"A Beginning is a Beginning"

It is a time to reflect on the past year and think about what we want to do better this year and perhaps begin again. I am listening currently to comedy writer (and actor, producer, director) Mel Brooks' autobiography and have been getting a lot of good laughs from it. It sure feels good to just laugh. Brooks reveals an interesting bit about how he started his writing career when he was a six-year-old. He wrote 3-word sentences home to his mother while away at summer camp. About his early simplistic writing style Brooks states, "It was a beginning." Following up with a great punchline, "but a beginning is a beginning."

I heard this and thought, I've got to share this quote in my New Year's newsletter/blog. We are at the beginning of another year. While a celebrating a new year can be quite joyful for many we may be cynical about celebrating the advent of turning the calendar forward. There are others of us who may be sad at this time of year too. Yet, no matter which group you fall into, a new year can provide us with new beginnings that we can add into (or even subtract from) our lives. To paraphrase Brooks: it is not necessarily a fresh slate. But a slate is a slate.

We've lived, so many of those things that are still on that slate, things that may fade with time. Yet, we take those things with us from year to year and we can turn them into opportunities for growth and change. As humans, we can find ways to turn those things into something creative or productive and allowing room to put other things on our slate.

Practice with Joy & Intention

The tagline in my logo is "Practice with Joy & Intention." This got me thinking about what that truly means. Personally, I've never thought about it before since I did not brainstorm it at all. It suddenly popped into my brain when my logo designer asked for one. Yet, it continues to resonate with me. Here, I share why that is.

The joy in this tagline is the heart's joy or desire. Intention is sankalpa in Sanskrit and it is a statement that evolves from the heart's joy.

Since it is the beginning of the year, this is the perfect time, a new beginning, to think about your heart's joy and how to turn that joy into an intention. What joy is there inside of you? Think about your heart's joy and how you want it to evolve into an intention for the new year.

Rather than making a New Year's resolution for beginning a new diet or exercise regimen, commit to a joyful intention from your heart's joy. In Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra® we use the heart's intention and turn it into a positive statement in the present tense. Similarly, the heart's joy can be turned into a positive intention statement.

You can begin by helping yourself grow toward something by making progress toward becoming that something.

For example, "I move through the new year healthy and happy." Even if this statement is presently the furthest from the your truth, using a joyful intention daily, even if you feel sick or sad, it can help you journey to become that in your life. It is not a goal like a new year's resolution, but more a way of living so that it becomes your truth.

To plant the seed of intention (sankalpa) deeply into your consciousness use the yoga nidra meditation technique. It is a unique practice that separates yoga nidra from any other type of meditation practice. Planting that seed deep in the consciousness helps transform the journey of our lives. Classes are ongoing every Monday night at 7:30 ET with a new journey. In tonight's online yoga nidra journey we will travel through the cosmos. Register here.

New Year, New Classes

Yoga nidra classes continue online at 7:30 ET Monday nights. In mid-January I will begin a regular schedule of online offerings including online Yoga for Strength & Flexibility and online a Yoga for Healthy Bones class. Learn more by clicking on the links for these classes or register now if you are interested.

Are you still thinking about the upcoming chakra workshops? The discount chakra package is in effect until 1/11. Classes begin on Wednesday 1/12. Register for single workshop drop-in here.

I am also available for face-to-face or online private lessons. Contact me via the form at the bottom every one of my web pages to set up an appointment.

5 packs and 10 packs for online group classes are still available at a discounted pricing.

Resources:

Brooks, M. (2021). All about me. Audible edition.