A Gentle New Year: Intentions, Wellbeing, & Routines

Written By Chloe Charles

The new year often arrives with pressure. Messages about self-improvement, productivity, and starting over can feel relentless, especially after a season that already asked a lot of us emotionally. If you are entering January feeling tired rather than inspired, flat rather than hopeful, then this is for you.

For many of us, the weeks around the festive period involve navigating alcohol heavy spaces, complex family relationships, disrupted routines, and a quiet sense of having to hold ourselves together. Even when celebrations are joyful, they can still be draining. When sobriety is part of your life, this time of year can bring up grief, loneliness, or a feeling of being out of step with the world.

January then arrives asking for motivation, clarity, and momentum. Often what we really need is rest and reassurance.

After the holidays, many people feel disconnected from their bodies and unsure how to begin again. You might notice low energy, emotional sensitivity, sleep that feels off, or an urge to withdraw. Without alcohol to numb or distract, everything can feel sharper. There is also a subtle cultural message that once the festivities are over, you should bounce back quickly. That message ignores how much emotional labour many of us carry and how often we have learned to adapt ourselves to environments that were not designed with us in mind.

This can lead to self-criticism. Why am I not coping better? Why does everyone else seem fine? Why does routine feel so hard? The answer is that your nervous system is asking for safety, consistency, and gentleness. Instead of resolutions, it can be more helpful to think in terms of intentions that support regulation and self-trust. It is about building a life that feels steady enough to stay present in. Healthy routines are meant to offer reassurance to a system that has been stretched.

Three Ways to Establish Routine with Kindness

1. Choose one or two anchors

Rather than overhauling your life, focus on small actions that gently orient your day. These are not goals to perfect but touch points to return to.

Example:

  • Drinking water before looking at your phone

  • Opening a window or stepping outside for daylight in the morning

  • A simple evening ritual such as stretching or making a warm drink

Ask yourself what helps you feel a little more settled. That is enough to begin.

2. Let routine be flexible, not rigid

Many of us have learned to push through exhaustion or override our needs. Sustainable routines do the opposite. They adapt to your energy rather than demanding consistency at all costs.

You might try:

  • Planning fewer tasks and leaving intentional empty space

  • Pairing necessary activities with something comforting

  • Allowing routines to change week by week

Consistency can mean coming back to yourself with honesty rather than doing the same thing every day.

3. Be intentional about your connection

After the holidays, loneliness can feel louder, we may need to be more deliberate about connections.

Gentle options include:

  • One regular low pressure meet up or check in

  • Shared activities that do not centre around drinking

  • Naming your needs clearly and kindly

Connection supports regulation, you deserve spaces where you do not have to perform or explain yourself.

If this time of year feels tender, slow, or emotionally heavy, it means you are listening. This year does not require a new version of you. It asks for a more supported one. Let your intentions be soft. Let your routines be forgiving. Let your new routine be something that holds you.

Chloe Charles