Beating the February Fizzle

January rolls around every year and we see a barrage of year end reflections and new year, new me proclamations appearing in our social media feeds.

We all know the drill, make a new year’s resolution or an intention for the year, give it the best you’ve got in January (which is often very little, because we are mammals, in the depths of winter and we tend to not have a lot of energy going spare at this time of year), and fizzle out by the time that February rolls around.

It’s a bit depressing really when you think about it, and yet so many people go through this process every single year.

So, what can you do about it? 

Well, some people just give up; this is equally as depressing!

Ultimately, we are living beings and we don’t like to be in a static state. We are made of energy which is constantly striving to express itself, and without a goal or an intention, that energy has nowhere to go.  So, we find ourselves coasting and feeling a bit unfulfilled.

So, what else do we have available to us as options? We could choose to do our goal and intention setting at a different time of the year that would be more supportive of us being successful.

In steps the Celtic Wheel of the Year teachings to offer us a potentially useful framework.  The sole purpose of this pre-Christian calendar is to help you connect with nature and its cycles.  It encourages you to live in tune with the energy of the current season by asking you to pause, reflect and celebrate at eight different points in the year.

The first celebration point in the calendar is Imbolc on the 1st February.  This marks the half way point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.

In Britain at this time of year, we start to see the first glimmers of new life emerging around us in the outside world.  Spring bulbs burst out of the frost hardened earth and birds start their annual bid to find a mate by rising in chorus as dawn arrives.  Our energy too starts to rise to greet the world again.

Imbolc is traditionally associated with being a time of cleansing and rebirth, so is the perfect time to reflect on lessons learned from the previous year, choosing to let go of the things that no longer serve you, and making a plan for the year ahead.

I have lived my life in accordance with the wheel of the year for many years now, and it has been a total game changer in terms of feeling fulfilled and achieving success.

I could go into all the ins and outs of the origins and traditions surrounding Imbolc in this post, but that’s not really what I wanted to talk about here.  If you are interested in learning more, there are a whole heap of very comprehensive resources out there on the internet that will do the subject much more justice than I can in a short post.

If you like the idea of celebrating it though, here is a small list of traditional ways to go about it:

• Cleansing – This is the time of year that the traditional spring clean would have happened.  The point is not just to have a good old tidy up and a deep cleanse of your space, but to get intentional about clearing out the old and stagnant in order to make way for new fresh energy to flow in.  You can also apply the same theory to a personal cleanse.
• Fire – ritual fires and candle lighting are traditionally used to welcome back the sun at this time of year.  The sun provides us with the energy for growth and the expression of our own personal vitality so honouring it by lighting a fire or a candle can be a great way to tune into your own energy starting to rise and help you connect with your zest for life.
• Setting an intention – Imbolc, as already mentioned, is associated with the energy of rebirth so now is a really great time to get properly conscious about what you want to bring into your life in the coming year.
• Plant seeds – A beautiful, symbolic ritual can be to sow seeds which become a symbol of our intention for the coming months.  Planting seeds at Imbolc helps to call in the possibility of new life.

I personally will be making some marmalade.  The beautiful, zesty Seville oranges come into season at this time of year and are available for a few short weeks in the shops.  I can’t think of a better flavour that captures the essence of the sun than bright and zingy oranges.  I will keep some and share the Imbolc love with my loved ones by gifting the rest.  The time that I spend making the preserve doubles up for me to also become a time for me to slow down, reflect and set some intentions too.

I’m also Kicking off this year’s workshop offerings with an Imbolc wellbeing workshop on the 28^th January.  I’d love to see you there.

For more details, see the event listing here

Happy, merry 2024 folks and bright Imbolc blessings to you when it arrives <3