This year I threw out the idea of writing my yearly resolution(s). While declarations and promises are fine and dandy and have even served me well in the past, I simply didn’t have the energy for it this year. I could blame it on the flu that plagued me, but more honestly my heart just wasn’t in it.
Normally I savor my yearly reflection on past and projection into future, so this was definitely new. Partly I suppose the word “resolution” has almost become a dirty word for me around this time of year. Media hypes New Year resolutions so much that dieting and exercise almost become the assumption. In retaliation, I used to make my goals anything besides health and fitness. Still, my resolutions have often become “I shoulds” and eventually left me with a load of guilt. If I didn’t see myself accomplishing that goal, I had failed. Labeling yourself a failure isn’t much of a turn-around for a new year!
So I guess this year I threw out what has become a burdensome concept. Instead the words “intention” and “manifestation” crept at the back of my mind. I wasn’t sure what to do with them until I was invited to a workshop at the Yoga Center of Minneapolis on new beginnings for 2012 and “manifesting your intentions”. Ta dah!
This workshop didn’t focus on the past or what has gone right or wrong in life. It also didn’t focus on the future or that “someday” of happy attainment. Instead, we worked to build energy “to commit to the present, which absolves the past and reverberates into the future.” This description alone felt beautiful, rich, and meaningful to me. To do this, we created our own Sankalpa (affirmation/positive intention/resolve) to use before and after our performance of ritual, yoga, and mantra chanting as acts for manifestation.
Don’t wish on your star; embrace it! To work with your own Sankalpa for the new year, or any other purpose, find a calm moment and use positive language to state your intention, such as, “I am grateful for my abundant health.” Instead of focusing on the end result and/or what you don’t want, as a resolution so often does, you’re focusing on the now; even if your health is a struggle, your affirmation calls in that good energy and opens you to what you are already accepting of. Say your Sankalpa three times and then let it go. The Universe, God, Spirit…has heard you. YOU have heard yourself and set your world into motion. 
Happy New Year!
If you are interested in these ideas of manifestation, intention, affirmation, and positive energy, 365 Ways to Raise Your Frequency and The Good Energy Book are two exceptional resources as you enter this new year!
