Stepping Into 2024
By Jennifer Kelleher
I hope everyone is enjoying a healthy and happy holiday season and closing out the last few days of the year with presence and intention. As I sit down to write this, I can hardly believe I’ve been doing it for a year. I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing in this weekly column– actually it has been quite healing for me. Thank you for reading it and for sharing your gratitude. It makes me happy to know that the Rockaway community appreciates A Blissful Life!
I invite you now to take a few deep breaths and center into your body. Allow your mind to gently reflect on the past year. Instead of trying to remember, simply allow memories to arise and play out. Continue to take full belly breaths to help keep your body calm as you rewatch some of your moments from 2023. See if you can practice non-attachment to whatever comes up, as if you are watching a film. When you feel finished, bring your attention to your breath. Closely trace the inhales and exhales with your awareness.
Recognize yourself exactly where you are. Notice the sounds of now, feels of now, sights of now, tastes of now, and smells of now– again, without labeling them or attaching to them, but rather allowing them to orient you here, in this present moment.
Every step you have taken in your life has led you to where you are now. As you sit here in the present, the bridge between past and future, can you find some forgiveness, acceptance, faith, and trust? This version of you, no matter how your mind judges it, is perfect. Can you take a breath and love into the parts of you that are hurting? The parts that feel broken? The parts that don’t feel like enough? Breathe. Be the Love and tell those parts of you: “I see you. I’ve got you. You are held. We are good.”
The week before the new year is a wonderful time to go slow, take off your ego, and spend some extra quiet space honestly looking at your life. Notice where you are, what is serving you, and what is not serving you. Think about areas of your life that are in need of some healing, or some extra loving attention. The new year carries the energy of a fresh start. Take advantage of this natural momentum by being intentional as you roll into 2024.
On the evening of January 3 at Ocean Bliss Yoga, I will be holding a workshop (with tea) called, ‘Energy Road Mapping for the Year Ahead’. The purpose of this workshop is to start off 2024 with aligned intention and a plan for success. We will talk about what energy is, along with what creates energy and what drains it. We will use a tool to help us evaluate our sense of fulfillment in each of the 12 primary areas of life. The results will show us what in our life needs to be prioritized. After talking as a group about ways to patch up holes where your energy is leaking and start filling those areas, you will work with a partner to brainstorm some ideas for you specifically.
Together, we will each create and refine our tailored plans of action for the year ahead. We will also discuss foods that boost energy versus those that drain it so that we are supported physically. Finally, we will outline specific steps to ensure that the aligned intentions and goals that you set become your waking reality. If you feel called, you can sign up at oceanblissyoga.net. Call or text me (Jen) with any questions at 917-318-1168.
Wishing you all a new year full of excellent health, love, peace, joy, ease, flow, laughter, connection, abundance, and calm! Xoxox.
