Sacred Intent for the New Year

We're four days into the new year and folks are all about new year's resolutions. Personally, I turned in my resolutions years ago for intentions. My dictionary says that resolution is "boldness and firmness of purpose" while intention is  "an aim or purpose." Call it semantics if you want, but it feels like a softer, gentler, more focused way to hold my energy for the year.

When we set intentions, we are putting things into motion on an energetic level. This is why it is so important to hold intentions in a sacred way. They are powerful acts of creation. When we set an intent, we are, in fact, creating a movement of energy in the infinite field of energy that we live in. We are asking for something new and specific to arise, and we are saying no to what no longer serves us. This is a sacred act not to be taken lightly. In taking such things lightly, we risk creating chaos in our lives.

This is a great time to take stock of our past resolutions or intentions, to choose again what we want to carry forward and what we want to let go of, and then to consciously cut from what we're leaving behind. Consciously cutting from what we no longer want in life is as important as choosing what we want. It frees up the energy we had invested in the old thing to feed the new thing we want today.

 We are allowed to change our minds and change our direction; things change all the time. To ignore the changes means we are not present with what is. We can drag all the old stuff forward if we want, but all it does is weigh us down, slow our movement and add confusion to our journey. Now is the perfect time to review our old intentions and revise them, updating them to the newest version of who we are.

The funny thing about intentions is that they are a two-part process: we have them, we hold them with 100% commitment and yet we surrender them at the same time. Well, we don't really surrender them; we surrender how we think they should look. Usually when we set an intent, our mind butts in and tells us how it should look when the intent is met - how we will know we've succeeded. But the reality is that our mind doesn't see past our nose, so the picture it gives us is very limited and limiting. The mind wants us to believe that what we want is impossible or unobtainable for whatever reasons it conjures up. If we let it, it can stop us in our tracks...

That's why it's important to let go of the image the mind creates as the measure of whether or not we've been successful in our intentions. It's about releasing attachment to the outcome and opening up to the infinite possibilities. The feeling state of what we want to achieve seeds the Universe with what we are asking for; it's the vibration that the Universe responds to. So we let go of the how ("How will this happen? How will this look? How is this possible?") and focus our energy on the what. What is it that we want to feel when we meet our intent?

This is a great year to open up to the infinite possibilities surrounding our intents and invite the Universe to be creative in supporting their expression in our lives. We must open the eyes of our hearts to see the possibilities most clearly. They may not look at all like our mind imagines them, but that doesn't mean they didn't show up. If we limit our view to that of our mind and to what it thinks things are supposed to look like or how they're supposed to happen, we might easily miss what it is when it actually shows up!

I am reminded of how powerful it is to celebrate each intent and hold gratitude for each step we make toward it. Even the ones we let go of and cut from are important markers along our journey. What we don't choose is just as significant as what we do choose. Each choice is an expression of our being; each thing we accept or reject is a reflection of who we are in this moment. Take nothing for granted.

It's easy to fall into the trap of judging ourselves for not meeting our new year intentions. Be aware of this trap! Instead of judging yourself this year, take time to reflect on and decide if each intent you set is really what you want, and then celebrate your freedom to choose anew as you move your life forward.

Happy New Year, my friends. May you be inspired by the infinite possibilities of life.

Choose Love

I started off this year doing something I've never done before: Instead of sleeping through or partying in the new year, I went to a gentle yoga class from 10 p.m. to midnight and then with this beautiful group of people, chanted in 2011 with "Om." At midnight, we shared a very full "Happy New Year!" and then popped open some champagne to toast the movement, the newness, the brightness and the divine. Wow - it was inspiring...

This year already seems to have some themes. The ones that I've noticed already are:

• a beautiful blending of old and new
• lots of movement - energetic and otherwise
• lots of openings - opportunities to step into new things 
• lots of doorways or gateways - choices to brighten our lives
• divine support - the shifts are happening easier and faster

I've heard the word "easy" more times in the past few days than I can count. And I've heard story after story from folks about how some need they had was quickly and easily met in an unexpected way, or how their long-time dream - whatever it was - suddenly became a reality. I take these stories as a really good sign for 2011!

I feel the Source energy vibrating more quickly now as if it is poised to respond to people's choices with excitement and love. And I sense that it's not the Source energy that has shifted; it's us who have and are shifting. Possibilities and opportunities have always been here, and it has been up to us to see them, open to them and choose them for ourselves.

Choice is our nature and our gift. Every movement of our energy is a choice - our thoughts, feelings and actions. Whatever we choose is perfect. Yet I've learned to choose in each moment with awareness that it is a choice - my choice - and that all choices have physical and vibrational consequences.

 I cannot control the choices of others, yet I can control the choices of myself. Despite what anyone around me chooses, I can always choose for myself. It's just that simple.

I am reminded once again of a line from a song one of my spiritual teachers felt inspired to write recently: "Choose as love what is." I can make a conscious choice to be inspired and driven to action by love rather than something else, just because I can; it's my choice. What do you choose?