happy old year

"Abra-cadabra, ala-kazam, turn Roman into a caged ham!" (Real quote. I could not make this up if I tried.)


This post is a little late.  It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks.  A big goal was achieved over New Years when I took my family to Disney World!  We stayed at the Nickelodeon Hotel, where my son had green slime dumped on his head, we watched a shooting star at Disney, saw Cinderella's castle decked out in the most beautiful Christmas lights ever...  Basically, it was perfect!

Upon returning, it was time for my FIRST DAY of work in my NEW ROLE as Mind Body Manager for the soon-to-be-open exhale spa Battery Wharf, Boston!!  Dream come true doesn't even begin to cover it!  

These are just two of the soul-filled intentions that I made, and realized in 2010, for which I am BURSTING with gratitude.

I mentioned that this post is late.  In the excitement of the last few weeks, I haven't had a chance to properly reflect on the blessings, experiences and lessons of the year gone by.  See, for a few years following the big Y2K hoopla, New Years just seemed anticlimactic and unimportant to me.  But in the last couple of years, since I've been practicing intention, (something like deliberate creation, prayer, or goal setting) I have found a new way to appreciate this holiday, by really looking at the journey of the "old year."  Re-reading journal entries, to-do lists, facebook posts, and viewing the photos of the past year, it never fails to amaze me how much I've done or how far I've come.

If you haven't had a chance to reflect on the old year yet, think about setting aside a little time to meditate on your journey and how far you have come in the last year.  Where were you when the year started?  Where are you now?  Did you follow your bliss?  Did your choices feel authentic to you?

I need to spend some time reflecting before I look ahead at the new year and begin to set new intentions for the things I'll create in the year to come. This is a time when I know goals are at the forefront of our minds, so I'd like to dedicate a series of posts to share with you my process for intention-setting in the coming weeks...  Stay tuned!

Wishing you many blessings,

Andrea

the season of giving



photo by jaimiearnold.com. dorky embellishments by me.

 What an incredible holiday season it has been so far this year.  At last, the gifts are piled under the Christmas tree and there is nothing left to do but enjoy the glow of the lights and anticipate the excitement and joy on the kids' faces in the morning.  We've visited with loved ones, and are looking forward to seeing more tomorrow.  We've watched our favorite holiday movies, and exchanged a few too many cookies and cupcakes with our wonderful neighbor.  I really do feel blessed.

Last week I had the honor of travelling to exhale spa in New York City for training.  I immersed myself in the classes of some incredibly dynamic, skilled and talented Core Fusion teachers there, and even got to teach a class at exhale's Central Park South location while I was in town.  What a treat!  When I returned from New York I received an early Christmas present from the amazing lululemon athletica team at the Prudential Center when they invited me into their ambassador program!  Wow, let me tell you, that was a huge goal realized.  :)  I see the many gifts around me and I am truly overwhelmed with gratitude.

I was scanning the aisles at Target a few days ago to see if anything caught my eye to put the finishing touches on my holiday shopping list, when a memory from about eleven years ago floated to the surface of my mind.  I was in a Target store (or something similar), buying paint to dress up the hand-me-down dresser for my baby's room.  I was a very young mother, with very little money.  I was so filled with judgment for the people I saw around me doing their holiday shopping.  It seemed like such a completely mindless exercise.  I remember thinking, "They don't even know what they're shopping for, they just want to spend their money on something!" 

The memory struck me because I found myself now, eleven years later, doing the same thing.  I wasn't really shopping for anything in particular, I just wanted to give something to the people I love that might make them happy.  I have enough now.  And I want to share.  And that doesn't seem like such a bad thing to me anymore.  This got me thinking about how I've judged the whole "Consumer American Christmas" experience a little harshly in the past as well.  Do we overdo it?  Probably.  But there is something incredibly gratifying about gift-giving.  It really makes you feel good.  And let's face it, receiving gifts feels pretty wonderful too.  Just ask any child, they'll tell you honestly!  ;)

Whether or not you celebrate Christmas, whether for you it is a deeply religious holy day, or just a cherished custom, I wish you all the joys of the season, the giddy, beautifully human experience of giving, and receiving.

xoxo
Andrea

have you written your wish list?



photo by  Laurie
Liquid Paper



When I was a little girl, I remember writing letters to Santa Claus at Christmastime letting him know quite plainly what I wished for, addressing these letters to the North Pole, and faithfully dropping them off at the post office to be delivered to the gift-bringer himself.  I never knew for sure if I would get every single thing I asked for, but I didn't let that stop me from asking.  And let me assure you, I never worried for a minute about how Santa would pull it off.  He could work his magic.  That was what Santa did!

The thought struck me tonight, as my journal lay open in front of me, that I have not completely given up this childhood ritual.  Almost every dream or wish that has come true for me has started out on a wish list inside the pages of my journal.  I often phrase these wishes in the present tense, writing about how grateful I am for achieving some goal, sometimes months before it actually happens.  I guess you could say I do this both with my head in the clouds, and my feet on the ground: to send out positive vibrations into the universe that will attract the circumstances I would like, and to set my "subconscious computer" as the lululemon manifesto puts it. :) I have researched the power of intention from every possible angle: psychological, spiritual, scientific, you name it.  I have practiced intention-setting on paper, while meditating, academically, consciously, unconsciously and even religiously.  Of course, I can't say that I believe every word I've read on the subject.  But I can say that positive intention and gratitude are two of the most powerful forces working in my life, and the majority of the blessings I receive begin as a bold wish that I have committed to paper.  The best part is, this works all year round!  You don't even have to wait for Christmas! 

When you send a wish list to the universe, don't be afraid to think like a child.  (You can even address it to Santa if that makes it easier.)  ;)  You don't have to worry about how any of it is going to happen.  The universe can work its magic!  That is what it does.  But don't forget to take the first step.  Go ahead and ask for what you want.