Human Being or Human Doing.

We got on the bandwagon of New Year, New You. In the hype of the holidays, it all sounded good. We were motivated. Yet as we come back into a normal routine of work, school, etc., a lot of us struggle to get going.

It’s not so surprising — and for good reasons.

For many of us, the holidays can be hectic and the usual routine almost non-existent. That can be quite activating for the nervous system, and the comedown post-holidays can feel real.

Winter was also never meant to be a time for new beginnings or new energy. It is a season when most species are in conservation, hibernation, in slowing-down mode — and that is no different for humans. Our system is seeking rest, slowing down, and recharging ahead of the spring energy of creation, growth, and expansion.
It wants warmth, rest, and nourishment: think grounding meditation or breathing, bone broth, root vegetables, warm yoga, for example.

Dysregulation often happens when we force spring outputs from slow winter energy — when rest is pathologised, when productivity is demanded year-round.

We’ve also often been conditioned to find or justify our worth, lovability, or even our right to exist through benchmarks, metrics, and outputs.

We’ve become “human doing” before “human being.”

Our nervous system is asking for the opposite. To just be.

When was the last time you remembered someone for how much they produced? For their total outputs?

Or do you remember them for just them? Their presence. Their being. Their kindness. Their listening ear. How they made you feel. No performance. Just being themselves.

Perhaps take a moment to just be. Treat yourself with more self-compassion. Your nervous system — and your future self — will thank you for it.