Healthy New Year’s Resolutions from Local Wellness Experts

January 1 is creeping up fast. Photo by Jamie Ducharme

When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, health promises such as losing weight, eating better, and quitting smoking tend to top the charts—both for goals set, and goals broken. To help you get creative with your aspirations this year, we asked seven local health experts for their New Year’s resolutions.

Below, see what the experts are going to work on in 2015:

1. Slow down, even just for 10 minutes. “The resolution that’s at the top of my list is to carve out 10 minutes every morning to take a little time out,” says Hanneke Antonelli, a Pilates instructor and life coach. “I plan to take a couple of the 10 minutes to meditate and be present, the next few to be grateful for three things in my life, and the rest to focus on and regroup for the goals I’ve set out for that day or week. The first step to creating sustainable change in your life is to cultivate awareness.”

2. Make working out social. “My resolution for 2015 is to try to invite friends to join me in more of my workouts,” explains Cate Brinch, owner of Recycle Studio. “I often consider a workout ‘me time,’ but teaming up with a friend allows me to stay active physically and socially, which can be difficult to do while running two businesses. Social sweats kill two birds with one stone.”

3. Find a more balanced lifestyle. Mike Speights, owner of healthy meal delivery service The Foodery, says he plans to switch up his workout routine to find a more well-rounded lifestyle. “In order to increase life balance, I’ve decided to increase my yoga sessions from two to three times per week, and add an additional 15 minutes of daily meditation,” he says.

4. Don’t set goals—make small changes. According to Vyda Bielkus, one of the four sisters behind Beacon Hill yoga studio Health Yoga Life, setting abstract goals is a recipe for disaster. “If you don’t achieve your goal you feel like a failure and if you do achieve your goal, you usually start to slide right back to old behaviors after attaining the goal,” she says. “Instead, for New Year’s Resolutions I focus on setting out [specific] daily choices,” like exercising six days per week or cutting out sugar.

5. Improve emotional health. South End Athletic Company co-owner Dan Fitzgerald says he’s happy with his fitness routine, so this year the running coach is focusing on his karmic health. “I find that a good conversation or interaction can make my day,” he says. “My hope is to pass that kind of thing forward more often in more places. My resolution is to be on my phone less and be active in creating ‘day-making’ interactions in places like the gym, coffee shop, or on the street.”

6. Cut down on screen time. “My New Year’s resolution is to cut down on watching TV or using my computer two hours before bedtime,” says Josna Adusumilli, a neurologist and sleep specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, noting that the blue light emitted from these devices makes it harder to sleep. “I’ll read a novel instead.”

7. Meditate more. With countless studies showing the health benefits of meditation, Lauren Marett-Sherman, owner of Pure Barre Boston and co-owner of Pure Barre Brookline, says she is aiming to add more of it to her life. “The health and wellness benefits of regular meditation are almost limitless,” she says. “I’ve been practicing heart rhythm meditation for a while, but not consistently enough. One of my goals for 2015 is to carve out time every single day to meditate so I can fully experience all of the positive health benefits it has to offer.”