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December 30, 2013

Resolutions on the Mat. ~ Laura Erdman-Luntz

Let’s take our New Year’s resolutions to our yoga mats and make 2014 amazing!

Each January many of us start the New Year with a resolve that this will be the year we finally stick to our laundry list of well-intended resolutions. Two weeks later, that list is usually filed away next to organic banana peels and used coffee grounds. But this year, we can actually make those changes. We just need a little help from our closest friends…our yoga mats.

Yep, our yoga mats.  Our yoga practice is a powerful way to deepen our resolve. And adding a little Life Coaching to the process is simply magic! Ready for the three-part process? Let’s grab our journals and our yoga mats and let’s do it!

Step One: Let go of the past year

Life Coaching: 

Let’s start by reflecting on the past year. Let ourselves write without editing. Get it all out. What went well? What didn’t? What were the challenges we faced? How did we grow as a result? And, most importantly, what do we need to release moving forward?

While we want to think we can make a change to our lives, we are far more likely to, deep down, assume tomorrow will be the same as today.  We need to consciously release that which we no longer want in our lives so we can free ourselves to move forward with a clean slate.

Yoga:

Now let’s take that intention of release, whatever it is, to our yoga mats.  Begin by sitting quietly and simply set the intention to release whatever it is.  Then put attention on the release of exhales and do a practice of twists.  Twists are the detoxing poses!

Step Two: Bring in Our Dream

Life Coaching:

So, what do we want? Return to our journal and reflect on what we want. I like to start with the big picture, what do I want for my life? What is my Big Dream? Sometimes it helps to look at all the different areas of our life individually: financial, relationships, career, health, spiritual, etc.

Then, based on this big dream, we can look at each area and decide what we want to change over the next year.  What do we want to say about our lives one year from today that we cannot say now?

Yoga: 

Now let’s build the will-power we need to take the steps. We all need a little personal strength at times to help us power through the lack of motivation when it pops up.

Sit quietly and lightly put attention on what we want to create, the dream for the year.  Then do a practice of standing poses. Make the poses strong and powerful. Take our gaze way out into the atmosphere and feel our presence on the earth.

Move into backbends and feel courage build.  Feel the umph behind our actions build.  The quintessential pose here is Ustrasana (Camel Pose). Feel our hearts open and our courage swell with this pose.

Step Three: Surrender with Grace and Gratitude to the Present

Life Coaching:

One of the greatest challenges to consciously creating magic in our life is not having it yet.  But being frustrated with our current lives is not going to help us create positive energy around our dreams.  Manifesting occurs best not when we are thinking, “I’ll be happy when…” but when we are thinking, “I LOVE my life AND I am ready for more!”

So, the final step is surrendering with gratitude to where we are right now in life. Being grateful to what we have already and who we are. Sit down with the journals again and write out all the wonderful things going on in life right now.  Feel appreciation for being alive, all that comes easily for us, everything we have and everything we are.

Yoga:

Taking gratitude to our yoga, move into a practice of forward folds. Gratitude is all about being present. We aren’t in a state of “I’ll be happy when…”, we are here and now. Forward folds are poses for bringing a sense of presence into our lives, a calmness.

Add a conscious head bow to our poses, relaxing the forehead to add a sense of devotion. I like to think of it as bowing my head to the Divine in gratitude.

And, so…

Let’s take ourselves through the process over three days, doing one step each day. Each of us may may find we need to do a little more of each one to help.

Not feeling grateful? Take it to the mat.

Need a little personal strength to take an action you are avoiding? Take it to the mat.

Let’s use our practice and make 2014 extraordinary!

 

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Assistant Editor: Paige Vignola

Image via: GOHIBI

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Laura Erdman-Luntz