In the post Thanksgiving haze, things feel quiet and slow. Perfect conditions for doubt and feeling like whatever I’m doing isn’t enough to sneak in.

I have been writing daily prayers, or wishes, which have been a helpful tool. This practice was inspired by my teacher Amanda Harding, who weaves together deliciously thoughtful + meaningful prayers that she so generously shares.

This was today’s:

Allow me to judge less, and forgive myself when I forget.

Let me be guided + reminded there is time for it all – as long as JOY is the utmost concern.

Let me remember to play, and to take myself and my work WAY less seriously.

Let me be free to make things.

Let me remember magic lives in connection, support me as I reach out, especially when I’d rather not reach at all.

//

Writing it down, handing it off, asking for help. Sometimes I remember what I wrote, other times I need to read it again and again. But at least it is there – when I choose to remember.

“Always concentrate on how far you have come, rather than how far you have left to go.  The difference in how easy it seems will amaze you.” – Heidi Johnson

I like to look ahead, rather than acknowledge what I have already done. So the other day I filled my journal with all that has happened these past six months in Frankfurt.  It is amazing to see it all written out at once.  It gives events that are big + small value and I felt proud and settled rather than anxious and uncertain about the future.

So go ahead and pull out your journal and write all that you have done – today, this month, this season, or this year. Then feel good and grounded about it all.

In your week ahead carve out some slivers or even slabs of time to dote and take care of yourself.  Often, we give, give, give to everyone around us and we forget about ourselves, what we need in order to stay in balance.  We then loose steam, get sick, and have no other choice but to slow down and nurture ourselves.

So be proactive.  Go inward.  Schedule a massage, take a hot bath, drink a cup of tea in silence, cuddle up on the couch with a book that has been on your list, make yourself a delicious and nutritious breakfast, write in your journal, try out acupuncture, go on a walk, a run, dress up one day, take a movement class, have a dance party in your kitchen, you get to choose.  Choose something that makes you feel glorious & rejuvenated so that energy can seep into your days and your life.

Have a beautiful week ahead.

I have started off the new year in a beautiful way: mindfully tuning into the root of what it is I want.  It seems like something that should be so easy, but I am discovering there are layers to peel before I can get to the root of it all.  Luckily I have The Desire Map, written by Danielle LaPorte, to sink into and discover what it is I really WANT to feel during this new year, not what I think I should do, or would be good for my image- but what I really want to experience, what my soul craves.

The best part of it all, is I am getting to dive with one of my beloved friends who is visiting from Mexico.  It is so special doing this work with a friend to reflect with while drinking tea or spiced cider, and I can’t wait for future collaborative mapping sessions.

I am taking my time as I move through this book, as LaPorte gives you freedom to do – soaking it in.  I love how she writes, I am eating it up, and I love uncovering the feelings that I will allow to guide me in the choices and actions I make this new year.

On growing happiness rather than smushing it:

‘Happiness is carbonated consciousness.  It wants to spill out and radiate and be articulated.’ – Danielle LaPorte

“In the universe there is an immeasurable, indescribable force which shaman call intent, and absolutely everything that exists in the entire cosmos is attached to intent by a connecting link.” —Carlos Castaneda

In May I dreamed in my journal that we would find a beautiful apartment in NYC and our hunt will be featured in the NY Times.  I claimed it.  And then a few months later…this happened:

Manifestation.