Monthly reflections: January 2026

I thought I would start these monthly reflection posts at the end of each month to get us into the exercise of checking in with ourselves – even if that’s just once a month. The more we practice reflecting, the more we train our brains to notice what we are experiencing in every say months.

My January Recap

For me January has been a little hectic to be honest. It is every year as my daughter’s birthday and my wedding anniversary are early January. So every year I don’t really slow down until mid-January.

This year brought the addition of my son and all the firsts that come with that. Being really early postpartum when you already have a child is a really interesting experience and I’ve been doing my best to pay attention to the lessons that this chapter holds for me.

I did a lot of goal setting at the end of last year – mostly because I was bed-bound following a pretty traumatic birth delivery experience. So I have been chipping away at the things I want to focus on this year.

I am fortunate and really grateful that I had a lot of support through my family as I did my best to recover, but it was really frustrating navigating the health care system where I live this month and not really getting answers there.

Now as January comes to a close, my physical health is in a much better state. Still some doctors appointments to close out the month, but moving away from recovery and into rebuilding.

We are getting back to everyday life and building out routines. My needs for the end of this month is really rest and freedom. Holding a baby 24/7 is a beautifully exhausting experience lol.

I am still putting my next book together so I am doing a lot of reflecting and writing in the in-between moments and I hope to continue to do that in February.

I hope that February will come with more of a grounding energy. A solid pause. It will be productive but slower and more evenly-paced. I am releasing the frantic energy of January and stepping into a quiet powerful energy for February.

I know March/April starts to pick back up so I really want February to feel like an exhale so I need to decide what actions will align with giving me that energy and make decisions with this is in mind.

Will check back in at the end of the next month and let you know how it went!

Let’s Reflect Together

Here are some questions that I am asking myself as we close out the month. Hopefully these monthly prompts will allow us to collect more information about ourselves and lead us to feel more empowered to create our lives. The best way to feel good in our lives is to have clarity around what we’re feeling in the first place. So with that being said, here are some questions that we can reflect upon as we look back on January and prepare for February.

What happened in January?
What was the theme of my month?
What kept showing up in my thoughts?/ What did I find yourself thinking about the most in January?
Where did I feel pressure in my life?
Where did I feel avoidance and what was I avoiding?
Where was I spending my energy the most in January?
How was I restoring my energy in January?
Which emotion or emotions did I try to outrun in January?
Which of my core needs (safety, freedom, meaning, connection) felt the most deprived in January? Why?
How do I feel as January comes to an end?
What would I like to focus on in February and where do I want to direct my energy?
How would I like February to feel?
How would I love my needs to be met in February?

I hope these questions support you in building your awareness muscle. Feel free to journal about them or simply just mull them over in your head. Talk to yourself out loud while you’re walking (as I tend to do). There’s no pressure to do anything other than answer these questions honestly. This is about gaining clarity and a deeper understanding of yourself and what you want for your life .

Remember that all of this is a practice. Noticing what you’re feeling, honoring it, listening to it and then making sure that your actions align with what you’re most needing and what is honoring your well-being is an ongoing practice.

I hope January was nourishing for you. I hope that by answering these questions you are able to take more empowered and intentional actions going into February. It’s not meant to be comfortable, but it is meant to help you feel better in your life.