Peace-filled New Year’s Blessings to You!
So often this time of year I hear from clients and students the long list of New Year’s resolutions about their health and fitness. Many of these goals begin with, “I should” or “I shouldn’t” along with an urgency to make an immediate shift because a new year has begun.
Is it realistic to have a calendar decide when to take action to shift old patterns? What would it feel like to resolve old conditioning in the moment throughout the year?
My response to these annual resolutions is often: Where in your body do you feel this goal for the New Year? Is this an expectation you have of yourself or someone else or is this an intention from your heart? This leads to a long pause of self-inquiry in present moment time followed by an “AHA” realization shifting out of expectation and into intention.
Rather than mapping back to an experience in the past or projecting an outcome for the future out of fear, we simply pause in the unknown of the moment to a balanced body centered view.
Expectations are based on thoughts about past experiences. Intentions are found in the present moment through the intelligence of mind, body and spirit. In the seconds it takes for a neuron to fire and rewire the beginning of a new neural pathway, you can shift your belief and reprogram your mind/body map in present moment time.
Here are 2 easy tools you can use to set your intention and shed your expectations for the New Year:
❤ Practice turning up the volume of your body’s intelligence, or Body Current, through the gateway of your breath. By fine tuning our awareness of our breath and simply slowing down and softly deepening each breath, we open up the pathways for communication of sensation shifting our neurobiology and nervous system. The breath supports aligning our mind/body/spirit wisdom through our body’s navigation system in current moment time disengaging the trigger pattern of the limbic system. Rather than referring to an old map in the mind based on expectations achieved or lost, we simply breathe and become aware of this moment.
❤ Throughout the day when you find yourself setting an expectation of yourself, a situation or someone else, honestly ask yourself, “I wonder how I can reframe this into an intention for myself to follow?” More often than not, this simple act of self-inquiry and rewording widens the aperture of our perspective, opens our heart and aligns us to the present moment at hand where growth and change take root.
I look forward to supporting your intentions for optimal health and holistic wellness in the New Year whether in one of my playshops, retreats, classes or in a private session.
From my heart, Happy New Year!
Shanti
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