CELEBRATE!!!
Before we get to goal setting and resolutions - first things first, this is a truly magical time to CELEBRATE! We are entering a new year and a new decade! Wow.
The heartbreak, the betrayal, the rejection, the inner struggles, the self-doubt, the hardships, the tears, the moves, the job changes, the sleepless nights, the health scares, the mood swings, the weight fluctuations, the friendships and relationships that fell away - we made it through all of that! Stronger and more empowered than ever.
Take some time to marvel at that and to celebrate that! It's a big deal.
Celebrate all of the obstacles you've overcome in the past year and decade. Celebrate how much you've evolved. Celebrate richness in your life in all of its various forms - family, friendship, laughter, gratitude, wisdom, wealth, health, love.
Think back to where you were 10 years ago.
What accomplishment are you most proud of?
What was the most important lesson you learned?
What advice would you give your January 2010 self?
What would you like to thank this past decade for teaching you?
Savor your strength. Savor your resilience. Savor your persistence.
Take this week to soak in the radiant splendor of celebration! Celebrate the new year, celebrate the new decade, celebrate your friendships with a coffee date, celebrate dinnertime with a special meal and your best dishes, celebrate bedtime with a luxurious bath, celebrate your body with a massage or yoga class, celebrate your home with fresh flowers, celebrate your kids with an ice cream party, celebrate nature by watching the sunrise, celebrate your partner with a love note. Savor these sweet times.
Here's a New Year's Celebration Ritual designed to help you reconnect with the sweetness in your life! Honoring these moments will help you attract more of them in 2020 and the decade to come.
- Gather your supplies. You'll need a large bowl filled halfway with water, 4-12 de-stemmed blooms of your favorite flower(s), your favorite essential oils and any additional crystals, candles or herbs you'd like to work with. For this ritual, I recommend using crystals that work in harmony with the energies of love, joy, gratitude, abundance, wisdom and creativity such as rose quartz, emerald, jade, carnelian, citrine, pink or green calcite, larimar and chrysocolla. Notes: Roses are said to have the highest vibration of any flower. If working with candles, use white, green or pink or a mix of all three colors. Make sure any crystals you use are cleansed and activated.
- Find a comfortable seat on the ground on a yoga mat or cushion - either inside or outside. You may want to place a rolled blanket underneath your sits bones to help support you and keep your pelvic bowl and spine in alignment. Arrange your supplies as desired around your space with the bowl of water directly in front of you. You can scatter your crystals around your legs, tuck them into your shirt so they're resting by your heart or just keep them close on your mat.
- Annoint your heart with your oils of choice - I love orange for abundance, vanilla for sweetness, lime for love of life, magnolia for its uplifting qualities, ylang ylang for playfulness, and rose, geranium and gardenia for love (mix your blend in a bottle with grapeseed, jojoba or fractionated coconut oil or just apply directly). Using your fingers or a cotton ball, apply the oil mix in a clockwise direction over your heart.
- If working with candles, you can light them now - holding your mantra and intention for the New Year in your heart.
- Take at least 5 deep, slow, clearing breaths - allowing each exhale to create space in the areas in which you observe tension being held. Savor the sensation of feeling grounded with every inhale and then expansive as each exhale lifts your heart and increases flow of your prana, or life force through the body. Feel free to close your eyes, or if you prefer not to - keep your gaze soft.
- Call to mind three things you're grateful for - you can pause here in meditation with hands at heart center or just lovingly remember them. Let this fill you up so that the feeling of gratitude and abundance is spilling into every cell of your body.
- Now call to mind your three favorite memories of the past year. Pause and reflect on these moments in vivid detail. Let these memories light up your heart! Find a gentle smile and notice that this smile brings a new lightness to your heart.
- Call into your heart three things that you love about yourself and take this time to send yourself some sacred self-love and appreciation. Marinate in these feelings for as long as you'd like.
- When you feel ready, place your first bloom into the water. As you place the flower, envision an experience, project or vision you'd like to create or complete in 2020, paying special attention to how these experiences will feel, imagining them in as specific detail as possible. Visualize each experience for at least 17 seconds.
- With each bloom placed, concentrate on creating more of these beautiful, inspired, harmonious and love-filled moments through experiences and relationships that bring you closer to your highest self.
- Extinguish the candle and close with an offering of gratitude for all that you've experienced and all that has led you to where you are now. Savor how far you've come!
Have a wonderful, happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!!
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Author