New Year, New Beginnings! I don’t buy into the make a whole bunch of resolutions I’m going to break within the first few weeks of a new year. However, I do love the idea of starting a new routine, building new habits, and reaping the benefits of these new habits. The New Year, gives us a time to plan out what we would like to accomplish, which might be a continuation of what you were doing the previous year, but with an empty planner and a fresh perspective on how to move closer to your goal.
I love spending time outdoors, playing tennis, cycling, hiking, or planting in my garden. Cooking, especially for my friends and family, is a passion of mine. I’m hoping this year to learn some new Thai and Vietnamese dishes as well as to try everything the Pasta Queen does because watching her on Instagram makes me so happy!
Stay healthy, drink lots of herb-infused water and get growing!!
Growing together,
Lana
Mind– I like to grow my mind whether it be through online courses at Harvard, Yale, and UPENN or listening to fascinating Podcasts or Ted Talks. Learning new subjects and expanding my mind makes me feel wonderful! Classcentral.com is where I go to find my classes and take them on Edx.org or coursera.org.
Body- People often focus during the New Year on their eating habits and forget 2 other extremely important factors in taking care of their body. Sleep and hydration. Aiming for 8-9 hours of sleep, helps the body heal, rest, and recharge. Make a cup of hot herbal tea and soothe yourself to sleep! Speaking of 8, 8 glasses of water isn’t going to cut it unless your glasses are all 16oz! I try to drink about a gallon of water a day so it’s important to keep them interesting. I’ll toss in a sprig of lavender or sometimes a combo of lemon slices, lime slices, lemongrass, fresh mint, and fresh ginger. I also love tea, lavender earl gray is my go-to or even hot water with lemon slices, ginger, turmeric, and mandarin slices.
Perspective- Start by giving people grace. I have to remind myself that I don’t know what other people are going through in their life, so give them grace even if they aren’t being kind to me. The pandemic and life, in general, has put everyone a little off-kilter and we have to remember that not everyone deals with things in the same way and you probably don’t know the whole story even if it is someone you are close to.
Heart- We like to talk about growing gratitude at Gardenuity. It is so true! If you spend a moment a day thinking about the little or big things you are grateful for, it is so healing. Studies show that gratitude improves our mental health, has lasting effects, and makes us better people. I’m so grateful to be part of organizations such as the Cary Council and Children’s Cancer Fund where I learn so much from them and try to make a meaningful difference to them.
Lana Constantine
Senior Vice President
Gardenuity
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