Thursday, December 29, 2011
Resolve to Release Resolutions
Every year we each struggle to pick a new thing we want to "give up" in the year to come. Resolutions are great if you pick something that you can easily achieve. Instead, we have all been guilty of picking something too big or something that takes many tasks and commitments to reach. This year, why not pick out something more tangible or easier to achieve.
For example, if you want to resolve to lose weight, instead resolve to make healthier choices in your life. You can do so by keeping a food journal or shopping for healthier snacks and leave the fatty foods at the store. Perhaps choose to take the dog for a longer walk every day or even twice a week. Small steps forward help us create habits that will stick and become routine. When we decide to give something up "cold turkey" or make a huge change quickly, it is hard to sustain that momentum.
In our family, at bedtime, we each share something we are thankful for and wish for. This can be frivilous or thoughtful and some change daily while others remain constant and often quite profound. If you can take such a practice into your New Year's Resolution and create a daily mantra or affirmation, it will also be easier to achieve. My children have wished for world peace, for our family to always be together, a horse, a dog, etc. Many of their wishes have come true through their own persistence and ability to see it as reality--with or without help.
My children are always a source of education for me. They are often my spiritual teachers, as they see the world with pure, innocent eyes. They are not yet jaded by the world or by mean-spirited people. They are gentle and peaceful and believe the rest of the world to be that as well. So in their eyes, world peace is tangible, perhaps even easy to achieve. So how can we get there too? Believe.
We have an abundance affirmation affixed in our bathroom next to the mirror. Every morning and every night, I glance at it and read off a bit of it and feel the glow of positivity. If we say it, we can believe it, and if we believe it, we can help make it so. The law of attraction has some validity. Over the years, I have created many goals for myself with a year, age or date in mind and I have achieved each within days, weeks or a few months of that goal. Teacher training was something that I set my mind to two years ago as a minimum of a year away, but I told all interested students that this was likely closer to two years away. In just under two years, I had Yoga Alliance approval as a school and dates planned.
This year, my goal is better health. This means I have to do more self-care. This sounds like it would be an easy task for a yogi and Reiki Master. I say, "HA!" As a yogi, I am quick to put others before me and find joy in seeing other people achieve their bliss, health and relaxation. I am one of many over-achieving, type-A yoga teachers (people) that push forward no matter what. Though I have the tools to pull back and breathe or meditate, I often resist when my body says it's tired and in need of more TLC. Each and every time I have done that this year, I have gotten sick. So this year, starting this week with a cold/sinus thing, I am already taking steps to be more nurturing to myself and forgiving to myself for taking the time to do so. Often, that is the factor that keeps us from our New Year's Resolutions: Guilt. When we falter, we equate that with failure and give up.
All new habits take time to take form. And as a wise yogi reminded me recently: In every balance pose, you must waver, as THAT is how you balance! How easy it was to forget this! I state in my classes, "It's okay to sway in tree pose, trees sway in the breeze." But I forgot that it is true that you will sway in ALL balancing poses and rock on the feet or foot or hands to maintain that centrifugal force and center of gravity. THAT is the balance and that balance is true in all aspects of life, especially in New Year's Resolutions. If you fall out of the pose, or you fall off the wagon of dieting, get back up again and take the pose again. Breathe, find your balance and keep your eye on the target. In asana, it's your focal point or drishti, in a Resolution, it's that goal that you want to reach.
This year, be thankful for the wonderful gifts you've received in 2011. Be forgiving and understanding with yourself as you choose your resolutions. Realize the little steps it takes to achieve your goal and take heart and compassion with yourself if you mess up along the way.
2012 looks like a year of new beginnings for all of us! Happy and Healthy New Year to All!
For example, if you want to resolve to lose weight, instead resolve to make healthier choices in your life. You can do so by keeping a food journal or shopping for healthier snacks and leave the fatty foods at the store. Perhaps choose to take the dog for a longer walk every day or even twice a week. Small steps forward help us create habits that will stick and become routine. When we decide to give something up "cold turkey" or make a huge change quickly, it is hard to sustain that momentum.
In our family, at bedtime, we each share something we are thankful for and wish for. This can be frivilous or thoughtful and some change daily while others remain constant and often quite profound. If you can take such a practice into your New Year's Resolution and create a daily mantra or affirmation, it will also be easier to achieve. My children have wished for world peace, for our family to always be together, a horse, a dog, etc. Many of their wishes have come true through their own persistence and ability to see it as reality--with or without help.
My children are always a source of education for me. They are often my spiritual teachers, as they see the world with pure, innocent eyes. They are not yet jaded by the world or by mean-spirited people. They are gentle and peaceful and believe the rest of the world to be that as well. So in their eyes, world peace is tangible, perhaps even easy to achieve. So how can we get there too? Believe.
We have an abundance affirmation affixed in our bathroom next to the mirror. Every morning and every night, I glance at it and read off a bit of it and feel the glow of positivity. If we say it, we can believe it, and if we believe it, we can help make it so. The law of attraction has some validity. Over the years, I have created many goals for myself with a year, age or date in mind and I have achieved each within days, weeks or a few months of that goal. Teacher training was something that I set my mind to two years ago as a minimum of a year away, but I told all interested students that this was likely closer to two years away. In just under two years, I had Yoga Alliance approval as a school and dates planned.
This year, my goal is better health. This means I have to do more self-care. This sounds like it would be an easy task for a yogi and Reiki Master. I say, "HA!" As a yogi, I am quick to put others before me and find joy in seeing other people achieve their bliss, health and relaxation. I am one of many over-achieving, type-A yoga teachers (people) that push forward no matter what. Though I have the tools to pull back and breathe or meditate, I often resist when my body says it's tired and in need of more TLC. Each and every time I have done that this year, I have gotten sick. So this year, starting this week with a cold/sinus thing, I am already taking steps to be more nurturing to myself and forgiving to myself for taking the time to do so. Often, that is the factor that keeps us from our New Year's Resolutions: Guilt. When we falter, we equate that with failure and give up.
All new habits take time to take form. And as a wise yogi reminded me recently: In every balance pose, you must waver, as THAT is how you balance! How easy it was to forget this! I state in my classes, "It's okay to sway in tree pose, trees sway in the breeze." But I forgot that it is true that you will sway in ALL balancing poses and rock on the feet or foot or hands to maintain that centrifugal force and center of gravity. THAT is the balance and that balance is true in all aspects of life, especially in New Year's Resolutions. If you fall out of the pose, or you fall off the wagon of dieting, get back up again and take the pose again. Breathe, find your balance and keep your eye on the target. In asana, it's your focal point or drishti, in a Resolution, it's that goal that you want to reach.
This year, be thankful for the wonderful gifts you've received in 2011. Be forgiving and understanding with yourself as you choose your resolutions. Realize the little steps it takes to achieve your goal and take heart and compassion with yourself if you mess up along the way.
2012 looks like a year of new beginnings for all of us! Happy and Healthy New Year to All!
