Let It Go!
This is it, my friends, welcome to 2019!
As good yogis, I am sure you’re full of good resolutions such as healthy lifestyle and diet, drinking lots of water, practicing lots of yoga and exercise, being grateful and mindful, nurturing good relationships and getting at least 8 hours of sleep per night.
Even though every day of the year is good to set up new intentions to improve and add consciousness to our life, I do like the change of the calendar year as a symbolic reset. It’s a good excuse to sit down, reflect on what has happened during the past year, and decide what we want to cultivate for the year ahead.
When I set up intentions for the New Year, I like to reflect on 4 different themes:
What I see has happened: I rebuild a storyline and inventory of what has happened during the past year, covering all areas of my life.
What’s missing: looking at the previous storyline, identify missing elements: maybe certain people, maybe certain activities or values.
What I want to choose: from the previous 2 lists, I can then decide what I want to focus on for the year ahead. It’s like making a selection from the values/ concepts/ projects/ people who have been in my life and will continue to be part of it, while adding new elements that have been missing.
What I want to release: naturally, in order to make space for new things, some elements will need to be released. So this list is about actively identifying people/ concepts/ habits that no longer serve me and that need to leave my life.
LETTING GO has to be an active choice. I am sure you’ve heard Albert Einstein's definition of insanity: “Doing the same things over and over but expecting different results”. This means that for change to happen, we need to incorporate new elements AND, simultaneously, release old ones. Here are some examples:
Are there toxic relationships that don’t meet my current vibration? Are there people who drag energy out of me and prevent me from being myself?
Are there old habits that need to be modified, as they don’t serve my new resolutions?
Are there professional projects that I’ve been doing on automatic pilot and that don’t add value to my life?
What other elements am I holding on to that are no longer needed? Can I let go of material things that are no longer needed? Can I release clutter, a full inbox, or the tendency to say “yes” too often?
So, I invite you to take pen and paper and think of the elements in your life that need to be released, in order to make space for your intentions to be truly manifested.
As the old saying goes, “If nothing changes, nothing changes”… so what changes are you making in 2019 and what elements are STAYING in 2018 as part of your old self?