January Wellness, Gently
To kick off our Wellness series for the month, we’re welcoming Guest Editor Emilie Lavinia, journalist and wellbeing editor, who shares five gentle practices for starting the year well.
Contrary to what you might have been taught, January is not actually the best time to make resolutions. Our calendar year was once dictated by nature’s natural rhythms and this meant that spring – a time of awakening and energy – used to mark the start of the year. These days, we don’t tend to plan our lives around equinoxes but our infradian rhythms still respond to the way we used to live. In the wellness and biohacking world, many researchers are seeking ways of supporting these evolutionary hangovers and making modern life a little easier on our brains and bodies. Here are a few of my favourites and the habits that I swear by at the start of the year…
Tip #1: Journal For the Year
If you’re feeling unmotivated and like you just want to hibernate and rest in January, you’re not alone. This might not be the best time for drastic action, but it is a great time for scheming and plotting. If you don’t possess the surge of energy needed to smash your exercise goals, that’s normal – the days are short and the nights are long – however, you can think about your goals and write them down. Grab your journal and think about what you want to do in each month of 2026. You don’t need to write down big lofty achievements or actions. Make them realistic, things you’d actually like to do. Try and write a page for each month of the year and revisit it each month.
Tip #2: Sleep Hygiene
We often want to sleep more during the winter months, this is also totally normal. Setting yourself a goal of a 6am start every day when you usually wake up at 9am is going to be hard at this time of year. A better option than trying to become a lark overnight is to look at your sleep habits. Research shows that consistency is more effective than rising early when it comes to providing you with more energy and lowering biological age. If you wake at the same time every day this is the best thing you can do to regulate your internal clock. Going to bed at the same time helps too but it’s your wake up time that will really do the heavy lifting here.
Tip #3 Screen Time
My best advice to anyone who wants to feel better in 2026 is to avoid looking at your phone. I know how hard this can be, but at least for the first thirty minutes of the day, try to avoid your phone. Allow your thoughts to settle, for them to be your own and for your identity for the day to form without the external influence of messages, social media and emails. Allow yourself to be who you actually are for a bit and then, look at the phone. If you can limit your screen time in 2026 you’ll be doing your mental health, eye health and sleep quality a favour.
Tip #4 One Small Thing
Huge resolutions that seem out of character rarely stick. Sometimes we find the wherewithal to completely change who we are but studies show us that the most dramatic changes happen incrementally. I consider myself to be a totally different human to who I was a year ago, but it’s taken me a whole year of small changes. I changed one small thing each month so that these changes felt manageable and normal and in my view, that’s the best way to make a change. Try one small change each week, maybe each month. A short walk, an extra glass of water, a phone call, some push ups, a self care ritual, a piece of fruit, a scoop of collagen in your coffee. Whatever it is, make it one small thing and take it a step at a time.
Tip #5 Practice Compassion
We’re always looking forward and rarely look behind us and this is one of our biggest problems. The year ahead offers us the promise of exciting new opportunities and changes, which means we rarely give ourselves a pat on the back for what we’ve already accomplished. One of my most important habits at the start of a new year is to acknowledge how far I’ve come and to show myself some compassion, knowing how hard I tried. Your perspective often changes when you start being kinder to yourself about your achievements. You start seeing yourself as more hardworking, more worthy of love, more deserving of rest and someone who you actually like spending time with. Instead of beating yourself up for not doing enough, congratulate yourself for everything you did do and everything you’re going to do in 2026.
About Emilie Lavinia
Emilie Lavinia is a journalist, influencer and brand builder fascinated by health and healing. Her work in magazines, newspapers, podcasting and TV explores how humans seek to improve our interior and exterior worlds and how identity and environment intersect with wellbeing.
Emilie has explored what it means to be well with her work for more than a decade. One of the first and only dedicated wellbeing editors in the UK, she is the host of The Independent’s Well Enough podcast and writes a Substack newsletter called All Being Well.
