If January Didn’t Work, Try This Spring Reset Instead

We celebrate spring as a more natural “new year” and name why January resolutions often collapse under pressure, shame, and winter biology. We shift into a nervous-system-first way to set goals using seeds, small experiments, supportive environments, and a short somatic exercise to help you feel what seeds you want to plant this season. 

• spring equinox as a timing reset for change 
• winter as a season for rest and conservation 
• nervous system shifts with daylight and circadian rhythm 
• seeds over resolutions for gentler growth 
• experiments and curiosity instead of all-or-nothing thinking 
• small repeated actions that build regulation and confidence 

Ready for Deeper Support?

Somatic Healing Group (JOIN THE WAITLIST NOW!)

If you’re ready to move beyond insight and into embodied healing, I’m opening one small Somatic Healing Group this spring.

This 6-week therapy group is designed for high-functioning women who:

• Feel chronically on edge or emotionally shut down
• Understand their trauma cognitively but still feel dysregulated
• Want practical nervous system regulation tools
• Are ready for deeper somatic integration

Group Details:

• 6 weeks
• 90 minutes weekly
• Limited to 5 women
• Therapist-led, trauma-informed container

• Tuesdays, 6:00–7:30 PM

• Begins April 21st

Investment: $300 total
Payment is due in full at enrollment to reserve your spot.

Spots are intentionally limited to maintain safety and depth.

→ Join the Somatic Healing Group waitlist here:
http://linktr.ee/EmpoweringWellnessHub

Work With Me Individually (Texas Residents)

I offer trauma-informed therapy for high-achieving women navigating:

• Complex trauma
• Late-diagnosed ADHD or autism
• Nervous system dysregulation
• Relational pattern healing

If you’d prefer one-on-one support, book a free 15-minute consultation here:
http://linktr.ee/EmpoweringWellnessHub

Get REGULATE FIRST Freebies

A short audio guide and cue card that teach simple somatic tools to calm your nervous system so your boundaries come from clarity, not overwhelm. http://linktr.ee/EmpoweringWellnessHub

Good Music for Healing

🎵 **Divine Woman Playlist (Apple Music):** https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/divine-woman/pl.u-leyl096uMoD885j

Episodes Mentioned in this Episode

BONUS EPI: Dear January: Opting Out Of New Year’s Resolution Pressure For Neurodivergent And Trauma-Surviving Women

https://www.buzzsprout.com/2467345/episodes/18379290-bonus-epi-dear-january-opting-out-of-new-year-s-resolution-pressure-for-neurodivergent-and-trauma-surviving-women

You’re not alone.

 We’re healing together.

Transcript

Welcome And Who This Is For

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to the Awaken Heart, a podcast for healing women, where your voice matters, your body is sacred, and your healing is never rushed. I'm Autumn, licensed professional counselor, yoga instructor, life coach, trauma experience woman, neurodivergent woman who specializes in trauma and neurodivergent women's nervous system healing. If you are a go-getter, a high achiever, always getting things done, but feel like something's missing on the inside, that you're behind, that you're drowning, that you're not doing it right, or all that, that's what we're here for. And today is celebrating spring, the new year. If you've listened to my podcast for a while, or if you haven't, I'll replay, I'll link in December's January's episode about not celebrating the new year on January 1st, but celebrating the new year this week, this Friday at spring. Okay. Just before I dive in, because I got lost, if you want a freebie, head to the show notes for all the info on the freebies on an audio and PDF Q card to print out to help you regulate first, then respond with clarity. Clarity. It's a little eight-minute audio clip for you to listen to about boundaries, about speaking from clarity and getting grounded. And then I made a little PDF Q card that you can print out, carry along with you to use in the moment. Print out, put it on your desk, put it on your mirror, wherever you can see it every day to help you get more familiar with grounding, clarifying with strength. It's a freebie. You go to the link tree, you click on it, you click in your email, and then a pop-up screen will pop up. And you just copy and paste the audio file, and it'll bring you straight to VS Route. You copy and pay, you copy and open and paste in the in your web browser the PDF form, and it'll bring you to Canva. Forgive me for being a little janky. Behind the scenes moment. And I just, this is a behind-the-scenes moment, I guess I could have done because I worked for at least two weeks on and off trying to get a better platform so it could pop up automatically, so it could directly send you to where you needed to go. And it was so confusing. There was chatbots I could ask, but there wasn't a human I could ask. I went to Reddit, I went to forums. I don't know where my glitch is. So what I'm offering is the best I could do right now with not having an assistant or not having all the money to pay to get things done. So, like, this is me. Please love me and accept me as I am. I'm just offering freebies to help you help yourself. So, okay, that's that's my spiel before we get into it. And I just wanted to say hello, hi, how are you? Happy spring this Friday. Two more days of winter left. How has your winter been? How did you fare this slow season? And are you ready for spring? Are you ready for the new year? Because for most of us, we've been taught that the new year begins, dun dun, dun, dun, you know it, January 1st. That's when we set our silly resolutions. That's when we promise ourselves that this year will be different. We make big plans, we set ambitious goals, and then guess what happens a few weeks later? Most of those resolutions quietly fade away. But what if the problem isn't your motivation? What if it's the timing that's the problem? Because January is not actually a natural season for massive change. January is in the dead of winter. Short days, cold weather. Let's talk about the minimal sunlight, depending on where you are. Our bodies are biologically wired to slow down during winter because it's a season of rest, reflection, and conservation of energy. And right now, we're entering a completely different season. Excuse me, we're entering spring. And across many cultures throughout history, spring has actually been considered the true new year. This is the season when life begins again. Spring is connected to the spring equinox, and that is the moment when the day and the night are equal. Light begins to return, the or the oarth, the oarth, the earth starts to warm, plants begin to sprout, animals become more active. Across cultures, this moment has long been seen as a time of renewal. For the Persian New Year, they it begins at the spring equinox. Many ancient agricultural calendars also begin their year in the spring, because biologically and environmentally, spring is when life begins again. And our bodies, well, guess what? They it responds to that. Our bodies respond to spring. As the sunlight increases, the brain produces more serotonin and dopamine. Energy levels rise, motivation may will most likely return. So your nervous system naturally shifts out of winter rest and into movement. So if January felt slower stuck, that might have not been failure. That might have been you just experiencing the true winter. And now the season is changing. And one of the reasons spring feels so energizing is because your brain and body are responding to environmental cues. Like I said, daylight increases, so your circadian rhythm begins to shift. Side note, because we just had the spring forward, and I really do enjoy having the extra time in the evenings for sunlight. But man, I wish that sun was up earlier because it's not coming up to seven o'clock where I'm at. And it is hard for me to get up before the sun comes up. So if I have an early day, oof, like this morning, behind the scenes, some transparency here. I had I had the goal to wake up at six, do some yoga, get all the pets taken care of, record the podcast, read some books, pull some cards. It's it's now 7:38, and I'm just starting the podcast. Haven't gotten to breakfast, didn't do any yoga. I slept in. The alarm went off, and I was like, okay, I'll lay here for a few minutes and breathe. And then it turned into an hour and 15 minutes. So still adjusting to the to this time change, which is also relevant, human, something that we go through, which is silly. Get rid of time change, get it out, go away. Okay, going back. So you're now your energy is naturally increasing, increasing. You may notice that you want to move more, maybe clean your space, start a project, maybe be outside more. None of this is random. It's your nervous system responding to the change and the light and the environment. For most of human history, our lives were deeply connected to the seasons. Winter was a time of rest and conservation. Summer was a time of growth and action. Autumn was a time of harvest and reflection. And spring is a time of planting and preparation. So your body still remembers. So instead of forcing yourself into productivity cycles that don't match your biology, aka New Year's resolutions, you can work with the seasons instead of against it, right? Many New Year's resolutions fail because they rely on something our nervous system doesn't respond well to: pressure, shame, all or nothing thinking. We often approach January with this mindset. Everything about me needs to change, and that creates stress. But spring energy feels different. Spring doesn't demand transformation overnight. Spring invites growth, and growth happens gradually. A plant doesn't sprout and bloom in one day, it starts with a seed. One of the biggest problems with traditional goal setting is that it assumes motivation should be constant all year. But human energy is not constant. Our energy moves in cycles. Your nervous system moves through cycles of activation and rest. Hormones move through cycles. The seasons move through cycles. So you see what I'm saying here? Everything's cyclical. It's not balls to the wall all the time. So when you try to force the same level of productivity every month of every year, aka January, mid-dead of winter, it often backfires. It is scientifically proven, evidence-based. They have studied, I think the I'm probably gonna get this wrong, but I'm gonna be close. That the typical New Year's resolution backfires are is abandoned by like week seven or eight of the new year. So that's it backfires. Spring is naturally a beginning season. This is the time when it's easier to start habits, build routines, try new things. Experiment with your routines, you know what I mean? But instead of setting rigid goals, I encourage you to think of in terms of experiments, experiments and curiosity. I want you to be flexible, allow yourself to adjust. If something doesn't work, you learn from it instead of judging it or abandoning it. It's not the all or nothing. It's a lot of the gray area, it's not black or white, it's a lot of the gray. Because this approach is far more supportive for the nervous system. So, like when I say an experiment, so for an example, you know, say you want to walk a 5k. Right? Walk. Notice I said walk, not run, not sprint, not race. Walk a 5K. Well, you can get like a couch to 5K program for walking, or you can use an app or any program you find on Pinterest. And if you get it, and this is the experiment. So this is the experiment. If you get into that training and you notice that day two, day three, or something's not working for you, or you're not there yet, or you're past that, then that's not time to say, oh, this didn't work. It's time to come back to the drawing board and say, okay, this is where I'm at. This is what I need. Let me critique this and make this my own. And then again, if something's not working, come back to the drawing board, adjust, find what you've learned, and then move forward. So I the the way I like to explain spring is with a gardening mindset. I'm not a gardener. I can say I have a rosemary plant guarding my front door who is beautiful and lovely. She smells so fragrant and she has lasted. Oof, I think I've had her for at least six months. The longest rosemary I've had. Tickles me pink. I love her, I talk to her, I feed her, I water her. Too scared to change her pot because I'm afraid that I'll kill her. But gardening mindset. We can we can go there. Because if you've ever watched a garden grow, say in kindergarten, say in elementary school, and we planted that seed in the clear cup or in the styrofoam cup, depending on how old you are. You can you know something very important, and that's you cannot force a plant to grow faster. You can give it music, you can give it proper water, proper lighting, a proper environment, and it will nourish its growth, but it will not make it grow faster. You can only create the conditions for growth. Like I said, soil, sunlight, water, time. Personal growth works the same way. Instead of asking, what do I need to fix about myself this year? Spring invites a different question. What do I need to grow this season? Maybe it's stronger boundaries, maybe it's more peace in your nervous system, focusing on regulating your nervous system. Somatic movement here. Maybe it's going deeper in your relationships. Possibly you want to be more creative this season. And maybe it's simply that you just want to feel more like yourself this season. More in tune with you, more at peace in your internal world, in your heart, and in your mind and in your gut. These are the seeds, and these seeds grow slowly. Instead of asking, what do I need to fix about myself? Try asking, what do I need more in my life this year, this season? More calm, clarity, honesty, movement, creativity, the one that most people are afraid of, and I push, push, push for so much, but more rest without guilt. Once you identify the quality you want to grow, you can begin planning small actions that support it. For example, if your seed is calm, maybe the action is five minutes of breathing or quiet each morning. If the seed is connection, maybe the action is reaching out to one friend each week, or going to one networking thing twice a month, or going to a coffee meetup, or a women's group, potluck, something that you find that is connection. If the seed is confidence, maybe the action is practicing saying no when something doesn't feel aligned. This right here, if you are in the seat of confidence and practicing saying no, grab my freebie. This is going to give you a small insight into what the somatic healing group is going to be like on April 21st. That starts April 21st. I want you to have confidence. I want you to be able to say no and mean it and not feel bad, not feel guilty, and feel empowered that you are honoring yourself. Seeds are not dramatic. They are small and intentional, but small actions repeated over time change the nervous system. I am on my podium, I am banging my fist, I'm stomping my feet, I've got my megaphone. Small repeated actions regulate the nervous system, change the nervous system. You've got to show your nervous system in small increments, small safe increments, that this positive change is more beneficial to the chaos it's programmed to work through. Simple, not easy, but it's simple, not easy. Self-care, self-growth, healing from trauma, healing yourself is hard work because you have to dedicate yourself to yourself. You have to put yourself first or first-ish, depending on what kind of caregiving situation you have. So, okay, four ways to harness spring energy. First, choose seeds instead of resolutions. Instead of setting harsh reg harsh resolutions, choose a few seeds. I want you to ask yourself, what quality of life do I want to grow this season, this year? Do you want calm, clarity, strength, connection, confidence? Pick something you want to nurture, not something you want to punish yourself into becoming. Second way, start small. Start small. Your nervous system thrives on small wins. If a goal is too big, the brain perceives it as a threat, and it's gonna hide, it's gonna, it's gonna jump off the ship. But small, consistent actions create dopamine. Dopamine fuels motivation. And when I'm saying small, I was reading something on about ADHD, and the way they worded it was stupid small. The first step needs to be something that you can easily do, and then you build upon that. If at any time the step, the action feels too big, too overwhelming, switch it up. Go a little easier on yourself, take a step back, reevaluate, don't just run away. So instead of saying, I'm going to completely transform my routine, try something smaller. I'm gonna try five minutes of journaling, I'm gonna do 10 minutes of body movement a day. I'm gonna take a daily walk outside, walk my dog, walk my cat if your cat walks. I'm not sure. Put them in a backpack. Small actions are how seeds begin. Next up is align with your body's energy. Spring naturally invites movement. You may notice yourself wanting to open windows, clean spaces, go outside, move your body a little more. Follow that energy. Your nervous system is already shifting toward activity. Let that let the season support you. Use the momentum to do that body movement every day. Use that momentum to get some sunshine. Even if you're sitting there in the sun or just walking, whatever. Get in the sun. Align with your body's energy. Use what you have. Know what parts in the day give you the most energy or you have the most energy so that you can utilize that, so that you can essentially take advantage of that. Rest when your body's naturally restful and do the accomplishing things that you have on your plan when the energy is there. For me, my energy is from wake to about one to three. After that, sometimes it's a struggle to get production done. Definitely a struggle to get any cleaning done. My cleaning has to be done in the early, early part of the day so that I can rest in the afternoon. And I know that by just practicing and paying attention to my energy. And when I have my energy, I use it. When I don't have my energy, I use it for relaxation, for reading, for planning, for doing podcast stuff, for stuff that doesn't require me to get up and move around. Up next, create supportive environments. Growth rarely happens in isolation. Plants grow best in the right conditions. And humans, we humans do too. So that might mean a supportive group, a therapist, a class, a friendship that encourages growth. Healing often happens faster when we're not doing it alone. Excuse me. So create an environment. This goes back to that connection, accountability buddy, someone going along with you, someone that's just supportive and safe, that's not going to judge you if you change course. Or when you change course, right? I don't know if I said support groups, so I'd say support groups. I'd say meetup.com, find a group of people that are like minded doing something fun and go on it on the adventure with them. Here in my area, lots of women get together and have coffee meetups, women empowering meetups where they have coffee or dinner. There are things out in the community. And if it's not there, maybe it's yours to create. Let's take a moment to do a little bit of somatic work, right? Let's get into the body. If you're able, take a slow breath. Just a nice inhale, nice exhale, not changing it. Just taking a breath. Notice your shoulders. Where are they at? Are they up high or could they relax? Notice your jaws. Are your teeth clenched together? Is your tongue pressing up on the roof of your mouth or the back of your top of your teeth? Notice the pace of your breath. Are you holding your breath? Is it free-flowing? All right. Now relax the shoulders. Relax the jaws. Take a breath. Now imagine planting a seed in your life this spring. What does that seed feel like in your body? Where in your body is yearning for some change? For some movement, some light. What does that seed feel like in your body? Where does it want to be planted? Does it feel exciting? Calming? Hopefully. Maybe even a little scary? Just notice. Because your body often knows what direction you want to grow before your mind fully understands. I'm not asking you to imagine your whole season, your whole year of planning. I'm just asking you to acknowledge what you want to add or take away from your life this season. What small step can you take to add peace to take away chaos? Healing the nervous system is a lot like planting seeds. When you plant a seed, you don't dig it up every week to check if it's growing. You trust the process. You water it, you give it sunlight, and you give it time. Because beneath the surface where we can't see it, the roots begin to form first. Growth begins underground. Before the plant even appears above the soil, magic is happening. Growth is happening. The same thing happens with healing and change. The small things you start doing this spring, the moments you pause, the times you listen to your body, the tiny actions you take that align with your values, those are seeds. And over time, those seeds become roots, and roots create stability, and stability allows real growth. So if you've been feeling discouraged about change, maybe you weren't failing. Maybe you were simply in winter. And now spring has arrived. And as we move into the season, I want to invite you to ask yourself three questions. Here we go. What do I want to grow this year? This season. Whichever is easier. If the year feels too big, just focus on the season, make it smaller. What action, small action, could plant that seed? And what kind of environment would help that seed thrive? Yes. The environment. You might have to change your environment. People, places, and things you frequent. Change doesn't come from forcing yourself to become someone new. It comes from nurturing the parts of you that are already ready to grow. Spring reminds us that growth is not instant. It's seasonal, it's gradual, it's incremental. It happens in slow, steady ways, paces, time. And just like that, just like that, like a garden, what you plant now can shape the entire season ahead. So, what's on your mind? Excuse me. What would you like to cultivate this season? My goal for this season is community. I have high certainty that my somatic healing group will create community for women who are ready to heal. And I'm also cultivating community for all my excuse me. Cultivating community by offering season two of this podcast. This spring, I will be offering a sexual trauma healing series. It'll be a 13-week series of education and empowerment of healing modalities to help you heal from sexual trauma. I'm not gatekeeping. I'm gonna be as raw and real and gentle and empowering as I possibly can. Because now more than ever do we need sexual trauma healing. In this world, in this society, people that have platforms are keeping quiet about the Epstein files and about us being ruled by child rapists. So this series is from my heart to yours so that we can heal this sexual healing, the sexual trauma that we've experienced in America and the world. I'm here for you. It's gonna be heavy. There's gonna be some dark conversations, but they need to be had. We need to be talking about this so much more because it is so prevalent and so rampant that something's got to change. And I want us to be part of that change for the good, for people out there that need healing, that need help, that have been abused, that have been traumatized sexually. Okay, that's my spiel. I've thrown a lot at you. I got a freebie, I've got season two coming, and I've got the group therapy, group support, group support, group healing. But if this episode resonated with you, let me do this correctly. If this episode resonated you with you, please support this podcast by sharing it with someone, following me, leaving a review. Just simply give me a heart emoji, your favorite heart emoji that you enjoy this podcast. I am doing this grassroots. I am not on social media platforms. I'm not marketing or advertising. I'm just growing this word of mouth because of my capacity. These social media platforms overwhelm me. And, you know, budget, financial budget. I want to do this, I want to give, but I don't have the biggest budget to hire people to do it for me. So I'm doing my best. Thank you for accepting me as I am and embracing me. I love that. I appreciate that. So if you want a freebie, download the free regulate first audio guide and cue card to learn simple somatic tools that help you pause, regulate your nervous system, and respond with grounded clarity in real life conversations. If you're ready to go deeper, I'm opening a small somatic healing group this spring. It'll be five women, six weeks, 90 minutes a week. The group is for women who are insightful and capable, but find themselves freezing, overexplaining, or second guessing when something feels off. Over six weeks, we'll focus on nervous system regulation so we can access clarity and confidence from a steady place. When your body feels safe, your voice becomes clearer. When you're regulated, advocacy doesn't feel explosive or terrifying. It is grounding. This is all about building confidence from the inside out. The full investment is$300 due at enrollment to secure your spot. Enrollment opens March 23rd. So next week, you can join the wait list now through the link at the show notes because spots are limited to five women. It will fill up fast. If you prefer individual work, you can also book a free 15-minute consultation at the same link. Everything you need is in the show notes. Until next time, my dears, I want you to know that you are never too much, never too late, and you don't have to figure it out all alone. I'm right here every Wednesday, sometimes Fridays. May you be happy and free. May our healing ripple outward to bless the world with happiness and freedom. Take care of you. I'll see you soon.