5 ways to stay true to your new year's Intentions
1. Ritualize staying focused.
Make a daily routine of setting the tone for your day through some form of meditating, reflecting or journaling. Try meditating daily for at least 5 minutes as soon as you wake up. It can be as simple as sitting in silence to bring clarity to your thoughts and feelings. This act of building awareness is a powerful tool in aligning your day’s actions to your intentions. One of my favorite books about mindful meditation is Peace is Every Step by Thich Naht Hahn.
2. Plan ahead and let go.
If you’re trying to wean off a habit that you’ve decided no longer serves you, reflect on what triggers your desire to go back to that habit. How can you plan ahead to remove those triggers or to empower yourself to look them in the face and sit with what discomforts may initially arise when foregoing the habit? Meditation Leader Pema Chodron’s short, simple yet transformative book, Taking the Leap: Freeing Ourselves from Old Habits and Fears, provides an enlightening perspective on making positive changes.
3. Immerse yourself confidently.
Expose all your senses to what you’re trying to manifest. As a school teacher, I underwent much training in learning about the different modalities through which individuals learn—audio, visual, kinesthetic, etc. Similarly, we all have different ways of best expressing ourselves through the multiple intelligences—arts, language, science, nature, math, etc. If you’re trying to make something happen, why not draw on all the powers you have to clearly state your vision and transform it into being? Display visuals (pictures, words) around your daily space, play music, watch movies, talk to people and visit places that relate to your vision. Expose yourself in all ways possible to what you’re aiming to manifest. Put your whole mind, body and spirit through the journey of building your vision. And act with confidence that what you desire to create exists right now.
4. Do it with love.
If you’re trying to lose weight or get a six pack, dig deep into where that want comes from. Reframe your intention to a positive statement reflecting a long-term act of love. Instead, how about resolving to treat your body as the sacred temple it is by nourishing it with pure healing foods or keeping it mobile and strong? Rather than punishing yourself through grueling exercises and negative thoughts of criticism, how about exercising to give thanks that you can be active? Shift your perspective, find a positive motivation, and choose self-talk that sends peaceful energy to every cell in your body. An interesting read about the energetic power of words is The Hidden Messages in Water by Scientist Mesaru Emoto. Also, a wonderful resource for using positive affirmations to optimize your well being is Heal Your Body by Louise Hay.
5. Find light in failure and keep practicing.
Take every opportunity to grow and learn, even when you veer off your initial path. Just like the practice of yoga, falling out of a pose can be an opportunity for greater awareness. Because you fell out of Warrior 3 doesn’t mean you should give up on yoga. In fact, it may mean you courageously took a greater risk stretching your limits or that there’s something new you can work on to advance your practice. Psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth explains on Ted Talk, “Be gritty!” (Passion + Perseverence = Success)
Whatever your intentions for the new year, embrace the opportunity to reflect and go forth with a rekindled spirit! Find the joy of living presently through your daily practice of yoga--on and off the mat. I wish you a healthy, joyful and peaceful new year filled with many blessings!
~Michelle Chua
(Bio at: www.root2riseyoga.org/bio.html)
Make a daily routine of setting the tone for your day through some form of meditating, reflecting or journaling. Try meditating daily for at least 5 minutes as soon as you wake up. It can be as simple as sitting in silence to bring clarity to your thoughts and feelings. This act of building awareness is a powerful tool in aligning your day’s actions to your intentions. One of my favorite books about mindful meditation is Peace is Every Step by Thich Naht Hahn.
2. Plan ahead and let go.
If you’re trying to wean off a habit that you’ve decided no longer serves you, reflect on what triggers your desire to go back to that habit. How can you plan ahead to remove those triggers or to empower yourself to look them in the face and sit with what discomforts may initially arise when foregoing the habit? Meditation Leader Pema Chodron’s short, simple yet transformative book, Taking the Leap: Freeing Ourselves from Old Habits and Fears, provides an enlightening perspective on making positive changes.
3. Immerse yourself confidently.
Expose all your senses to what you’re trying to manifest. As a school teacher, I underwent much training in learning about the different modalities through which individuals learn—audio, visual, kinesthetic, etc. Similarly, we all have different ways of best expressing ourselves through the multiple intelligences—arts, language, science, nature, math, etc. If you’re trying to make something happen, why not draw on all the powers you have to clearly state your vision and transform it into being? Display visuals (pictures, words) around your daily space, play music, watch movies, talk to people and visit places that relate to your vision. Expose yourself in all ways possible to what you’re aiming to manifest. Put your whole mind, body and spirit through the journey of building your vision. And act with confidence that what you desire to create exists right now.
4. Do it with love.
If you’re trying to lose weight or get a six pack, dig deep into where that want comes from. Reframe your intention to a positive statement reflecting a long-term act of love. Instead, how about resolving to treat your body as the sacred temple it is by nourishing it with pure healing foods or keeping it mobile and strong? Rather than punishing yourself through grueling exercises and negative thoughts of criticism, how about exercising to give thanks that you can be active? Shift your perspective, find a positive motivation, and choose self-talk that sends peaceful energy to every cell in your body. An interesting read about the energetic power of words is The Hidden Messages in Water by Scientist Mesaru Emoto. Also, a wonderful resource for using positive affirmations to optimize your well being is Heal Your Body by Louise Hay.
5. Find light in failure and keep practicing.
Take every opportunity to grow and learn, even when you veer off your initial path. Just like the practice of yoga, falling out of a pose can be an opportunity for greater awareness. Because you fell out of Warrior 3 doesn’t mean you should give up on yoga. In fact, it may mean you courageously took a greater risk stretching your limits or that there’s something new you can work on to advance your practice. Psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth explains on Ted Talk, “Be gritty!” (Passion + Perseverence = Success)
Whatever your intentions for the new year, embrace the opportunity to reflect and go forth with a rekindled spirit! Find the joy of living presently through your daily practice of yoga--on and off the mat. I wish you a healthy, joyful and peaceful new year filled with many blessings!
~Michelle Chua
(Bio at: www.root2riseyoga.org/bio.html)