Six Ways to Rev Up Your Resolutions 

by Carolyn A. Romano, Bliss Healing Arts, January 2014

10...9....8....7....6...The ball begins its descent in Times Square....5...4...3...2...1!  Happy New Year! The crowd goes wild! A new year has begun and with it a chance to recommit, to start over, to “once and for all” follow through on some elusive goal. The slate is somehow wiped clean, and, boy, are we excited! 

In fact, many of us have been waiting months (and months!) for January 1st to arrive, that magical, hope-filled day. So, we make our New Year’s resolutions to get organized, get healthy, get a new job, get a new life! A week passes, and we are off to a good start: we have lost five pounds, cleaned out a closet, updated our resume, and signed up for Match.com. Not bad.  Then, another week or two or three goes by and something happens to far too many of us: we fizzle, fall down, and otherwise forget all our worthy goals, and it isn’t even February!

Sound familiar?  Believe me, I feel your pain.  But, may I suggest that there just might be another way—six of them, actually?  Read on and consider how 2014 can be the new year where new strategies help create that new you!

1. Create a Vision Board.  Whether you call it the Law of Attraction, the Power of Intention, or the Science of Deliberate Creation, manifesting our true desires requires focusing our minds and hearts on what we wish to bring into physical reality.  What do you want to attract into your life?  Specifically detailing with pictures and words  --on a Vision Board -- the answer to that question supports vibrational alignment with your vision as well as the Universe’s ability to bring it to you!  Drag out that posterboard, a pile of magazines, some scissors and glue and get visioning!

2.  Try a Mind-Body Skills Group. The key to creating lasting change in life starts with self-awareness. Applying mindfulness and other mind-body practices to your daily life and being part of a group process that allows self-care to flourish are important strategies for creating the life of your dreams. In fact, research shows that mindfulness practices improve the part of the brain that is responsible for executive functioning like setting goals and persisting in their pursuit!

3. Hypnosis. Hypnosis uses the power of your own imagination to effect change. This is a good thing, because your imagination will beat your best efforts at will power every time.  The goal of hypnosis is access to the subconscious mind.  Our conscious mind tends to filter and judge all that it hears, but our subconscious mind, on the other hand, is free from those same limitations.  Under hypnosis, therefore, the subconscious is able to hear suggestions about goals you’d like to achieve and to allow these suggestions to become part of your new thought and behavior patterns.   For more information, see Is Hypnosis Effective? in the resources section.

4.  Learn Emotional Freedom Techniques (E.F.T.).  EFT is an emotional or psychological version of acupuncture (no needles required!) that helps a person remove emotional and physical obstacles to their success and establish new thoughts and patterns of behavior.  It involves repeating statements related to a negative thought pattern or memory while tapping on well-established meridian points in the body.  The tapping encourages the proper flow of the body's meridians, thereby removing any disruption to the body's energy system.  For a great video by EFT's founder, Gary Craig, which explains more about the benefits and uses of EFT, click here.

5.  Participate in a Sweat Lodge.  A Sweat Lodge is a sacred, native American ceremony that takes place in a small, dome-shaped hut covered in blankets.  Heated stones are placed in a pit in the center of the lodge, and once the ceremony has begun, water is poured over them creating steam.  While it can vary, four “rounds” of prayer in the lodge are typical.  The prayers honor Spirit, express our gratitude, and ask for what it is we wish to manifest or heal in our lives.  The lodge represents a return to the warmth, darkness, and safety of the womb.  After the ceremony, we exit the lodge and are “reborn,” with a chance to do things differently.  There is more to it than this, of course, but this explanation should give you a basic idea.  If you are drawn to participating in a sweat lodge, be sure to find someone experienced in leading these sacred events.

6.  Sign up for Shamanic Coaching.  Shamanic coaching combines all the typical aspects of life coaching with Native American rituals and techniques for healing and effecting change.  It supports a person to set and pursue goals that align mind, body, and spirit.  Coaching usually requires a few months’ commitment and regular contact with your coach.  Can’t quite make the investment in individual coaching sessions?  Consider group coaching support instead. 

Mix and match any of the above strategies or commit to trying them all!  Hypnosis and EFT, for example, are a great match; so are sweat lodges and shamanic coaching. Mind-body skills groups are ideal for identifying and breaking old patterns. Finally, a vision board, by itself or with another strategy, is ideal as an overarching “snapshot” or reminder of the life you are creating.  Go to it!

For more information or to get started using any of these strategies, contact Carolyn at BLISS Healing Arts for your free, 30-minute consultation in person or over the phone.  508-481-BLIS (2547) or Carolyn@blisshealingarts.com