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Spring Equinox: The Real New Year Episode Transcript

00:11 - Nachi (Host)

Welcome to another episode of I'm Not Yelling, I'm Dominican podcast hosted by Nachi and Damaris. We're two Dominican American sisters chatting about everyday life topics and discussing alternatives to vibing higher. So grab your cafecito or tea, sit back and let's vibe. Hey everybody, this is your girl, Nachi, and I'm here with Damaris, affectionately known by my father as Flaquita de Oro.

00:39

And we're here to talk about setting intentions for the spring equinox, which is coming up on March 20th. This is the perfect time to bring forth what you've been meditating and contemplating about during the winter months and plant those seeds for ideas and lifestyles that you want to come into fruition. So you're probably wondering why the spring equinox? And that's a great question, so let's get into it, sister.

01:08 - Damaris (Host)

Oh yes, why? Why spring? Equinox, right, if we think about it. Spring for nature is the rebirth, right. This is where the earth, you know, is getting its new foundation. It's coming to life again and we're part of nature. So to me it is kind of it just makes sense from a you know not to reuse the word but just from a natural perspective that this is. It's in more alignment with our innate nature. And when you think about why not on New Year's Eve to set intentions, it's a social construct. You know what I mean. It's like fake news. It's made up by us and we decided, based on this calendar, that in the middle of winter is when we're going to set new intentions and resolutions for the new year. Yet the earth is in hibernation, it's in preparation for the rebirth, which is spring.

02:24 - Nachi (Host)

And you got to think about, yeah, and you got to think about how you feel, because New Year's Eve or New Year's Day, when we talk about setting intentions or starting or setting your New Year's resolution, it always seems off right Because it's just, it's not. You're still in that hibernation mode where you know, really feel like starting what you intended to start and it makes sense, with the spring equinox being the.

03:05 - Damaris (Host)

I mean it's still cold outside.

03:06 - Nachi (Host)

Yeah, it is.

03:07 - Damaris (Host)

Because we're on the East Coast, but I'm not interested in starting up some new goals. No no right, because it's not natural.

03:19 - Nachi (Host)

We're waiting for nature's New Year, which is technically the spring equinox.

03:29 - Damaris (Host)

But to your point, like I think about this, past New Year's Eve and before I was, when Adam and I were preparing to travel for the holidays to visit you, mommy and the kids. We were leaving a few days before Christmas and I was feeling so stressed because I was like, okay, I have to now prepare not only my home to be taken care of while I'm gone, but now I have to make sure that my home is clean and all the rituals that I do for New Year's Eve is done well before December 31st, because I'm not going to be here physically. And I was starting to get stressed and then something just clicked and I was like you know what? This isn't even real. This is why am I stressing myself out about making sure all my laundry is clean, making sure all the linens are clean and that the house is clean.

04:29

I've added new salt to the corners and stuff. I couldn't do it. I was like this is too much pressure and I'm saying no to this. I'm making an executive decision. No, which is hard for me, because all the previous years I've done this, and so I said no. And literally between that, coming to me, naturally, I started to see IG posts and people were sending me IG posts about like stop you know, making these resolutions for this New Year, because it's not even real.

05:01 - Nachi (Host)

I was like thank you, I feel, seen, yeah, and I think I stopped a long time ago with making sure everything was ready in the house because, you're right, it is very stressful, and the holiday season is stressful enough, because if you're hosting it or even if you're traveling, there's all the stress behind that that you don't want. You add, oh, I need to get my house, you know, spiritually clean and I need to make sure that my clothes are all clean and every and I gotta write down my goals.

05:41 - Damaris (Host)

What am I gonna do for the new year?

05:44 - Nachi (Host)

No, I'm still thinking I can't. And then you have a crash, right, you know. You crash right after the house like everything is done and said, but do you ever get to do or set you, take action on those intentions or resolutions that you set for yourself? Most of the time, people don't. They may get a running start the first few weeks, but then it dies down. And I think you're still in that preparation phase. And that is what winter is for, is for you to prepare yourself mentally, physically, emotionally, so that when that season of spring comes around, you're ready to take action on those things that you've been working on.

06:38 - Damaris (Host)

Absolutely. I, yeah, no, I think that makes a lot of sense and that's why, yeah, for this year, I was just like no, this doesn't make sense for me that we're doing this Again. We as humans are part of nature and it makes sense that spring would be the time to expand and build, and so, using this time of winter to prepare, to start to think about what it is I want to expand on and and what I want to focus on for the next year of you know, that starts at spring. That is kind of what you know I'm trying to focus on, and so that kind of leads into defining our intentions. That's.

07:30

That's another thing, right, because for people during the new year, it's I got to do these resolutions and I'd like that we're using the word intentions because it's kind of like it's the aim that guides the action. Right, your intention is you know how you're aiming towards that, whereas a resolution can be, like the word is defined, a resolute, like there's there's something to do, and that is not. That doesn't feel good to me. So I like the idea of intentions. So let's talk about what. What does defining your intentions look like? You and I talked about this and it's, I think it's important to have a focus. Yeah Right, because it's so easy to get overwhelmed by too many goals. You know, back to the idea of of resolutions. People will have like five to 10 resolutions and then, if you look back when I even look back at the resolutions I've given myself, I probably meet like two out of the five, maybe 40 out of six. It's self defeating. Yes, yes.

08:50 - Nachi (Host)

It's self defeating you, you. You feel bad afterwards. You feel like you haven't accomplished what you set off, and I mean, how can you start your, your year off in that?

09:03

way already feeling self defeated on the goals that you set for yourself. And so, yeah, in terms of defining intentions, you're right, it has to be a focus and you have to be clear on what you really want emotionally, spiritually and physically, and this is something that you would need to take some time take out your journal, sit down and start reflecting on those things, what it is that you want, and then start taking some actions around that.

09:52 - Damaris (Host)

Definitely, because I think having the focus will likely lead to a successful outcome, versus you having a ton of goals so that you feel good that you have this list and then you only meet one or two of them and then you feel like shit. And I like this idea. Again, this is what the wintertime is for, and we're trying to time the release of this episode a couple of weeks before the spring equinox so that you can wrap up the areas that you want to focus on. What do you want to create? What do you want to build? Think about what kind of energy you want to step into this spring equinox.

10:38 - Nachi (Host)

And that would help you to decide what actions you need to take, what you want to start. That would be your list, that would be your running list. This is, for example, if you're looking to have more peace in your life, then you have to sit down and think about OK, what do I need to do to bring more peace into my life, or identify the things that are not bringing you peace, and then maybe your action is to start removing those things or people from your life to create more peace. I mean, that's literally where it.

11:22 - Damaris (Host)

You know, I don't want peace, I want problems. But, that's just how the plug, because I love something.

11:33 - Nachi (Host)

That's what that means, I know, but that's just the flow of it, the flow of setting intentions as opposed to, you know, with resolutions it's always like I'm going to work out every week. You know I'm going to lose 30 pounds this year, right, and that it's not to the point that you made earlier. It's just you're not focused, it's just a destination. I want to lose 30 pounds, right, but what is that 30 pounds? What are you trying to achieve with those 30?

12:10 - Damaris (Host)

pounds. Your focus is your focus to be healthier Right, and by being healthier you may end up losing some weight, but and all of that comes from if your focus is your health and better health, then you'll probably find naturally that you'll start to do things to better increase, you know, your health overall by exercising perhaps a little bit more, maybe taking longer walks, things that I think it should be a focus on ensuring that, whatever you do to support your intentions and those seeds that you're planting, that they're also achievable, so that they don't also get overwhelming Right. So to your point, like if you talked about well, for this whole year, by the end of the year I'm going to have, I will have lost 30 pounds. That's a lot.

13:04 - Nachi (Host)

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

13:05 - Damaris (Host)

Right. So maybe it's just shift your focus more on I want to eat better, you know, or like. I want to improve my health, and this is right, and the way I can do that is by eating cleaner, by doing making a couple of different changes in my diet. I want to reach 10,000 steps a day. It's a little bit more easier than again saying, oh, I want to just drop 30 pounds or something like that.

13:35 - Nachi (Host)

Right, Right exactly.

13:36 - Damaris (Host)

Because then, if you don't achieve that, you're going to be sad.

13:39 - Nachi (Host)

Yes, and when you take those right and when you take those long-term goals like being more healthy or being healthier, and breaking that long-term goal into smaller goals, when you start achieving and tackling each of those smaller goals, the more confident you will become and the more consistent you will be in maintaining those goals and reaching your overarching main goal, which is OK I want to be healthier and in turn, you'll lose the weight that you're looking for. Right, right, it just all works out.

14:28 - Damaris (Host)

Right and I think that's the key again to focus on an area versus trying to do too many things or focusing on too many things too. So it's like I want to be a millionaire, I want to lose 100 pounds, I want to calm down, calm down, right, like just try to laser focus on what it is you, the big thing for you, and then just tackle that which ties into then. How do you go about setting these intentions? What are some of the things you do? You mentioned already journaling.

15:07 - Nachi (Host)

Yes. So that's one thing you can do. And one thing I found helpful in trying to drive to where I want to be or what I want to achieve, is coming in my journal, coming up with a list of things that I don't want, right, because usually that's so easy for us to think about. What is it I don't want? List out those things that you don't want, that you've experienced in the last year that you want to change, and then, after listing those things that you don't want, start listing things. Ok, what can I do to change whatever it is that I don't want? So what is that behavior I want to change? So, for example, if you've been for me, I'll say and this is something that I've been working and I continue to work on is eating cleaner.

16:14

So I realized that a lot of the food I was eating was affecting me health-wise in many different ways, and and it was affecting my children as well. So I had to shift on the way that I that I ate and the type of foods that I ate. So I made small changes and that's just what that's how intentions you know work with me is that I have to list and I have to sit down and figure out Okay, what are the things that I don't want in my life anymore, or I'm not happy with, and then Start thinking about what are the things I can do to change and it doesn't have to be drastic, like I don't. I don't stop eating the foods that I enjoy.

17:06

I just look at it differently.

17:10 - Damaris (Host)

Right, no, I wasn't, apparently.

17:13 - Nachi (Host)

That's what you told me, you tell your kids, I do, I do because they they don't understand.

17:19 - Damaris (Host)

Yeah, but I, for example, I love the taste of Justin.

17:25 - Nachi (Host)

I did. I love potato chips, and if you read the labels and in that's that's the one step you read labels, right. If you start reading the back of a lot of the packaging of the foods that we buy, you'll notice it's a lot of junk that's in it that you can't even pronounce.

17:44 - Damaris (Host)

You know what it is right you don't know what it is.

17:46 - Nachi (Host)

And so when you start realizing that and then Look at Alternatives that taste just as good, you're like oh, I'm not doing that, you. You start to think, oh, that's poison. They're trying to poison me, and that's what I tell my kids all the time. So, but they don't care.

18:07 - Damaris (Host)

They're like some more of the poison. This is jerks. I love them.

18:18 - Nachi (Host)

But Just getting back to setting these goals or intentions for yourself is, for me, writing it down is always helpful and If you're going to set these action steps to to meet goals or or the tasks that you set for yourself, you need to put it on your calendar. We all live busy lives and I I mean I have a busy life and if I don't put it on the calendar, it's not gonna get done. It really isn't. You know, one of the things that I want to I Want to start incorporating more this year is have you to bring you more joy into my life, because with each day it goes by quicker and quicker and we always say, oh, my goodness, where did the time go by?

19:16

and the year so, you always thinking about like, oh, I'm gonna do this when I have more time. You're never gonna have more time. So for me, that's one of the things that I that I'm gonna focus more on is bringing more joy. So when I sit down and start reflecting, okay, what are the things are gonna bring me joy? I Need to list those things out, and I know I you know, off the top of my head, I know a couple of things is just doing Activities for myself. I'm always doing activities around the children and mommy, and I'm gonna start doing activities that I enjoy. Good for you, yeah, and I'm gonna schedule, I'm gonna put it in my calendar and I'm going to get it done.

20:01

But if I don't it's just not gonna happen, and that's you know. I always encourage people to just write it down, because we're really busy.

20:08 - Damaris (Host)

Yeah, absolutely right. Yeah, no, you're absolutely right. And I think also, I think it's also just as important to review your intentions. Look at them, if you wrote them down Right, review them on a regular basis, meaning like even just once a month, beginning month, I put that on my calendar, review my goals and it's like okay, it's a reminder, it also reinforces your actions, yeah, even indirectly, as you work towards your intentions. Because, again, you're planting the seeds and you're reminding yourself, you read, you're rereading this, you know what you've written down and it just You're helping that those things manifest because your attention is on it directly and also indirectly, because you, you put it away, but you've reviewed it, you look at it and I, I'll do like that, I, I write stuff down too and I pray over it as well. Like for me, it's just like put a prayer to kind of like that's the seal, the wax seal on my Intention and it's I put it out there. I'm like, okay, creator, you, you do the rest a line.

21:23 - Nachi (Host)

Yes, yes, yes, I don't know how to get there.

21:27 - Damaris (Host)

I'm a control freak. I am learning every day. You know how I expect my wishes to be done, how I expect my intentions to go or when you want it Listen.

21:42

I run it yesterday and he's like who are you Right, sorry, time right.

21:51

So I would also say that as You're writing these intentions, or as you thinking about what it is you're You're planning to focus on for the new year, which is the spring equinox that we're referring to as the new year, also, keep these intentions to yourself for the most part, and I say that because you don't want other people's energies to, or their expectations to, impact how you approach what it is that you're working towards, because it's very easy to absorb that and take on other people's doubts of what you're trying to focus on.

22:38

I think about us launching this podcast as an example, because I didn't tell many people that we were working on this, as we were working on building it out. Only the people that we interviewed knew that obviously we were going to launch a podcast and then maybe like one or maybe just one other person outside of that, and part of that was because I was unsure if we should even be doing this and I didn't want to. I didn't want anyone else's questions while they will, while my family and friends are very supportive in all that I do, but I didn't want, unintentionally or intentionally, any doubts to be sowed in my head about it.

23:27 - Nachi (Host)

Which I know myself, which I know happened.

23:29 - Damaris (Host)

Yes, Right, yes, you asked me a few questions and if I feel like I can't answer them, I'm like what am I doing? I'm an imposter. Who do I think I am? Why do I think I have the right to start a podcast? I do that enough in my head. So I that's me being self aware and I was like I'm not going to tell anybody. How about that? And then the week before we launched, you know, I started telling people because at that point it's like, well, it's here Right?

23:57 - Nachi (Host)

Well, you have to move in silence at times, and that's the only way you can get things done. So I totally agree with that.

24:06 - Damaris (Host)

Yes and yeah, I think that's just and ultimately, I think, by doing the things that we just described with, like you said, making time for it on your calendar, reviewing your goals on a regular basis, those are kind of the things that will help nurture the intentions, because we also have to remember and exercise patience, and that manifesting does not happen overnight and it requires nurturing, and those things are, and that could be whatever feels right to you, right? These are just things that we talked about, but you always have to follow your own intuition.

24:52 - Nachi (Host)

Yes, and reward yourself for your accomplishments.

24:56 - Damaris (Host)

Definitely.

24:58 - Nachi (Host)

That will keep you going. It's good to treat yourself.

25:03 - Damaris (Host)

I love treating myself.

25:05 - Nachi (Host)

Right, yes, all the time you accomplish something, you better go and celebrate.

25:12 - Damaris (Host)

You got it done.

25:13 - Nachi (Host)

You reach that goal. You reach that mini goal because it's getting you closer.

25:18 - Damaris (Host)

Right Watch an episode of Love Island, because you did work.

25:22 - Nachi (Host)

That's what I do. No one went through our Slow Island. Sorry. I love that show oh my. God, but if that brings you joy, yes.

25:35 - Damaris (Host)

Thank you.

25:37 - Nachi (Host)

Enjoy it, tell yourself you earned it and keep moving.

25:45 - Damaris (Host)

I thought it was a judgment free zone. It is.

25:49 - Nachi (Host)

No one's touching you. You're good. I thought you were a judge.

25:57 - Damaris (Host)

So anything else, when I cover it, I think we.

26:02 - Nachi (Host)

I think we covered everything. You know it's. I love setting intentions, because I'll say this, I love spring. Spring is, I always feel rejuvenated and it's a new day, like I'm ready to tackle whatever is in front of me. And it's definitely the perfect time to start anything new, because you're already vibrating high. It's nice outside. You're ready to be outside.

26:40 - Damaris (Host)

You're ready to do things.

26:42 - Nachi (Host)

Yes, yes. So it's just for me. I think it's just the perfect time to set your goals and set those actions behind your intentions so that you can meet your overarching goal, yep well said.

27:06 - Damaris (Host)

So, as we close out this episode, I just want to share a few thoughts and point out that there's constant noise out there and no shortage of unidentified flying objects being shot down by the government. Bottom line is avoid the distractions and focus on your purpose and planting the seeds for your intentions, and always be the best version of you. Thank you for listening. Please follow us on your favorite podcast platform and sign up for our emails on our website at I'mnotyellingco to get the latest updates. Thank you, bye Bye, bye, bye.