6 Intentions for a Fabulous Year

It's new the year; the ball has dropped; the parties are over; the hangovers may or may not be real, and some of us may be wondering, now what?

Some people look at the new year with hope for new beginnings and a chance to do things right. Some people look at it as a time for setting unrealistic resolutions that may carry one through the first month, or week, or day, or hour and so have come to dread it as a time for reinforcing failure. Some pay little or no attention to it other than a time to get back to work after an over indulgent holiday spree.

No matter how you look at it, it's happening, it's here; a new year.

Far be it from me to foist upon you any great plan to miraculously resolve all your unresolved issues, but here are six suggestions for possible intentions you may wish to incorporate this year that will improve your handling of all that life brings you. Notice I said intentions instead of resolutions. Why? Because an intention is gentler, and has more to do with evolving into awareness, and less about forcing and controlling.

First of all I suggest approaching this year with gentleness; gentleness for others, yes, but mostly gentleness for yourself, because if you can't be truly gentle with yourself, that gentleness that you think you are so sweetly exuding to your fellow life travelers will ring false. I'm hazarding a guess that your thinker spends way too much time treating you roughly. Why would I make such a guess? Because you are human. So when thoughts start dominating that are particularly violent to yourself, you know, the harshly critical thoughts that you would never say to some one else; thoughts like, you're fat, ugly, stupid, unworthy, incapable, scrawny, the worst, a huge failure, uncreative, awkward, uncoordinated, (sheesh I could go on all day), when those sorts of thoughts creep in, meet them with the intention of being gentle with yourself. When you make mistakes, be gentle with yourself. When you are late or sick or upset, or confused, be gentle with yourself. That seems so simple but, trust me, it can work miracles in your life.

I suggest setting an intention for gratitude not just for all that you have, and all the wonderful people you may have in your life, but for all that you are. Now I'm not talking about being grateful for what the thoughts in your head tell you you are, but for all that you infinitely and truly are, chief of which is a magnificent image and likeness of God that only can reach this world through you. Take a moment to own and be grateful for that, even when those pesky thoughts scream otherwise, which they will because, yes, you are still human. For some great info on the benefits of gratitude click here.

I suggest setting an intention for breathing. Yes I know, this is an automatic function of the body, but it's also the only automatic bodily function that we can control, which means it is an extremely powerful, ever present tool that is far too often overlooked. It is what connects our souls to our bodies, and focusing on it brings us immediately into the present moment which is all we ever really have. I hear over and over again about how people want to meditate but can't find the time or don't know how, or can't stop their thoughts yadayadayada... But the bottom line is no one can ever stop their thoughts. Thoughts are always thinking unless one is sleeping. Trying to stop thinking is basically the opposite of meditation. Try breathing instead; long deep focused breaths. Spend just a few minutes a day, or even a week, or whenever it occurs to you, and notice how it can reset everything physiologically, mentally and emotionally. For more on this click here.

Set an intention to touch people daily, appropriately of course, but by all means touch people. Research has shown that human contact such as, hand shakes, pats on the back, massage and especially hugs can totally change one's attitude as well as the brain chemistry for the better. If you have no one to hug, go ahead and schedule a massage or a hair appointment. For some info on what you may expect from increasing your hug quotient click here.

Set an intention to get yourself outside and into nature regularly. Why? It makes everything work better from the physical functioning of the body to your mental, emotional and spiritual well being. For eleven scientifically proven reasons for being outside click here.

Finally, consider doing a little yoga. Anyone can do yoga and the benefits are extraordinary. No matter what one's physical or mental condition, there is yoga that can be done, even if one is laying in a hospital bed. You can trust me on this because I've personally been there and done that. In fact I believe that it is the yoga I practiced when I was hospitalized with lupus hepatitis (lupus liver failure) that was a huge factor in saving my life. At seventy-nine pounds I was so weak I could barely move, and though the doctors said they thought their intense medication was working, I was still losing strength, weight, and all my hair. I could see on everyone's faces who came to see me that they expected me to be transitioning out of this life soon. Though I had many interesting between-worlds experiences I knew I wasn't done here yet so I started doing yoga in my hospital bed; gentle stretches, twists and breathing which I could barely manage and would make my monitors all go off to the chagrin of my dedicated nurses. I didn't care because I could feel it helping. I could feel energy moving through areas that had been stuck and I started to gradually get stronger. I continued my daily yoga when I got home and haven't quit since. That was ten years ago and I'm stronger now than ever. The point here is, if you can breath, you can do yoga, and if you do yoga your life will be better. For more on the benefits of yoga click here

These are six suggestions for possible new year intentions. If you implement any one of them even semi-regularly your life will improve. If you find that you can't manage any of these right now, know that that's ok too, so please, be gentle with yourself!

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