If you made New Year’s resolutions, chances are they have already been abandoned. The truth is, flawed in their design, resolutions fail, not the people who make them.
While resolutions can be motivating, the methods of pursuit are sabotaging. Shifting the paradigm on resolutions will make their fruition more likely.
Reiki helps steer this paradigm shift. Much of what Reiki cultivates — insight, contentment, relaxation, and heightened awareness — is involved in achieving goals. Reiki supports good health by naturally encouraging the balance of mind, body, emotion, and spirit, all of which are integral in creating change.
Why not reshape the concept of a resolution into a way of thinking that's applicable to all goals all year? Here are some suggestions for setting goals and implementing change, no matter what time of year it is.
Nullify the resolution idea. Resolutions often stem from feelings of inadequacy or something a person believes needs to be “fixed.” Resolutions stem from illusions that if this one thing can be fixed, then all problems will go away.
Since the mindset of resolutions is often one of discontent rather than inner harmony, it’s hard to change patterns just by putting a positive spin on an issue and trying to start fresh.
When resolutions don’t take hold, frustration and feelings of inadequacy take over, often aggravating the problem related to the resolution.
Rather than make resolutions, try creating intentions instead. While the difference between resolutions and intentions seems like semantics, at their core intentions are very different from resolutions. Why?
Everything we do starts with an intention. Even getting out of bed in the morning begins with the intention to do it. Intention is the creative process that fulfills our needs. It is a directed impulse of our purest consciousness. Intention is the creativity of mind and spirit. It plants seeds.
Visualize and affirm. When you set an intention, you feed it by visualizing it and affirming it. Many highly successful people do this. Visualize the intention as though it is already happening so you see yourself in a real presence. Visualize how you look, how things feel, how you are with others, how others treat you, and any other details that make your vision real.
Believing is seeing, and it is a method of training the brain by making suggestions that the brain begins to accept as being real.
Affirmations establish intentions in the universe. Perhaps your intention is increased financial abundance. If you visualize yourself with that abundance here and now, and then affirm it, you establish pure consciousness of the intention. Thinking and seeing wire the brain for behaviors geared to the intention. What you think becomes what you do.
However, you must still do the work. You can’t visualize and affirm abundance and then not take the proper actions.
Take some time each day to visualize and affirm. So, how do you visualize and affirm an idea? Each day sit quietly alone for a few minutes, cultivating and tending your visions, letting go of resistances, listening to your emotions, reassuring yourself, and integrating the affirmations into your mind and body. Then release it and move forward with your day. It is helpful to try to do this at the same time every day as part of your schedule as you are acknowledging its value and making it as methodical as brushing your teeth.
You do not have to take up meditation to do this practice. It is more about actively creating a scenario and establishing it into your core being — actually making it part of you.
Above all; however, no matter what intentions you set or desires for change you have, they should be about bringing joy into your life. Not in the near future, but now.
Make choices that serve you. If your intention is structured exercise and you prefer more subdued forms, then a Boot Camp fitness class doesn’t serve you. Try gentle yoga, t’ai chi, pilates or something suited to your nature. Make honest decisions based on who you really are and how you live.
Be realistic. Go for moderate and practical, even if goals are abstract. “I’m going to find 5 things for which to be grateful every day” is a magnificent yet reasonable intention. But be aware of systemic variables. If your friends are ungrateful complainers, it will impede you unless you manage those relationships. You will be faced with making tough choices about lifestyle habits and even relationships that challenge your success.
Relax purposefully. The ideal state in which to plant seeds of intention is that of deep relaxation. Take time to quiet your head. It makes intentions much more powerful.
“Monkey mind,” the relentless chatter in one’s head, hinders the awareness and silence associated with pure consciousness — the place where intentions are born. You clean out your closets to make better space for your clothes. Doesn’t it make sense to clean out your mind to make better space for what you want to create?
Explore ways such as mindful, rhythmic breathing to center yourself in contentment and restful awareness. As thoughts invade your head, focusing on deep, slow breathing will help you release distracting thoughts and relax into your quietude.
Applaud all victories. Acknowledge your accomplishments and incremental successes. If you are quitting smoking, celebrate going from 20 cigarettes to 15. Self-recognition reinforces behavior and fosters persistence.
Don’t obsess. Creating lifestyle changes is a process that waxes and wanes. Relax and remember that your higher self knows that everything is all right and will be all right.
Let Reiki help you! A Reiki session begins with the client setting an intention. Always. Reiki helps manifests intentions. Visualizations can augment the session. Formal studies on Reiki indicate that deep relaxation, positive attitude, and increased focus are common results. My clients report a sense of repose, being centered, feeling nurtured in spirit, and optimism. One of my favorite client responses… “I feel like myself again.”
