Reflections / Intentions Blog
post by Pause & Breathe co-founder Susie Hooper
Image of a women sitting looking at a lake, holding her hat. Wording “Reflections / Intentions Blog”
I like to mark the passing of a year by taking some time to reflect on the year gone by. Reflecting on any intentions that I set, lifestyle choices that I made, my achievements and the things I’m grateful for, plus the things I’d choose to leave behind.
Although I don’t set resolutions – I don’t believe that January is the time to be setting goals and trying to do lots of new things – I consider what my intentions for the year ahead will be. I set myself a word to come back to, to reflect on throughout the year. A way of living my life, or a value that feels important to me.
I thought I’d share with you how my 2025 has landed, and where I’m aiming for in 2026.
2025 Reflections
At the start of the year, I set out what was important to me (read about this in a previous blog here). My big focus at the start of the year was rest, and with this in mind I meditated every day in January and listened to a Yoga Nidra every day (except one!) in February. This definitely had a knock-on effect of improving my sleep.
I took note of how many steps I walked – hoping to average 6000 a day. I managed to achieve an average of 6748 per day – which I was really pleased with. Having a dog definitely helps with this!
A photo of me and my dog Phin on a walk - difficult to take a selfie with a dog!
I also monitored my sleep, and deep sleep. It was interesting to see that the amount of sleep I had didn’t vary as much as I expected from month to month – with a difference of only 25 minutes between my highest and lowest months. My highest monthly average was in December, when I got (on average) 7 hours 49 minutes per night, compared to my lowest – October – 7 hours 26 minutes.
However, there was much more variety in my deep sleep. This is the restorative phase of sleep – I was aiming for 15-20% of my sleep to be deep. Over the course of the year 17% of my sleep was deep, which I was pleased with. Interestingly, I got the highest amount of deep sleep in April – which was also the month with my highest step count. February wasn’t far behind, which was the month I listened to a Yoga Nidra (nearly) every night.
I noted my exercise and movement over the year – exercise being anything that raised my heart rate (except walking) and movement being any intentional movement (ie: Qi Gong, Chair Yoga – etc). I definitely got more of both over the summer months, probably as I found being consistent easiest at this time. There was a real dip in my exercise towards the end of the year, although I kept my movement practices going.
Me at one of Sarah’s “Move to the Music” classes - a great form of exercise, as I did about 5000 steps in this class!
Although I started the year monitoring the amount of plants I was eating (read more about that in my previous blog) I stopped this after April as I was consistently reaching my target. It definitely helped me be more adventurous with eating a wider variety of plants – and this is something that we’ve kept up over the year.
As many of you know, cold water dipping (and occasionally swimming!) is really important to me – it’s something I keep up year-round, and my aim is to get into the water at least once a week. I was delighted to work out that I’ve dipped 114 times this year, at 35 different locations. I know how much this impacts my energy levels and mental health – so it’s been lovely to be out as much as this.
Some of my amazing dips this year
What I Want to Release:
Having listed my achievements above, I think it’s also important to note the things that I’d like to let go of as we move into 2026.
I made these reflections in our Wolf Moon Rest Circle – where we journaled about what we’d like to let go of – and what we’d like to move towards.
Our Wolf Moon Rest Circle
Over the last couple of years my levels of self-doubt have increased. I think this is partly related to peri-menopause, where I’ve noted changes in myself that have been sometimes felt difficult to accept. This has sometimes tippled into self-disgust. I’ve also had higher than usual levels of irritability, and a much shorter fuse than before. An inability to focus, and feelings of dissatisfaction.
Another mindset that I’m looking to let go of is one of scarcity. Tunning our own social enterprise can sometimes link to me over-focusing on what we don’t have – being worried about the gaps, or the shortfalls. This can then get in the way of growth.
Intentions for 2026:
As I journaled about my hopes for 2026, two words that kept coming up were ease and spaciousness. My aim is to bring more feelings of both into this coming year. I also noted a hope for increased feelings of connection – this is about taking time to really be present with those I’m close to. Not letting everything else get in the way.
I’m also looking for increased contentment – focusing on what I have, rather than don’t have – to overcome attitudes of scarcity.
I thought about different words for 2026, including ease, spaciousness, satisfaction, authenticity and kindness. I eventually settled on gratitude – there’s so much research on the benefits of developing an attitude of gratitude – and it feels like this could combat a lot of the things I’m hoping to release from last year.
Do you have a word for the year? If so, I’d love to know what yours is.
My specific intentions for 2026
I’ve increased my step target to an average of 7000 per day, partly as I know that this helps increase my deep sleep. I’ll still be monitoring my sleep too – as I want my sleep patterns to stay as healthy as possible (it really encouraged me to go to bed earlier, and to read a little before sleep as this helps me get to sleep faster).
I’d love to get up to 150 dips this year, but this is a tall order! I think increasing the days I double dip will help with this, so that’s a big aim of mine this year. I’m also becoming more and more aware of the benefits of the sauna – my aim is to sauna at least once a month (paired with the cold dipping, this gives me a massive boost).
My goal is to sit down on a Sunday – when I usually do my weekly plan – and make sure that every day I’ve got in some movement or exercise, and that I’m doing at least one of the dog walks.
As some of you know, I am a terrible procrastinator – particularly for getting things done round the house. We have a list of big jobs that need to be done, but also a lot of decluttering. It can feel overwhelming to think of it all. So each Sunday I’m going to set myself a goal for that week (ie: clean out one drawer). My task in the first week is to find a home for my Christmas presents!
I’m looking forward to reviewing this next January to see where I got to with it all!!
This blog was written by Susie Hooper - one of the founders of Pause & Breathe, and our CEO. She has been facilitating wellbeing classes since 2017, and love to help people find ways of improving their overall health and wellbeing. She is a keen cold water dipper, and loves spending time in nature - usually with her dog Phin.