Winter Solstice and New Year Intention Setting

Tonight marks the winter solstice, the longest night of the year. The extended darkness creates a natural pull inwards for reflection, contemplation, and deep inner listening. This quiet time of year allows us to hear our innermost desires most clearly. It's a beautiful time to create ritual around taking stock of the past year and setting intentions for the year to come.  

In Tantric yoga there is a deep honoring of both the light and dark parts of ourselves. The darkness represents things that we haven't addressed or shined light on, maybe aspects of ourselves that we won't or cannot see. In yoga we are invited into a process of self-inquiry to discover and uncover the deepest and darkest parts of ourselves with an attitude of curiosity and compassion. We practice to see ourselves as clearly and honestly as possible, to lift the veils that cloak our authentic self and then to move into deeper levels of maturity and evolution. In order to grow we need to learn from our mistakes, let go of what doesn't work and be willing to try new things. This requires that we see ourselves from every angle, even the less flattering. Then take action to transform the dark and grow the light.

Every year for the past several years I've had the ritual of carving out time and space to reflect and write about my successes and failures of the past year and then to intentionally craft and design the year to come. I've found that in doing this practice, I've built a clear path to my heart's desires and have achieved more than I ever thought possible. The act of writing your goals down concretizes them, it makes them more real and you more likely to follow them. 

So I invite you to harness this potent energy of the solstice and tune in and turn inwards. If you are pulled into creating a ritual for the solstice I invite you to make some space, light a candle and answer the following journal questions: 

What lessons did you learn in 2015?  

What did you accomplish?  

What did you learn about yourself?  

What shifted for you? Where did you get a new perspective?  

What did you let go of?  

What didn’t work?  

What are you grateful for?  

Breathe in and give thanks for all that has passed, breath out and let go of the old to create space for what’s to come…  

Create 2016 

If you had to create a theme for 2016 in one word or phrase what would it be?  

What promise do you want to make to yourself?  

What do you want to learn more about? Where would you like to visit?  

What are you ready to release?  

What are your goals in the following areas? Personal, health, work, financial, spiritual, family and friends  

Energy flows where intention goes…  

*Over the next few weeks write down each of your goals on a separate piece of paper or pages of a notebook. Then, under each goal, start writing down what you need to do to make it happen and all the steps you need to take. For each actionable step, set a time and date. Break up big jobs into smaller steps to make it doable and less overwhelming.  

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step - Lao Tzu