ENERGY is my WOTY (Word of The Year)

by Sarah Moe, CEO of Sleep Health Specialists & AMEC Member

What are your personal goals and wishes for 2023? New Year’s resolutions are an incredibly popular practice dating back to the ancient Babylonians almost 4,000 years ago. They made promises to their Gods in exchange for bountiful crops. These promises laid the groundwork for what we know as our “New Year, New Me” mindset. The fresh start of a new year allows us to consider what we can do better to help us thrive. Good health is on top of our list every year but creating new healthy habits takes commitment and focus.

Recently, a new tradition has emerged- the Word Of The Year (WOTY). It started in 1990 when TIME magazine declared that they would add to their “Person of the Year” award a WOTY nomination. WOTY was added to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary in 2003 and quickly became a popular way to encapsulate all of our hopes for the new year. So with that, I proudly claim my WOTY to be ENERGY. 

It may seem surprising that a sleep expert would choose such a word, but I don’t necessarily mean it in a “get more sleep” sort of way. The most important thing you can do is to change your relationship with sleep and understand its connection to the energy we all crave. Collectively, we are still generally depleted. We have all suffered through a traumatic few years, and recovery is impossible without refilling our batteries. Fortunately, we can restore our energy levels if we pay attention to the relationship between sleep and energy. 

Here are three easy ways to start shifting our relationship with sleep and energy:

1. Join a Club. Chess club, Book Club, Walking Club… get your friends together and make your favorite activity a group event. I personally recommend that you focus on wellness and create a Sleep Club. A weekly Zoom to chat about how you woke up this week? Keep the conversation open and flowing while encouraging the group members to keep trying to improve their sleep and energy habits, and share products and advice. Enjoy a cup of tea and hold each other accountable to build new healthy habits.

1. Give Yourself Some Grace. It took us decades to create our bad sleep habits, and it will take some time to unlearn them. Lean in and do your best! Acknowledge your bad habits, do some research to discover new practices, and visit the Alurx Wellness Studio for my video tutorials. Establishing new habits takes consistency and commitment so go easy on yourself. You’ll need 4 to 6 weeks of practice to make them stick. Baby steps are the way to make the most significant change. 
3. Invest in Your Rest. It’s easy to save up for vacations, a new kitchen remodel, or other projects on our bucket list. If you are reluctant to save up for YOU and your own wellness, shift that mindset and focus on the long-term health benefits of getting a better night’s sleep. Build new sleep rituals and splurge on the solutions you need, from melatonin gummies to silk eye masks and sleepy-time teas such as the Sip and Dream Ritual Set. Any new addition to your sleep routine that allows you to have more restful nights is the greatest investment of all. 

We start developing a relationship with energy at a young age - it’s natural since our youthful bodies create energy in excess. If you’ve ever sat on a playground as an adult, you know exactly what I am referring to. You watch children run around, wondering when they will ever get tired and take a break. Do you wish that you had the same level of energy running through your body and brain? Our adult lives seem to consume it all - our focus, productivity, attention, and motivation to get through each day… of course we feel tired and lack energy! It’s time to shift our mindset. If we continue to assume that lacking energy is a common state in adulthood, we perpetuate a cycle that leaves us feeling constantly depleted. My goal for this new year is to encourage everyone to start caring more about sleep and energy. 

So cheers to building new healthy habits to generate boundless energy!