Clarity Before Momentum: A Crunchy New Year Reset from Snake to Horse with Karl & Marguerite
#25 Clarity Before Momentum: A Crunchy New Year Reset from Snake to Horse
with Karl & Marguerite
This episode is an invitation to slow down before speeding up.
As we leave the introspective energy of the Year of the Snake and begin transitioning into the forward-moving Year of the Horse, we're focusing on clarity before momentum...clearing space instead of forcing change.
In this crunchy New Year reset, we explore:
Composting the old year instead of rushing to "move on"
Clearing your home with gentle, non-toxic swaps
Nourishing your body with nutrient-dense foods
Releasing emotional clutter and outdated beliefs
Letting go of hustle culture and aligning with seasonal rhythms (winter as inward reflection, summer as embodiment and movement)
This episode reframes the New Year as a time for composting; allowing old experiences, habits, and beliefs to break down into wisdom and fertile ground for what comes next.
No extremes. No detox culture. Just grounded alignment, intentional living, and a softer way forward.
If you've been feeling pressure to rush, reset, or reinvent yourself, this is your sign to pause, clear, and trust the process!
Chapters (coming soon)
[00:00] Introduction to episode
Transcript
0:02 Welcome back to Unapologetically Crunchy. So today we are doing a little bit of a Crunchy Reset episode for the new year, kind of. You'll see what we mean. And we do want to mention too that this episode today is only available via audio. 0:18 We are not going to have a video episode on YouTube this week because we are working on our podcast studio. So we'll be back next week with video episodes for your entertainment. All right. Hey, Carl. Hey. Happy New Year. Happy New Year. 0:34 So do you want to talk about what we have going on this new year? Yeah, sure. There's a lot going on this new year. We're doing things a little differently this year. Absolutely. And I, so far, it feels right in my gut. It does the way we're approaching things. So guys, we usually like every year, we usually have basically a meeting where we are extremely intentional about all of our goals throughout our entire life. 0:56 I mean, not just financial, but also like what can we do better with our kids, What can we do better in our relationship, what we plan our trips or whatever we have going on this year And we usually do that before January, but not this year. Nope. 1:12 This year's a little bit different. We're going to take our time. We're taking our time because no rush, yes. No rush because, well, for a few reasons. First, even though it's, you know, technically New Year's, it's not really in our world. We're still in the Year of the Snake until February, and the Year of the Snake is all about shedding and quiet recalibration. 1:34 And we're going into the Year of the Horse in February, but we're not quite there yet. We're still working on shedding things and preparing. Right. Just because we hit January 1st. Like I don't feel like I'm breaking into a new year yet. No, I'm not ready for all that. 1:51 I feel like I want to rest. We're supposed to be resting. Yeah, right. Exactly. Animals are hibernating. Nature is doing it, so why don't we? Yes, so that's what we're doing. We're kind of just being really chill this year. We don't want to set all these goals and make it hard to attain. 2:10 Exactly. You know what, I'm really happy about what we have not said resolution this year. Not really, no, no. We have. We have our. We've said we're not doing them. We have, yeah, we have things that we're not going to do, but we're really approaching it like this new year is about growing, not fixing things. 2:27 Yeah, not this like overhaul and these this huge change that has to start because it's January 1st, right? Well, we just, we're ending the year of the snake, which is shedding and when we go into the the year of the horse, that's all about embodiment and it's just not time yet. 2:45 Right. Yeah, I think it's it's all about transformation without force. You don't leap into the horse here, you prepare and ground for it, right? It's just the way to say. I know it's a way to say it though, but it the meaning behind it is what's important. 3:03 Exactly. OK guys, so I learned a new term that I am loving and it is called composting. It's not for your garden, but it does kind of mirror it in a different context. So composting is basically kind of letting old experiences breakdown naturally into wisdom so they can become nourishment for what comes next. 3:23 So not erasing or bypassing, it's just so nothing that you've lived through has been wasted. So an easier way to kind of explain it too is letting go is releasing completely. Composting is keeping the wisdom but releasing the weight, if that makes sense. 3:41 So some of the things that we're composting are old beliefs and habits that no longer align with the lives that we want. Any roles or relationships that taught us something? Seasons of confusion or failure. And so yeah, it works better when it's not rushed, just like the soil compost. 4:01 And I can give you guys an example of something that I have been personally going through the last few years. There's a lot of examples, but I think one that I've really been thinking a lot about lately is kind of accepting that. So whenever I had kids, I kept thinking, like, oh, I need to get back to myself, like where I was before kids. 4:21 Like, oh, I need to, you know, be doing everything that I was doing before, plus, you know, being the mom that I want to be. And what I have finally realized after what, 4 1/2 years now is that I loved who I was and I loved what I carried then. 4:39 That was what served me in that moment. That is how I got where I want to be. But I also like who I am now, and I like what I carry now and accepting that and realizing like, hey, I can still do things I love, just like it's different now, if that makes sense. 4:59 It kind of releases the pressure to stay the same. And so I didn't just like, forget the old me. I still have some of those same habits, but I let go of the pressure to become the old me again. Another example that I go through that I know like so many people go through is the belief that I don't have enough time. 5:17 I never have enough time. So basically, when you're trying to compost a thought like that, you, you start with thanking the belief for helping you stay alert and responsible and capable during that season, and then you allow it to break down. 5:32 So what remains is more of discernment rather than urgency. I begin to notice like, hey, where is my time being leaked? What actually deserves my energy? And it's not, you know, time isn't something that I find now. It's something that I align with. And instead of going with that belief of, hey, I never have time. 5:51 It doesn't disappear. It just transforms into I, I'm allowed to move at the pace that supports my life. So nothing was was wasted, but the pressure I turned it into wisdom. So hopefully that it makes sense with some of those examples. 6:08 I think that's great. I got a question from in the the first example that you gave there, you know, trying to find your old self for a while could be it was really hard and frustrating right until you took this approach of embodying who you are now and who you will be going forward. And so while you're going through that practice of trying to find your old self, that was difficult. 6:29 It was not the energy that you wanted. It was. It was not creating the life that you wanted for yourself not. Now, not now it wouldn't. Not now. Then it did. Right. So you're trying to find something that you thought you were right, but that's not, you didn't take time yet to realize who you really are and who you're going to be. 6:47 And once you did that, things got easier and you're it just everything aligned and your energy got to be a lot better and you'd be found yourself to be more successful. Right, right, right, right. Because I sort of, I view composting similar to mindfulness in a way. Like you are sort of observing yourself, observing your emotions, your thoughts, and everything else, Taking the best parts of that and what you can learn from and letting go of the rest and moving forward to what is intentionally moving forward with what you are really aligned to and what really fills your cup. 7:20 Yeah. Right what? Your soul? What really makes you smile? Totally. It's transformation, right? So you want to talk about what we've been doing for our reset in the home? Yes, I mean, we've, we're taking 3 approaches or three different prongs to this approach, which is crunchy reset, clearing our house, also working on our bodies and our mental states, right. 7:43 And so first is clearing the home. I think especially having kids and, you know, creating this space for ourselves, things got out of control. Oh my gosh, like so fast. Shit everywhere. Like you guys, I'm type AI don't like clutter and yeah. 8:01 It's been bad. It has slowly but surely added up since I we had our first kid because you know, you'll be like, Oh well, let me get to this later. Let me put it in the guest room corner. And next thing you know, you're freaking hoarder, right? Exactly. It's as close as you could be anyway. 8:17 Yeah, we say like, oh, it's lived. The house is lived in and like some point, sometimes that works and sometimes it's like, no, it's actually detrimental to my mental health right now. Yes, absolutely. And it can't. If it's not good for us, it can't be for kids. Exactly. So we've definitely taken step here to declutter the House. 8:34 I basically did not focus on anything the last three or four days outside of hanging out with the family and decluttering. We have decluttered and we finished our entire upstairs and I'm not meaning just like cleaning, our house is always clean. It's never dirty. It's just like messy. 8:51 So we cleaned up the mess and man does it feel good. It does. It really helps lighten the nervous system. It feels so much better. It feels brighter, it feels lighter. It does, you know, and obviously it's, it's something that it's intuitive too, because there's so many people out there. 9:07 We see all our neighbors clearing stuff out of their house, been to the dump, been to Goodwill a bunch of times over the last week and it's always busy. Yeah. It's impact this. Time of year. So it's good that and then opening up the the windows. I mean, we're in Raleigh. 9:23 It's been really nice here for this winter. So we've been able to do so. But what they call it burping your house, I think, yeah, it's like all that stagnant air. Get out of here. Let this new fresh air in. Energy needs to move. Absolutely. It just feels so much better. It feels so much better. 9:39 I'm so happy. So we still have a couple rooms in the downstairs to do well, I say a couple rooms. We just have the guest room really to do and I'm just so happy about that. It's such a great feeling. So anyways, I wanted to tell you guys, so we were, this hasn't aired yet, so this episode's going to air probably in three weeks, two or three weeks. 10:00 But we recorded an episode with a fabulous Feng shui consultant. Her name is Karen. And some of the tips that she gave I have been implementing into the decluttering and I'm really excited about that too. 10:15 I want to set up our home to support us as well. So I'm really excited for you guys to hear that episode. But one of the things that she had mentioned was opening the windows. So that's really good. But also I wanted to talk about a couple tips too. 10:31 So some of you guys have might have already done this, but for those of you who are still kind of making some swaps, a couple of really good ones to consider for this season of hibernation are cleaning supplies. And the reason why I mentioned cleaning supplies, maybe transitioning your conventional cleaning supplies into a cleaner, cleaner cleaners. 10:57 Non-toxic. Non-toxic cleaners because what we just talked about were decluttering and cleaning, but also, you know, a lot of people like to do spring cleaning too. So by then you're already kind of transitioned. So that kind of feels easy, seamless and awesome. 11:14 But another good swap I think is candles because it's cozy. We all like our candles in the winter season and it's a very easy switch. I'm actually about to buy a couple candles too. I'm going to try some. I've never used them before. They're from Fontana Candle Company, very clean ingredients. 11:31 So I'll let you know how those go. But yeah, I thought those were some really easy tips to switch if you guys are looking for that. I think that's great. You know, let's clear the excess so our houses can breathe again. I think the cleaner is a really great one because cleaners are all over every surface in your entire house. 11:50 Yeah, right. So as always, I think the overarching tip here is go slow. Just do like one thing at a time. Exactly. Sort of ease into it. Don't make it something that's overwhelming. No stress guys, just high vibes. Right, exactly. High vibes. So the next one is cleansing your body a little bit. 12:06 Yeah, and this, by this we mean, you know, a lot of people are like, oh, I got to go on the diet. I got to hit the gym. Like, gym memberships are like crazy the first few weeks of January. But no, thank you. Like, we're trying to kind of slow down in the winter. Focus on nutrient density, not perfection, you know, so even something like small like some places we have a farmers market that's year round here in Raleigh. 12:30 I know not that's not available for everybody, but if it is, check out the farmers market, just any like piece of produce you can kind of swap out through there and it's seasonal. So it's good for you too, is always healthier. Yeah, it's, it's so much better for you and you create new connections and you learn new things and to be honest with you, like the farmers market's a pretty fun place to hang out. 12:51 It's. So fun. It's a fun activity to do. More, I had said that 15 years ago I would have kicked myself. You would have still been hungover, yeah. Exactly. Like maybe I'd go there for coffee and you know, the biscuit or something like that, but the now it's just a good time. It's a really good. 13:07 Just cruise around and see what everybody's got cooking. It is, and it's a great way to get to know your local farmers too. And you know it's a fun activity if you have children or if you have dog. It's fun for the whole family. Right, exactly. Yeah. And then when you go like we only kind of shop at grocery stores when necessary, like snacks and stuff like that. 13:25 We like to prioritize brands that are transparent and reputable. And you know, we like to vote with our dollars. That's like the most effective thing you can do to make sure that we have the best, the best of the best, I guess I'll say. 13:41 And so, yeah, those are some tips. And also exercising. So again, like we just kind of want to like go slow in January and February. I can tell you guys what's worked for me. I'm really focused on my nervous system the last two years and healing all that. 13:59 And something that I really, really love is I love classical Pilates. I've been doing it for probably eight or nine months now and I just do it once a week. So it's not like crazy pressure and I've been building so much strength in my powerhouse and fixing my alignment and my posture. 14:18 It's good for your nervous system 'cause it strengthens nose muscles that support your nervous system. So if you are interested in Pilates, classical Pilates is definitely something that I recommend or even slower, you know, implement some somatic exercises for 10 minutes a night before bed or yoga or Qigong or just stretching, any type of movement to kind of get that energy in your body moving, releasing any of the like stagnant energy or emotions is going to keep our health in an optimal state. 14:49 So yeah, those are are walking, of course, walking. That's always walking. And that's also really important for your mind, right? Because you're able to kind of get some mental clarity, clear out some of that emotional clutter, unprocessed feelings, inherited expectations, anything you're carrying that may not even be yours or out, kind of like what we talked about earlier, outgrowing old versions of yourself. 15:15 No exactly. It's it's all about supporting yourself. Like not restricting yourself or not completely transforming yourself. Just support yourself as you grow. Yeah. But that's perfect because when you do, I like the idea of walking because it gives you time to think. It's like it is, it's forcing you to be with yourself for a minute totally, which is perfect 'cause then you can get through some of that stuff. 15:34 Yeah. And if you, if you do want a little bit of an extra workout while you're walking, throw on one of those vests. You can get them from Amazon. I have like a weighted vest. It's like what I think it's like 10 lbs. Throw one of those on and it'll just like boost your workout too, but not stressfully, not in a stressful way, right? 15:52 It's stressfully a word. Stressfully, yes, but no. But that's the that's the whole idea. And you did it with Pilates, it's just once a week. So like going there is not overbearing. You don't have to go 3-4 times a week. You got reasons to stop and not go or don't want to go too tired or something comes up, etcetera and you go. 16:09 It's slow and steady. You build that into your habits, your routines, and now it's like, I'm sure you crave it. Right. Yeah, I don't. Want to miss it and you're seeing the effects of it. And now it'll be something that will be it will have changed you for your the rest of your life. And whether you stick with Pilates or not, you'll always have something in that space, yes, which is great. 16:29 And also for any of the ladies listening who have had children in the last few years, Pilates is excellent for your pelvic floor all. Right. Strengthening the pelvic floor and the diastasis, if you have it too, with which is separation in your abs. 16:47 Yeah, it's very, very good for those things too. That's great. And like you said, you've been working so much on your nervous system as well. And that kind of leads into, I think what the third piece is for us is clearing the emotional clutter, right, Mental clearing, making space before we can add new things, you know, making sure that we're we're clearing out the noise so that we can align to what we really want. 17:09 Yeah. And what makes us really happy. So you know, unprocessed feelings, situations with different people, things that have happened in the past. Take the best of it, learn from it, and let the rest of it go. Absolutely. Cause at the end of the day, like we're here for a reason, whatever purpose or reason is like we don't want to get disconnected from that. 17:30 So it's all about making a decision on who you want to be. That's what I tell myself. I'm like, this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to decide today is the day that I am, you know, blah, blah, blah. And then you think, act, feel, baby. That's what I always say. I think, act, feel. Or in any situation where you have something that just lingers in your mind and it's just causing you that extra stress. 17:51 Exactly said. Like, how do I feel about it? I'm going to take my position on this and move forward with it. Yeah, not worry about anything else. I'm unapologetic about it. Exactly. Right, it doesn't matter anymore. Release what no longer fits with you I guess is the best way to say it. We're shedding it. 18:07 The Year of the Snake. Yeah, I think a few things that I'm definitely focused on is releasing any ego, not living in fear of anything anymore and reducing, you know, our not living in consumption mode, right. We've said that before and we're we're actively doing this, but those are major focuses. 18:26 No more consumption. Yeah. Just, well, not totally. No more not. Totally no more, but not that lifestyle I'm not going to live and want. No, we're too. Right and need things like I am. I have gratitude, compassion, and connectivity. 18:42 Well, when you are living in lack, when you want something that puts you in like scarcity mode. So you're all that tells your your brain, you're telling your brain. OK, let me look at all the ways that you know things that lack in my life instead of like I have everything. 18:59 OK, So let me think of all the ways you can get everything. So anyway, so as we move into the you're the horse, the winter, we are staying grounded and preparing, which is like inward work, clarity and tension. Spring equinox, that is the year, the horse emergence, embodiment, movement, confidence, boldness, that is what is happening. 19:26 And the clarity comes before momentum. So I guess what we're trying to say is just use January and February to just like slow down, don't stress out about any New Year's resolutions. There's no pressure. Whatever you're doing, you're doing great. 19:42 And yeah. It's always about growing, not fixing. Exactly. So we'll let you guys know how this works out for us and you guys let us know any tips or tricks on what you're doing this year. Yeah, and stay tuned for a couple really great episodes coming up next. 19:59 Yes, we have Feng shui, we have sound vibration, the power of sound. We have some very fascinating episodes for you guys. And remember, we are back on video. And in the meantime, you can check us out on our Instagram at Crunchy Pod. Perfect. Happy new year everyone. 20:16 Move slow. Happy New Years guys, and thank you so, so, so much for listening. We could not do this without you, and we hope that you have a wonderful, amazing year. Peace, love and crunch. Thanks so much for listening. If you'd like to follow along with us, you can find us on Instagram at Crunchypod and at Unapologetically Crunchy. 20:35 We have the same handles on Tiktok too. And check out our websites at crunchypod.com and unapologeticallycrunchy.com. And if you have some tips and tricks you'd like to share with us, feel free to DM us or contact us on the website. And one more thing, if you love our podcast, please consider sharing with every single person you know who would love it and leave us a review. 20:58 Oh, and you can tell them to read a review too. We are so beyond grateful for your support. Thank you so much. Peace, love and crunch.
👀 you can find us:
🎥 watch → youtube
👂 listen → spotify, apple podcasts, amazon music & iheartradio
💌 read → substack (weekly emails & all the extras!)
🤩 follow along with us on our socials!
instagram → @crunchypod
facebook → crunchypod
tiktok → @crunchypod
youtube → @crunchypod
📝 on the web → crunchypod.com
🛍️ shop merch → unapologeticallycrunchy.com
💫connect with karl → instagram.com/uncommonstandpoint & uncommonstandpoint.substack.com
💜 peace, love + CRUNCH!