We have 19th-century naturalist Charles Darwin to thank for our January issue cover phrase, “natural selection”. In his book, On The Origin of the Species, Darwin explored the process through which populations of living organisms adapt and change, as one of the four principles at work in evolution (the other three being variation, inheritance, and time). It’s also a play on words: in this issue we have focused on the natural – in food, fashion, beauty and art – and how a connection with the natural world both grounds us and opens us up to wonder. January is the month we are focused on change, in order to better survive – and even thrive – in the coming twelve months. However low your standards are, you’ll probably have to drop them this year.

With a wry eye on survival, here are some unusually helpful New Year Resolutions that will save you time and money.

1. Remove unnecessary coffee meet-ups from your life. Our advice is to start small. Decide why you think most of these encounters are not good for you and sap you of your energy. Understanding why is the most important step. Your situation is unique, so there are probably certain coffees you have to have. But you hold the cards; decide when to say you will and won’t meet for coffee.

2. Weekend exiling is the latest trend. It involves staying at home while pretending you are away. There are no half measures, so you can’t sneak out to do some shopping or meet someone for a drink. You have to prep as though you are going away: buy in the groceries, tell friends and family you will be unavailable.

3. Decide to join the Electing to be Private group. This is an elite bunch of women who have adopted the idea that one doesn’t owe an audience, real or imagined, access or explanations. Not for the emotionally incontinent, members of this elite have expressed relief from the social media mandate to broadcast one’s stance on every subject, not to mention pics of holidays, brunch, book clubs, etcetera.

4. Wrap up to save energy. The nuns were right! The organs most associated with winter are the kidneys. The Japanese haramaki (literally
“belly wrap”) is effectively a scarf for your middle, and helps maintain warmth in your midriff. The idea is that keeping your kidneys warm means your body can afford to divert blood to your extremities.

5. You can’t beat wool for warmth. Wool contains small pockets of air that circulate heat, making it far better for keeping warm than synthetic fibres such as polyester and even other natural fibres such as feather and down. Wool pillows and duvets are natural, chemical-free and sustainable, wool is a miracle fibre that manages humidity and heat as you sleep.

6. Ditch the salads during winter. Thermogenesis is the process the body uses to create warmth, and certain foods are great at stimulating it. Spices such as cinnamon and ginger are particularly effective. As are root vegetables. So forget salads for now.

7. Get fit your way this year. Many of life’s problems seem out of our control. In 1960, President-Elect John F Kennedy wrote: “In a very real and immediate sense, our growing softness, our increasing lack of physical fitness, is a menace to our society”, calling on Americans to exercise more. “We face in the Soviet Union a powerful and implacable adversary… Only if our citizens are physically fit will they be fully capable of such an effort.” Get fit your way this year. Don’t renew memberships to dull or squalid gyms. Run up and down the stairs and do squats and lunges in every room. Then visit a fabulous gym for a day once a month (see page 32 of the January issue).

Happy New Year!

Main featured image: The January 2010 cover of THE GLOSS, photographed by Didier Gault and styled by Luis Rodriguez.