There are days in January when it feels like winter might stretch on forever. The excitement of the holidays has passed, and while the days are starting to get longer, the heaviness of the season may have started to settle in.

These are the days that I crave hibernation. A mug of tea, a blanket, a new book. My mind tells me I should move, but my body feels lethargic and heavy. I just want to surrender to it.

But I don’t. I unroll my mat, I breathe and I begin to move. Slowly at first, but as my body and breath move together something begins to shift.

Why are we so stressed?

It has become the norm. The majority of us are living with a certain level of stress that has woven it’s way into the fabric of our daily lives. We wait for the weekend, or the next vacation, in hopes that it will melt away.

The American Psychological Association reports that stress levels have risen over 40% in the past five years. Money, work, health concerns and job stability are often cited as some of the big causes of worry.

But what about the daily stressors? The neverending To-Do list, the constant barrage of emails, text messages and voicemails. Grocery shopping, cleaning, laundry. When do we find the time to sit, breathe and rest?

I get excited. When I have a new idea, new intention, new learning process or when change is imminent. I fall in love with possibility, with process and potential. The thoughts turn and twist like a tornado and it takes some serious work to move from the mind to the body and the breath.

Made resolutions for 2019...check. New habits...check. Big plans...also check.

The new year is such an exciting time filled with possibility. We take the time to journal, dream, hope and craft our vision for the new year. What will our career look like this year? Will we fall in love, get married, have children or move somewhere new? What travel spots will we check off the bucket list?

And then there are the small details. More time exercising and less time bingeing on Netflix. Less sugar and more veggies. Plotting a path to your healthiest self in the new year.

So many new ideas all swimming around in our heads, visions of health and happiness, but how do we begin to make them a reality? How do we move them from the space of dreams to the concrete?

The big question to ask yourself first is ‘what have you let go of?’. Where will you fit all the new dreams into your current reality?

As we make the shift from late summer to early fall, the changes in nature are abundant. The leaves are alive with color, only to then become brittle and float away on the wind. The air becomes cool and dry and the rivers slow to a trickle. We begin to make the shift away from the fiery activity of summer. As we turn our focus inward we may notice our bodies are mirroring what is happening in nature.

In Ayurvedic medicine the goal is to balance not only our individual dosha, or constitution, but to also remain in harmony with the shifting seasons. Fall and early winter are Vata season, and the qualities of this dosha tend to be dry, rough, light, cool and ever changing. As we see this happening in our environment it also may manifest in our inner constitutions. Our hair, skin and nails become brittle, the inner thermostat runs cooler, the lightness lends to spaciness and the mobility can cause us to feel less grounded. If these qualities sound familiar, the principles of Ayurveda can help encourage more balance during this time of year.