Daily Life

Happy 2019 and my Master List of Intentions

Happy 2019! We had a very relaxing holiday week this year and got to spend New Year’s Eve with my one of my best and oldest friends, Amy, who lives in Florida & came to visit. Although I came down with a sinus infection in the middle of her visit and was probably very boring to hang out with, it was still wonderful to see her and stay up late talking and laughing together just like we did when we were teenagers having slumber parties.

I spent a lot of time on New Year’s Day considering my intentions for 2019, as well as the words that I wanted to choose to guide me along my way this year.  A few years ago, I stopped making New Year’s resolutions. For my whole life, I set resolutions every year, and I wasn’t very good at completing them. Most of them involved losing weight or doing really stupidly specific things that ended up being impossible!

After I began practicing yoga, I became more acquainted with the concept of “sankalpa” which is a Sanskrit word meaning intention. Intentions are more loosely based and NOT the kind of definite goal that you think of when you consider a resolution. Whenever I made resolutions and didn’t complete them all, I always felt like I was a failure. There isn’t a huge amount of room for failure with an intention unless you hide yourself away for the entire year.

As Oprah Winfrey says, “You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.” Sometimes the person we are most afraid of asking for permission to go after our dreams… is actually ourselves. Well, newsflash: You can manifest ANYTHING. When you take what’s in your dreams and thoughts, what’s on your heart, and what’s waiting to be spoken (why are you waiting?!), and write it in your own words, in your own writing, it is almost like magic… It sets the groundwork for manifestation. Step into 2019 with your heart open and your voice strong. Tell the universe EXACTLY what you want to do, and see where your path takes you.

I typically write several intentions to light my way into the year and one word to guide me. This year, I have chosen three words instead of just one:

• RECONNECT: to both myself and my yoga practice, which I feel that I have been neglecting in the past year.

• TRUST: myself and others. I  often know what is right, but find it difficult to trust myself and my own intuition at the crucial moment.

• VULNERABILITY: in the words of the great Brené Brown — “Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.” Basically, be myself, at all costs.

After setting intentions for a few years, I have put together my own “master list” of intentions that I can use and reuse each year. They are:

1. Speak what you seek.
2. Don’t trade authenticity for approval.
3. Keep an open heart.
4. Practice gratitude.
5. Release what no longer serves you.
6. Use your voice.
7. Remember who you are.

Downloadable and shareable version of this is below:

Like attracts like, light attracts light… in 2019, let’s connect to what we want and to people who inspire us — we will inspire them in turn. Together we can be a light in the darkness, create a blaze, spark a whole movement.

“Set your life on fire. Seek those who fan your flames.”— Rumi

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