We asked 11 wellness entrepreneurs the most valuable practice they’ve developed as they reflect on the past year and how they’re setting intentions for the year ahead! Each of these pros are members of We Shine Well, the first-ever community membership and dot connecting concierge for established female entrepreneurs in the wellness space. Here’s what they had to say.
11 Wellness Entrepreneurs On Their New Year Prep
Sarajane Case, Enneagram & Coffee | Enneagram Coach, Author, Podcast Host My biggest tip is not to keep your planning centralized to just the New Year. I love my New Year’s planning routine. I block off an entire day and treat it like a little mini-retreat with myself to reflect, acknowledge, and honor all what the year has been and look forward to what the future holds. However, life rarely looks the way we think it will a year out. That’s why I keep checking in on my plans and making adjustments every quarter, month, and week. It keeps me engaged with my goals and honors the unexpected changes that life inevitably brings.
Phoebe McPherson, Fungtion | Co-Founder and Head of Brand and Education Finding stillness is not only one of my favorite wellness practices, it is an absolutely essential one. Stillness can be found at the end of an embodying yoga practice, while on a walk with no headphones/phone calls, or in the depths of a long meditation. Once the glimmers of stillness start to emerge and my body/mind quiets, I have a wonderful, clean slate to meditate on what has been impactful in the past year and what was a learning moment. From stillness, I can approach these reflections from a place of authenticity and an open heart.
Hannah Varamini, Tend Prenatal | Co-Founder I schedule a mini-retreat each quarter and at the end of the year – rest and rejuvenation is a huge part of holistic wellness. I try to reflect on wins, shortcomings, and reconnect with the larger vision of Tend – redefining the way we take supplements.
Britt Deanda, Elevate the Globe | CEO of Elevate the Globe and Founder of Studio Intune The most important thing I can do for my higher self at the end of the year is to release any resentments, disappointments or attachments to the previous year and celebrate how far I’ve come. Tara and I also use numerology and astrology for our business goals and planning. Intention setting is about being realistic and present with where you are at and what your reality is with no judgment and then creating and dreaming big from that place for what you are desiring for next year and who you are becoming!! We help so many busy moms and business owners with this in our Kundalini yoga and wellness studio, Intune through our monthly challenges and daily meditations and it’s so much more fun and enjoyable with this type of awareness and planning!
Laura Lea Bryant, Laura Lea Balanced | Holistic Chef and Holistic Breakup Coach My most valuable tip is to make sure we understand our own definitions of the words that we use. For example, as a holistic breakup coach, I hear my clients use the word “rejection” constantly, even when ‘ghosted’ on a dating app. So I ask them, what are they ‘rejecting’? You? Do they know you well enjoy to ‘reject’ you? Could we swap ‘rejection’ with ‘disappointment’, which has much less charge and a more temporal quality? I go through the same line of questioning for words and phrases such as “closure”, “good enough”, “someone better”, “needy”.
Our definition of the words we use holds enormous power. And oftentimes, it’s not even our own definition, but instead a colloquial meaning picked up from culture or family. Going into 2024, this will become the centerpiece of my practice, edging out any other tools that I offer by far.
Mariah De La Mer, ASTARA | Founder, Author I look at everything as an opportunity to deepen within, and I find the trick is to stay neutral with both spectrums – things we might want to label “good” or “bad,” then simply become experiences that afford the opportunity to strengthen internal navigation towards more of what we want to experience in the world and how we want to show up.
When I reflect back on the year, I take it all in, the places I visited, new relationships and friendships that came in or those existing ones that devolved, creative endeavors and business decisions, and I look at how I handled those, what expanded me, challenged me, inspired me and what I learned from them. I find there is usually a general theme that shows up, and is usually one I was not expecting and is fun to see emerge. And from there, I then tune into and set intentions for how I want to expand and grow the next year – places I want to visit, people I want to work with, creations that want to come through etc. from all that I have learned and grown from all the collective experiences the previous year.
Dr. Jaclyn Tolentino | Doctor of Osteopathy and a Board Certified Family Physician One thing that I’ve returned to again and again, in setting intentions for the new year, is that you have to allow good things to happen to you. It’s very easy to approach life from a place of fear or anxiety – and that’s natural, the unknown can be scary! But when we open ourselves up to the idea that beautiful things are ahead, we’re able to truly feel when they finally arrive.
Ava Johanna, The Academy of Breath | Celebrity Breath Coach, Founder I always start by looking back on the year prior and ask myself: What is the one word theme or “reverse intention” that I experienced. It may be the same as the word or intention I set at the beginning of the year or I may have experienced something entirely different. For example, this past year, my word was “overflow” but looking back, the theme was “simplify.” This allowed me to reflect back and see what lessons I learned and what wisdom was gained so that as I think about setting an intention for the year ahead, I can take the wisdom of “simplify” and apply it to the year ahead.
After I am clear on what my theme was, I ask myself: How can I take this theme and apply it forward? What are the things that I want to make sure I hold onto and what am I being called to let go of? Whenever I’m doing this practice, I always start with breathwork and meditation so I can ensure I am approaching these questions with a clear head and deeply connected to my own inner voice!
Susy Schieffelin, The Copper Vessel | Founder It is so important to take time to digest how far you have come in order to really tap into what is possible for the year to come! I love to look back through the photos in my phone to see where I was and what I was doing one year ago and then three years ago. It is really mind blowing to see how much has changed and how many prayers and intentions have already come true! Then I write out one milestone goal for each month in the year to come, get cozy, and relax in a sound bath to amplify the intention. This practice works like magic and it never ceases to amaze me how the intentions come true almost like clockwork!
Erika Bloom | Founder and CEO of Erika Bloom Wellness I’ve been focusing—in my body and my life—on finding the balance between connection and ease. Movement, healing food, meditation, and self-care should be nourishing, not depleting. Softening and settling in to ease allows for greater presence, physical and mental alignment, and a deep awareness that supports a healthy, clear, authentic way to move through life.
Aimee-Jean Greenacre | Holistic Women’s Life Coach In my coaching practice, I guide my clients through a reflective process that feels like taking a 360 snapshot of their lives. It involves assessing all life facets, rating them from 1 to 10. The high-rated areas? They’re moments for a victory dance, a celebration of achievements and joys. But the lower-rated ones? Those are the hidden gems—the spaces that need our attention, where the magic of growth happens.
Think of it as embracing the full spectrum of experiences—acknowledging the wins but also shining a light on the spaces calling out for nurturing and development. It’s in those challenging places where we find the potential for change and personal growth.
I encourage my clients to lean into these ‘lower-rated’ areas because, honestly, that’s where the real growth lies. It’s about tackling the tough stuff, the aspects we tend to procrastinate on or put off. By leaning into these spaces, we not only expand our comfort zones but also pave the way for feeling more fulfilled in our life. This is what I like to call finding your flow, a feeling of inner strength and momentum to move through life with ease and grace.
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