Author: Samantha Bureau, PhD
Dr. Bureau has her PhD in Neuroscience with a focus on cellular and molecular medicine, an MBA, and a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology. Dr. Bureau has expertise in neurodegeneration, traumatic brain injury, and pre-clinical pharmacology. Dr. Bureau actively works with athletes, Veterans, and youth looking to improve their brain health and performance and mitigate against the negative consequences of brain trauma.
As the days stretch longer and the energy begins to shift, many of us feel a tug towards change and renewal. But unlike the pressure to set and achieve the hard core resolutions of January, May can offer a gentler window for change — one that’s less about pursuing change because you feel like you should, and more about pursuing change because you are ready to step into a new version of yourself.
Enter the Mini-May Reset: a 4 week period of intentional (but flexible) routines designed to rejuvenate your body, mind, and relationships before summer arrives. It’s not about perfection or punishment — it’s about realigning with what gives you energy, letting go of the excess, and preparing yourself to meet the high-energy months ahead with clarity, vitality, and a new sense of purpose.
In this post, we’ll break down:
- Why May is the perfect time for a reset
- How to structure your Mini-May Reset
- Effective strategies for physical, mental, and emotional renewal
- A sample Mini-May Reset plan you can customize
Let’s dive in.
Why May Is the Perfect Time for a Reset
While January is traditionally seen as the month for transformation, it’s arguably the hardest time to commit to major change, especially in the Northern Hemisphere. Cold weather, less sunlight, a rapid shift from holiday mode back to work mode — all conspire to make winter resets feel like an uphill battle. While the motivation may be at a high when you get started, maintaining that momentum, and more importantly, discipline, can be challenging. It’s no wonder the majority of New Year’s resolutions fail.
In my opinion, May, on the other hand, is primed for gentle change:
- Warmer weather encourages movement, outdoor time, and social connection.I know I am craving the outdoors the second the temperature stays above freezing and the sun starts shining more consistently.
- Longer daylight hours help regulate circadian rhythms, boost mood, and make it easier to get up earlier or spend time outside.
- Seasonal produce like greens, berries, and herbs are abundant and make it easier to eat fresh, nutrient dense foods.
- Psychologically, we feel an anticipatory lift with summer approaching — a perfect window to get intentional about our habits.
In short, May is a natural momentum-builder. Instead of overhauling your life, a mini-reset allows you to fine-tune, recalibrate, and go into summer feeling energized, grounded, and aligned.
What is the Mini-May Reset?
The Mini-May Reset is:
- Low stakes: You can experiment with what works, what doesn’t, without the pressure of completely changing your life, making it manageable and less intimidating.
- Holistic: It addresses physical health, mental clarity, emotional resilience, and environmental refresh.
- Flexible: It’s adaptable to your lifestyle; no one-size-fits-all rules.
- Sustainable: It’s meant to create shifts that last beyond May. Because of this, you shouldn’t anticipate any quick fixes or fads.
Think of it as spring cleaning — but for your body, mind, habits, and space.
The Pillars of the Mini-May Reset
For our purposes, we’ll break the reset into four core areas of our life:
1. Body: Nourish and Move
After months of potentially heavy, comforting foods and indoor living, May is a great time to reconnect with your body through:
- Fresh, seasonal foods, packed with nutrients
- Movement that feels joyful and energizing
- Time in nature
Key practices:
- Add more plants: Instead of counting calories, try counting plants. Diversity of plant fibre is important for gut health and gut health has more recently been shown to impact several aspects of the body and overall health. Aim for 20-30 a week, more if you are feeling adventurous.
- Hydrate deliberately: Aim for 2–3 liters of water per day; add lemon, cucumber, or herbs for variety.
- Reduce ultra-processed foods: When you go to the grocery store, try to stick to the perimeter. Most of the ultra-processed foods are in the middle of the store. And before you panic, don’t worry, this isn’t a complete blackout (unless you want it to be). You can still enjoy nights out with friends, ice cream, or whatever you are really craving. The goal is to cut back on packaged snacks, fast food, and sugary drinks.
- Move daily: Walk, stretch, dance, garden — it doesn’t have to be the gym. Just get moving, preferably doing something you look forward to so you’re more likely to stick with it.
- Try “mini-sweats”: Shorter activities like 20 minutes of brisk walking, quick HIIT or REHIT sessions, and shorter strength or pilates classes can help you fit your workout in your schedule and build momentum.
- Fuel your body: Ensure you’re eating enough protein, healthy fats, and carbohydrates to support your exercise routine and day-to-day activities. your schedule and build momentum.
- Prioritize recovery: One of the reasons you haven’t seen results in the past may be because you didn’t give your body adequate rest. Although the narrative online is largely pushing low-intensity activities for women, this isn’t necessary. If you enjoy low-intensity activities, that’s great, keep doing what you love. But if you switched to low-intensity exercise because you are afraid of higher intensity exercises, even though you enjoy them, this isn’t necessary as long as you make sure you give yourself time to recover.
2. Mind: Declutter and Focus
Our mental space often gets as cluttered as our homes. Use May to reset your cognitive habits.
Key practices:
- Digital cleanup: Unsubscribe from unnecessary emails, organize your desktop, reduce screen clutter, and clear out your trash and junk folders.
- Tech boundaries: Try setting phone “office hours” to reduce the amount of time you spend on your phone. Structure these hours so that you get tech free time right after you wake up and before you go to bed. If you want to level up, you can also set a limit on your social media usage.
- Prioritize focus: Practice single-tasking and task batching over multitasking and task switching. Picking a single priority to work on or a single type of tasks to tackle for the day may help you get more focused work done with less waste time between tasks.
- Meditate or practice breathing exercises: Even 5 minutes daily can reduce stress and increase mental clarity.
- Reflect and journal: Use prompts like: What’s been draining my energy? What do I want to make room for this summer?
3. Emotions: Reset and Reconnect
Emotional wellness is often overlooked in resets and goal setting, so if you haven’t checked in on your emotional health lately, now is a great time.
Key practices:
- Notice and name emotions: Practice pausing during the day to ask, “What am I feeling right now?”
- Tend to relationships: Reconnect with people you care about — a walk, a call, a text, a meal.
- Practice gratitude: Write down 3 things you’re grateful for each morning and 3 good things that happened to you each evening.
- Release resentment: If something or someone has been weighing on you, consider if it’s worth continuing to carry it around with you or if it is time to let it go.
- Play and joy: Schedule at least one activity per week that’s just for fun — no productivity, no purpose beyond joy. NOTE: This can be extremely difficult, at least for those of us that always feel the need to be on.
4. Environment: Refresh and Simplify
While it is important to work on our internal emotions and our habits that support our physical body, our external environment can deeply impact our internal state. That’s why you should also include some practices to declutter your space this May.
Key practices:
- Declutter one zone per week — start small, like a bathroom drawer or your purse. Pick something manageable, but impactful.
- Deep clean key areas: Windows, fridge, bathrooms, baseboards — you may want to reserve this task for the weekend or day where you have more free time.
- Clean as you cook: Try cleaning and tidying the kitchen as you cook. You’d be amazed how great you feel when you don’t have a huge mess to clean up after dinner.
- Simplify schedules: Look at your calendar and see what commitments or hobbies no longer bring you joy. You likely won’t be able to drop everything you don’t enjoy, but anything you can, you should seriously consider.
Sample Mini-May Reset Plan
Here’s a customizable plan you can adapt for your own reset:
Week 1: Body Focus
- Add one extra serving of veggies each day.
- Drink a glass of water first thing in the morning.
- Walk for 30 minutes, 4–5 days this week (bonus if it is outdoors).
- Cut back on alcohol or ultra-processed snacks.
- Declutter your fridge and stock it with fresh, seasonal foods.
Week 2: Mind Focus
- Spend 10 minutes each morning doing focused breathing or meditation.
- Set a tech boundary (no screens after 9 p.m.).
- Clean up your email inbox.
- Reflect with journal prompts: What’s no longer serving me? What do I want more of this summer?
- Pick a hobby: spend one hour a day without podcasts, social media, or TV and instead practice a hobby like reading or painting.
Week 3: Emotional Focus
- Practice a daily gratitude ritual.
- Reach out to one friend or family member you’ve lost touch with.
- Schedule a joyful, nonproductive activity or day if you’re feeling adventurous.
- Notice emotions without judgment; journal if needed.
- Release one lingering resentment or stressor.
Week 4: Environmental Focus
- Declutter a small space (desk, closet, car).
- Deep clean one area you’ve been avoiding.
- Lighten your schedule by saying no to one unnecessary obligation.
- Spend time outside each day, even 10 minutes.
Tips for Success
- Start small — pick 1-3 habits and layer in more as you go.
- Track progress — use a journal, app, or checklist.
- Get an accountability buddy — invite a friend to join you.
- Practice self-compassion — if you miss a day, move on and pick it back up.
- Celebrate small wins — acknowledge when you follow through.
Beyond May: Carrying the Reset Forward
The goal isn’t to live in perpetual reset — it’s to use May as a springboard to build a lifestyle that you can sustain and that you enjoy. Here’s how to carry the benefits into summer and beyond:
- Keep the new habits that felt good and drop the ones that don’t.
- Revisit this reset seasonally or on a quarterly basis.
- Notice when you drift off-course — and gently course-correct.
- Approach future resets as opportunities to grow and not as punishments.
Final Thoughts
The Mini-May Reset is not about quick fixes — it’s taking a beat to check in on your progress this year and course correct in areas you need to.
Whether you choose to reset your mornings, your meals, your movement, your mind, or all of the above, remember: perfection isn’t the goal. Progress, presence, and self-connection are.
So as the days get longer and the weather gets warmer, take this opportunity to set yourself up for an incredible summer where self-care and fun can go head in hand.
If you’re looking for something more extensive, you can get my life audit toolkit here for just $7. This audit includes a 38 page workbook and access to additional trackers to help you stay on track.
Disclaimer
The information and content contained in this blog is for informational and educational purposes only, does not constitute medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment, and does not establish any kind of patient-client relationship. Any information presented in this transmission is not a substitute for any kind of professional, health or medical advice, and you should not rely solely on this information. Always consult a qualified professional in the area for your particular needs and circumstances prior to making any professional, legal, health, medical and financial decisions.
