TCM & Your New Year's Resolutions

Christmas and most of the holidays are over (you can let that breath out that you've been holding), and this week we look forward to the upcoming brand new year 2012.  It's just around the corner, can you believe it?  Today's #TCMTuesday blog is about how TCM can help you define and meet the goals you set for yourself in the New Year as Resolutions. 

I realize that this is not a favorite topic to some people - and many people dread making any Resolutions at all.  I ask you to just bear with me through a few paragraphs, because the message that I want to say to those of you who think this way is simply that your goal-setting does NOT have to be a stumbling block that brings you only disappointment and failure.  Your Resolutions for the New Year should bring you Joy and a sense of personal Peace.  But I will get there in a minute.

First, I want to talk about the first step of the New Year's Resolution:  What kind of goals do you typically set?

Well, if you're like most Americans, your weight and waistline is probably #1 on the list of things to change about yourself.  One's own body image is an amazing motivator, especially in the beginning of the year when people, and the media at large, are focused on self-improvement. There are, of course, other goals that people set, such as quitting a bad habit, seeking further education, better wealth sources and management, finding and expounding upon spirituality, doing community service, and other positive affirmations.  I think that the New Year is a period when people's minds are the most open to enlightenment and new experiences, and because there is a feeling of commonality between friends and acquaintances making similar Resolutions, the peer pressure of accountability for the goals you have set helps to keep people on track.

But, as you also probably know, either from reading about it or personal experience, many people somehow get lost along the way to achieving the goal they have set.  Have you ever stopped to think about why this happens?

The short answer is hard to hear, but it is the truth: the behavior that led to the place that you didn't want to be is still present, and it is working against you.

The reason that this is hard to hear is that it insinuates very realistically that you are accountable for your actions, and implies further that there are no excuses that can be made as to why you got to a point where you had to make a resolution to change your life in the first place.  Personal accountability is one of life's greatest battles, and in my humble opinion, one of the main mental/emotional causes of depression.  But it doesn't necessarily have to be that way.

, and certainly in broad strokes, TCM is a form of medicine which helps with most any personal Resolution goals because we have the ability to define "balance" based on an individual's personal situation.  We are all different, environmentally and genetically, and working with (not against) those nuances that make you who you are is how anyone can achieve balance in their lives.

In the example of a weight loss Resolution mentioned above, diving head-first into a crash elimination diet and intense exercise plan starting January 1, if that is not what you are mentally and physically prepared for, is an act of futility.  You are setting yourself up for failure, which has a lingering (and often disastrous) effect on your body image perception and ultimately your feelings of self-worth.  However, if you were to make the Resolution to set appointments in your busy schedule to go for a 30 minute walk three times a week and have some "you" time, keep a journal of the days that you walk and how you feel about yourself, your goal, and your life in general, can you see how this is something that is much more achievable and is not difficult to do?  TCM can help you find and define a reasonable set of goals, and support you along your life-long journey to improve yourself.  This is because TCM is a whole-body perspective on medicine, inherently balanced, which means treatments are tailored specifically to your needs individually.

So, I would like to make a suggestion to you for 2012, if I may be so bold.  I challenge you to make Resolutions that result in personal Inspiration, Happiness, and inner contentment; something that is about you defining the person you are or want to be, and planning attainable steps to reach that goal.  I challenge you to make a Resolution, or more than one, that not only recognizes an area that you feel you need to make an improvement, but to make it in such a way that you open yourself up to new possibilities to find Peace, Harmony and Joy.  If you have questions, I'm here to help.

Happy New Year to all of you, I wish you the very best that life has to offer along your personal journey. 

--Marissa Byrum, AP, DOM, Dipl. Ac., is an associate at Ideal Balance Center for Acupuncture and Integrative Medicine in Temple Terrace, FL.