“The unexamined life is one not worth living.” – Socrates

Are you starting to crave a fresh start and looking for new opportunities?

December is a time for reviewing the year and planning for the next. As we get ready to embark on the next decade let us take a moment to engage in our end of year ritual using these four steps: Schedule, Reflect, Strategize and Intend.

Schedule

First, find time.

If you are a busy person, like most of us are, then you know how challenging this step can be. But, if you are reading this article you also know how important this time is. When you take the time to pull back from daily activities and pause for self reflection everyone in your life benefits.

Choose a time that is most convenient for you. Maybe it is a few hours on a Sunday morning or in the early evening, at a retreat, or even on a long airplane ride. Schedule it in your calendar to ensure it happens.

Reflect

Once you have set aside at least a couple hours of time sit down with a journal or your laptop and reflect on your life over the past year.

This is not a time to get attached to your past. It is a time to celebrate your accomplishments and learn from failures so you can strategize the best plan moving forward.

The goal here is to create clarity.

Create three separate columns that reflect each area of your life:

• Professional

• Family/social

• Personal

Think about the experiences you had pertaining to each category. Which ones were joyful? Which were challenging? With the attitude of receptivity, reflect on why those experiences brought you joy or difficulty. The goal is to learn more about yourself and nurture your own authenticity.

As Oscar Wilde so brilliantly stated, "Be yourself—because everyone else is already taken." There is never a better time than now to start being true to yourself. Own, nurture and celebrate every part of you. The planet will thrive as well as our communities and families when we stop being afraid of embracing our individuality. Besides, who isn’t tired of being the person everyone wants us to be? Or, being the person we “think” we “should” be? Or, on a larger scale, “conforming” to some way of conventional thinking?

Strategize

After you have gained valuable information from the reflection process it is time to plan a new year. You now know which areas of your personality require some “house cleaning,” which areas you would like to explore deeper and which areas you would like to nurture and grow.

Some people might liken this step to making a New Year’s resolution, but instead, consider it a course correction. Life is dynamic and full of change. It is normal to get thrown off course and become estranged to your true self. This is another opportunity to amp up your self compassion and dream big.

Take out a calendar and look at each month for the upcoming year. Have a sharp focus on the first quarter, it is coming fast!

Again, make plans for each category of your life:

• Professional

• Family/social

• Personal life

Begin by brainstorming ideas. Not all ideas will manifest, but it is important to write them down anyway so you can have a roadmap to follow.

Intend

Intention is direction and determines outcomes. Wherever your attention goes your energy flows. All great think tanks - ancient and modern - understand the power of intention. In the yoga tradition, the word is “samkalpa.” You can check out last year’s blog if you want a clearer description of how to work with it.

Samkalpa is the intention of the highest kind. This is an internal longing, a prayer from our heart. It is related to our core values and it becomes an affirmation that is non-negotiable.

For instance, as I dream big and strategize my 2020 self-care routines, family trips, trainings, projects, self-development and collaborations I simultaneously invoke my personal samkalpa, “I am peaceful and I am connected to source.” This is my internal mission statement, my inner vow that cannot be compromised.

Peace is something I long for, but it can often get lost or misplaced. So, with every big idea I have for the new year it has to align with this core value.

This samkalpa is like an inner mantra. It is a simple statement, but it is loaded full of nuances, imagery and meaning. Don’t let the simplicity of the statement fool you. The samkalpa has a charge of the highest kind and it literally lives inside you. Wake up with this mantra and try to remember it throughout the day. This intention will not only direct you to make better choices, but it will attract the opportunities you desire.

Yes, there are times when the samkalpa can get lost. That is why this cycle - Schedule, Reflect, Strategize, Intend - is a helpful reboot. Do this ideally once a quarter, but certainly at the end of the year.

“Intention is one with cause and effect. Intention determines outcome. And if you’re stuck and not moving forward, you have to check the thought and the action that created the circumstance,” says Oprah Winfrey.

Challenges will arise. How smoothly you will navigate these challenges lie in how well you know yourself and the tools you use along the way.

The end of the year is a perfect time to use those tools to strengthen your bond to yourself, re-evaluate your life goals and affirm your intentions. Take the time to schedule your year end ritual and catch the energetic tidal wave into the next decade.

A Yoga Unplugged collaboration - written by Jennifer Reuter, edited by Sarah Burchard

Photo by Glenn Carstens Peters on Unsplash

Every year we take another wild journey around the sun. I have come to the conclusion, that if I don’t consciously try and “map” this journey out it can start to take a life of its own—good or bad. As we all know, life is what we choose to make it, and every new year is another chance to craft it into something special.

When you sit down this month to plot your course for next year, consider using this strategy...

1. Identify your Samkalpa

Samkalpa (Sanskrit: संकल्प)

Sam:  Connection with the highest truth; your heart

Kalpa: the rule to be followed above all other rules; time

A Samkalpa is one of the most practical tools of the ancient yogic tradition. It is an internal compass that gives your life meaning, direction and purpose. Without it, you may experience the feeling of being lost.

The word Samkalpa can be translated to “heartfelt desire.” It becomes an overarching theme for your life, a personal vow.

If you are pondering what this word means for you, I recommend getting quiet. The task of identifying your Samkalpa requires getting into alignment with your core being. When you slow down, get still and sincerely listen, you will feel your Sampkalpa start to bubble up. It will become a clear knowingness, that cannot be denied, and will be the driving force behind all that you do.

A new years intention that I often hear is, “I want to get into shape.” This is a great intention! But, it may fall by the wayside, if you don’t ask yourself the deeper question of “why.”  

When you ponder the reason behind your intention, you will discover your Samkalpa. Using the example of, “Wanting to get into shape,” a Sampkalpa may be a vow to be happier, more radiant or have more energy to play with your kids.

I like to think of my Samkapla as my co-pilot for traveling each year. I remind myself several times a day because the reality is, that change and unforeseen interruptions will happen. So no matter what is brewing, my Samkalpa will help me stay aligned, strong and resilient.

Write down and state your Samkalpa out loud, matter-of-factly, like you are living it now! Feel it in the body as if it is true and real already.

For example, “I am radiant!”

2.  Reflect upon your Samkalpa in three categories

1. Personal

2. Professional

3. Social/Family

Explore the following inquiries in all three categories of your life, in relation to your Samkalpa.

What is going well?

What is not going well?

What do I want more of?

What do I want less of?

What do I want to experience?

How do I want to live?

Who would I like to be?

This reflection process reveals insights that will allow you to craft and plan your upcoming journey.

3.  Plan Time to PLAN

“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.”  —Benjamin Franklin

In order to steer 2019 in the right direction you need to create time for planning. I schedule a series of days, at the end of each quarter, for planning out the quarter ahead. During these sessions I revisit the original journey I mapped out at the beginning of the year, along with any new future opportunities that may have manifested along the way.

In addition, I check in daily and weekly to review what was initiated in my quarterly planning sessions to stay on track.  

4. Choose a companion word

You can help cultivate your character with a “companion word”.  Last year my companion word was “courage.” I chose that word as a reminder to help me trust my intuitive hits, no matter how bizarre they were. It was a good lesson for me that helped me turn my intuition into a trusted source. I wrote the word in the front my journal, so that I would see it every day and not forget it.

What is your companion word for 2019?

5. Align your intentions with an ancient mantra

There are many auspicious mantras that help channel and direct universal energy. For example, the ancient mantra Namah Shivaya, as taught to me by my teacher, is called the “Panchakshari Mantra.” It is known as the 5 syllable mantra—each syllable representing one of the five elements: space, air, water, fire and earth. Chanting this mantra constitutes its universal oneness. It calms the mind, brings spiritual insight and knowledge, enhances your perception and instills hope and faith.

Practice chanting an ancient mantra like, Namah Shivaya as you move forth on your new journey.

6. REPEAT

Did I mention that change and unforeseen interruptions will happen? The material world from which we operate is constantly changing. That means, that the outside world will knock us off course eventually.

Find your super power of "starting again.”  Meditate, remember your Sampkalpa, adjust your plan as necessary, stay true to your companion word, chant mantra and repeat.

Have faith in your Sampkalpa. Be kind and gentle to yourself. Rest when you need to and practice self-love. Remember, no one else can do it the way you can.   

How will you plan your next journey around the sun?

A Yoga Unplugged collaboration - written by Jennifer Reuter, edited by Sarah Burchard