New Intentions, New Year

As the new year begins,

people tend to try to fix what they think is wrong with them by declaring a new years resolution. It’s that quick fix- going to the gym, starting a new diet, doing those superficial things that we think will make us feel good about ourselves in the moment. “I will be happy when….” These quick fixes usually don’t stick and we end up feeling worse about ourselves because these are the type of resolutions that don’t go deep enough to our core (not our abs!) to really make a lasting impact.

Last year, in my small Kids Yoga teacher community,

a few of us got together online and talked about creating a word of action for our biz for the year. We each then created our own individual mind map (thanks Jodi) of goals for the year for our biz. I quickly realized that I couldn’t just focus on my business, I had to look deeper into what resonated for me personally. This translated into creating a personal action word for the year, because our business life and our personal life is intertwined and interconnected. When I look back at all of my accomplishments from the past year based on my word, which happened to be ACTION – MYB card deck, poster, MYB classes, partnership, regular tuffgirl classes, getting VERY political, convincing my biz bestie Jen to move here for a few months to work on MYB together  – it’s truly amazing to see how deep that resonated in all I did throughout the year- personally and in my business.

Self Care

So this year, as I thought about my new word for the year, I also wanted to go deeper with it. I chose Self-Care. I know that was something lacking in my life in this past year and I could really use more of it (can’t we all??)

Yoga Nidra

To start off my practice of self-care, I made time to go to this yoga nidra (yogic sleep) workshop with one of my favorite teachers Verred, in which we learned about writing a “sankalpa.” This yoga tradition is an alternative to the typical New Year’s resolution. It varies from the traditional in that is offers a resolve instead of a resolution. The resolve, or sankalpa is a practice that starts with the thought that ‘you are already enough’. You already have what you need to be the best you within you. All you need to do is to focus your mind, connect to your heart and channel the energy from within.

Sankalpa

This practice of writing your sankalpa can start with thinking about your limited belief. What is it that you tell yourself, that stops you from being your best self? So many of us have negative thoughts that control us and this allows for us to bring that change from within that all of us so desperately need.  There are 2 kinds of sankalpa- one is something that is already in place such as “I will trust in my ability and knowledge to bring my expertise to the world.”  The other is an intention or goal such as “I will commit to a daily self-care practice which consists of learning, practicing and love.” As I am just starting on this path to forming my own sankalpa (and those 2 that I shared are the ones I’m working with right now), I can only share the bit that I learned that day and what I’ve been reading. What I learned that day is that the general timeline for a sankalpa is 6-18 months and you continue to use it until it becomes part of you, and then you create a new one! I am finding this process to be extremely enlightening but this is only scratching the surface! So if this piques your interest, dive in and learn more with me.

We are always looking for that external gratification to feel good inside. But that is only temporary. I know this is a challenge that so many of us face and this year, I’m willing to meet it head on. How about you?

Please share your word, goals, intentions or sankalpa for the year if you feel so inclined!