I absolutely love January 1. It’s such a fresh start, clean slate. Reflecting on the past year and planning for the New Year brings out my most optimistic self. And if you know me well, you know that I believe that the act of setting intentions is a powerful driving force to help us ground the mind in what we want instead of letting it wander down the dark road of our negativity biases. In fact, in just about every yoga class I teach, I invite students to set an intention for what they want to manifest, who they want to be or how they want to feel. I believe this simple task helps us bring in the light instead of forever analyzing the darkness. I believe this simple act has changed my life.

Years ago I used to make the longest lists of what I wanted to do that year. (Do notice that I said “what I wanted to do” and not “who I wanted to be”.) I got swept up in a huge bucket list of the nice-to-haves instead of the essential-to-bes.

This year my intention for myself is simple. I intend for 2016 to be my year of living courageously. Most people think courage is about being heroic. But the word courage comes from the root word coer or cor, which means heart. My aim is to live from a full heart or wholeheartedly.

Will you join me on this journey to more often….

• walk in the sun
• focus my time on people, ideas and tasks that fulfill me
• take more chances
• not resist change or reality
• be authentic
• be gentle and kind to myself
  
• and choose to see challenges and obstacles as opportunity.

I wish you peace, love and joy for 2016.

Namaste,

Suzanne