and goals for three months at a time vs. setting New Year’s Resolutions. Committing to one goal all year doesn’t leave a whole lot of room for growth and change. The reality is our minds and lives change quite frequently and it’s impossible to know what’s going to be happening 6 months from now. Checking in every season is more in tune with nature and much more manageable when it comes to tracking and accomplishing goals.

If you didn’t tune in for last year’s Healthy Habits Series, I suggest you read my blog on setting intentions. Setting intentions is a nicer way to live in the world then chasing countless goals. Goals don’t always serve the bigger picture of our lives whereas intentions are malleable and can easily be applied to anything we choose to pursue. Intentions can also help us align our decision-making process with our truest values. Before I give you some reflection questions, I’ll share with you my year.

My 2015

My 2015 was VERY FULL.

On January 1, 2015 I became a full-time yoga instructor! Since then I’ve added 9 private clients to my list, taught hundreds and hundreds of hours of yoga, became e-RYT certified through Yoga Alliance (this means I’ve taught over 1,000 hours of yoga since my original 200-hour certification in 2011), graduated from the Yoga Tune Up® Level One Teacher Training, taught 5 workshops, coached, led, and taught in 3 rounds of 200-hour Teacher Trainings, completed Conscious Business Design with ideas to increase my programs and yoga offerings online, launched my yoga nidra CD, taught at a women’s leadership retreat in Delaware, and enrolled in a 500-hour yoga training with an emphasis on teaching therapeutic yoga in private settings. Whew! That’s a lot of training :)

I spent lots of time with family in Ohio.

I got married!!!

My husband and I bought a house and moved down the street!

My parents bought a house and moved from my childhood home — down the street :)

I vacationed in Hilton Head Island, Costa Rica, and I’ll end the year in Montreal.

When I write it all out it seems like a lot but I’m most proud that through it all I’ve been able to stay relatively grounded.

My intentions for 2016

Expansion: In 2016 I want to expand my practice – both personally and professionally.

Connection: I want to expand connections with friends, family, and the yoga community at large.

Adventure: I want to travel more.

Abundance: I want to stay calm and grounded and bask in abundance and be grateful for the wonderful people in my life.

Confidence: I want to strengthen my commitment to this path I’ve chosen and see self-doubt diminish.

Self-care: I want to be more intentional about taking time off and being present with the people around me.

Your Turn

Now it’s time for you to grab your journal or a piece of paper and start to think about your year. I actually had to take out my calendar and go through it month by month to remember everything I’ve done! In the next week or so, make sure you take some time for yourself to really reflect and get some ideas about how you want 2016 to go.

What did you accomplish in your personal life in 2015?
What did you accomplish in your professional life in 2015?
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
How did yoga play a part in your life in 2015?
What do you wish to expand in your life?
What do you wish to shine more light on?
What is your intention for the next 3 months?
How does that intention apply to your goals for the first 3 months of 2016?
What can you let go of?
What are you ready for?
How do you want yoga to fit into your life in 2016?

If and when I ever have employees, my rule will always be that everyone gets to take off the last 2 weeks of the year. It’s this time of year when we really get the chance to rest before gearing up for the year ahead.

So, I’m off to rest for the next week or so. There will be no new blog or Wellness Wednesday Newsletter next week, but I’ll be back again in 2016!

Happy Holiday! Happy New Year! Happy Solstice! Happy resting :)

By Ashley Josephine

I started practicing yoga to stay in shape and release stress. What I learned was how to love my life. How to have faith. How to find your community of people who support you and love you unconditionally. How to get back control. Today, it is my mission to help busy Type-A overachiever women like me gain back control of their lives, live pain-free, and love the life they want to live through yoga lifestyle practices. Visit www.ashleyjosephine.com to get free yoga lifestyle tips to help live healthier, happier, and pain-free.