2019 was a rough year for me. The first thing I did was step in dog poop- I can’t make this up.

From there it was grief, gratitude, and growth. Not necessarily in that order.

I’m not sure how the year treated you, but all the people I’ve chatted with seem to agree there were significant struggles, and the year seemed a little “off”.

If this was the case for you, right now is a good time to begin shedding the old year.

“What the New Year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the New Year.”

I think that’s the reason some years or certain times in our life are more difficult; some years are filled with challenges for the purpose of growth. The growth and challenges mean that other times we can enjoy and reap the harvest of that growth.

Don’t discount the rough patches though. They can be prime and fertile grounds for growth…in preparation for great things to come!  

Just as most people reported 2019 as a difficult year, I presume it was because most people are anticipating an exceptional 2020. May 2020 deliver the goods!

If 2019 was difficult, think of it as necessary prep and groundwork for what could be a fantastic year ahead.

While it is literally a brand new year and represents a new start, wherever you go, there you are.

This means the changes you desire can only transpire when you are an updated version of yourself. When YOU are changed, you can change the other things about your life, nix old habits, start new venture.

New goals and new habits are only made possible when you process and release old aspects of yourself to make space for better things.

How we end the old year is as important as how we begin the new one!  

What was it that wise thinker said? You can’t overcome problems by using the same kind of thinking you used when you created them – Einstein. So just because it’s a new year, doesn’t guarantee a new you unless you’ve done the work…the reflections, the learnings and a symbolic gesture of letting the old year go. For many, this will be a celebration and that’s fine, but on a more substantial level there’s something else you can do…

The best way to end a year and begin a New Year: Write a letter to 2019, partly a letter of reflection thanking it for its lessons, reviewing those lessons, writing your thoughts and emotions surrounding those lessons, writing about the things that stand out to you most, and “tying things up” like a clean and easy break-up on YOUR terms.

I wrote my letter, but this doesn’t mean I’ll be rushing into 2020 like ‘thank God 2019 is over’ and shove it under the rug like people tend to do with problems. Nope!

Here’s another way to welcome the new year: ‘A Letter To My Future Self: My Ritual For Closing Out The Decade’

Reflection is an easy and extremely effective form of self-improvement.

Besides reflection, another reason to write it down has to do with getting in a zone, an altered state. This can be produced by free-writing or “automatic writing”, where something comes up in writing that wouldn’t otherwise

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[ Automatic writing has been touted as an altered spirit communication. When I use the term, Automatic Writing, I’m simply referring to a form of writing that accesses your subconscious mind without interference from the conscious critical mind. Ask yourself a question or two about 2019 then write a paragraph or so in your non-dominant hand. See where it leads. When you use your non-dominant hand, your conscious mind is focused on hand coordination. This allows your subconscious wisdom and thoughts to come forth more easily. You can also allow yourself to sink into an altered state with “free writing” too, where you continuously write a full page without stopping, editing along the way or thinking too much. ]

Altered states, such as flow, meditation, and love, are important to experience as regularly as possible. The most notable characteristic of altered states is the absence or minimization of the critical mind.

[Hypnosis is a wonderful altered state, specifically for making changes. Let me know if you have any questions.]

Meditation, free-writing or automatic writing are great ways to get the “good stuff”, and reflect on 2019 so that you can greet 2020 with a new sense of self!

It’s natural to begin the New Year process before this year’s end. You can include affirmations, reflections, intentions, and of course, I like to incorporate meditation into this.

AFFIRM:

ENJOY this meditation below (Asteroid Meditation). A powerful release and recharge entering into a new year and/or new phase of life. This meditation metaphorically sheds the old stuff (or that which we don’t want, what no longer serves us) and attracts the new (powerfully moving into that which we DO want).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peace and Be Well (HAPPY 2020),

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Laura