Welcome to the December issue of my Blog...
www.TheUrbanShaman.blogstop.com

Happy Holidays!
& Happy New YOU!

The theme for this Year End Blog is:
Happy New You!
Tools to be who you are meant to be and make the New Year a prosperous and productive one...

I hope you are enjoying these blogs... It is my pleasure to share this information to you all.

Please pass this information to your friends and family... or email me to join the mailing list if you are not in my database @ TheUrbanShaman@aol.com ... My intention is to start a bi-monthly publication to support wellness in our communities...
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Also, if you have any suggestions for future blogs... Use the “comments” button on the bottom of this months blog... or email me at: TheUrbanShaman@aol.com

Life is not just a journey... make it an adventure! ENJOY! & Much love to you all...

Peace N' Blessings,
Gail Oliver






Intentions Versus New Years Resolutions....

Gail Oliver © 2006


Now that we have survived Act 1 of our Holiday celebrations, it’s time for Act 2, New Years!

It is now when we tend to make our New Years Resolutions (NYR’s). It is the time of year we promise ourselves to do better, be better and try harder. We make lists and mental notes, we meditate and pray to do better in general. A time for a fresh start, after all, it’s a New Year... We can start with a clean slate. We make plans to workout at the gym, get a new job, a new partner, a new lease on life, and many other promises we usually can’t and don’t keep let alone accomplish. To me NYR’s are an exercise we do annually to cover up the things we let slide all year. It’s a way of gracefully cleaning up our act so to speak. How many of your 2006 resolutions did you keep this year? What happened?

Life has a way of getting in our way and sabotaging our hopes, wishes and desires... We get busy with life and they become our back burner projects... Our resolutions soon become distant memories. How many times have you made the same resolutions year after year after year and still haven’t seen them to fruition? I know I am guilty. Maybe we all are.

So here are some tips to perhaps help to keep your resolutions. First we may need to go backwards before we go forward... and perhaps we can start with a new language.

Years ago, I started my New Years Celebrations by doing “My Year in Review” a kind of acknowledgment of what I accomplished over the last year. You see our accomplishments are just as important as what we are planning next. We tend to forget how powerful we are because we are speeding to the next great thing without realizing what we did. Now I know dwelling in the past robs you of the present, but that’s a subject for another blog... But when you actually remember what you have accomplished, good or bad, no matter how insignificant or profound... Write them down! As you write, you may find that you begin to realize how powerful you are and be amazed at what you done, how you’ve grown, how much courage you exhibited in a crisis... how much grace you have under pressure. By this acknowledgment, perhaps will build more courage and have more clarity and a new found conviction to aspire to even loftier goal than first imagined. We tend not to give a second though to what we’ve accomplished because we are so busy planning and plotting and living. But this simple exercise will give you more confidence to go forward and know that you are a powerful spirit having a human experience and anything you can imagine you can create with clarity, determination and courage... But you already know that! Look what you accomplished last year!


Intentions/Affirmations & Mantras

Intentions are interestingly important to the path you take in life. Setting intentions is like making goals for yourself. New Year's Resolutions are an example of a goal, the difference is, an intention is remembered and thought upon daily. A goal is usually written or thought and soon forgotten when life happens. An intention is powerful. They are action oriented, the word intend, is: something that someone plans to do or achieve. It is the quality or state of having a purpose in mind. Basically you have to set an intention to achieve a goal.

An intention is a process of putting thoughts into action and with effort, seeing the results manifest as a truth for you. You have the control and responsibility to make it happen. If you don't put the energy into it or make the determination to achieve your intention, it won't happen. When you ask someone: What is your intention? on any matter. They, provided they have integrity, tell you exactly the course of action that they plan to take to achieve their goal and/or what they are going to do about the matter.

An Affirmation is different in the sense that they assert something as being true whether are not it is true. It is a positive statement asserting that a goal the thinker "wishes" to achieve is already happening. To me affirmations require a bit "faith" and belief, to become true. They leave the control and power outside of your self. A kind-of brainwashing of yourself into a certain mode. I have seen them used as a sort of mantra while in meditation or prayer. At some point you need to put your faith into action.

A mantra on the other hand is a sacred word, chant, or sound that is repeated during meditation to facilitate spiritual power and transformation of consciousness or condition. It is like an affirmation in that it can be an expression or idea that is repeated, often without any thought about it, and closely associated with something (changing consciousness level or attaining something).

A few years ago, I met a Tibetan Monk, he and his group were on tour raising consciousness about the plight of Tibet. They spent a week at a Spiritual Center I attend and practiced their ceremonies and customs. They chanted and created a sand mandala, which is an intricate geometric pictorial design that represents the Universe and is used in Buddhism and Hinduism. As the week ended, they performed the ceremony of destroying the mandala (representing the impermanence of all things) and collected the sand to be used for a blessing for the waters in our nearby ocean. It was a wonderful experience. When it was over I asked a monk, what are your beads (a Mala) for? Because there was a methodical way he manipulated them in his hand. He explained what they were used for and then surprised me and handed them to me as his gift to me. He told me to hold them in my hand and flip one of the 108 beads one at a time. As I did this he said to recite a mantra or in my case an intention or affirmation for each bead. He also said that if my conscious mind was not convinced, eventually my subconscious mind would be. There are mantras that are like affirmations and intentions, a statement, and then there are bija or seed mantras, they are one word mantras. Both are usually recited in Sanskrit, a Ancient language practiced by Hindus and some Buddhist.


What do all of these have in common?

They are all tools that enable us to reprogram our thinking. They help us to focus on the things you want in life and a way to do them the with positive determination to achieve our dreams.

I like setting intentions as a theme for a meditation, and that's what I use daily in my spiritual practice. I set my intentions in my mind and then write them down. I place them in my journal, or in a frame in my prayer space, and this reminds me of my goals as I focus. When used as the theme for meditation, I read and think my intention in my mind and center myself on that intention, I then go within and get quiet. It has been my experience that all creative ideas and solutions to problems come from this quiet practice. Some of the best and brightest minds; Einstein, Bell, Beethoven, practiced some form of quieting the mind meditation for clarity and to elevate their creative process.

Here is my favorite exercise for the “My Year in Review” You will need your journal or I have found reading you old appointment book helps for reflection and a notebook or notepad to write your accomplishments and intentions in and keep.

Stage 1:

1. Set some quiet time aside where you can sit in a comfortable position, undisturbed for a while. I sometimes take the time to go to the beach for the first part (my favorite place... never crowded on New Years Eve), or just stay at home. Then relax all your muscles and take 5 minutes to center yourself with the breathing technique of Balanced Breath. (Your inhales and exhales should be equal in duration. Count 1-2-3 for inhales and 1-2-3 for exhales.) Connect with yourself before beginning this exercise.

2. Think back to January of 2006 and remember what was happening in your life... Good, Bad, Large or Small... Did you help someone? Did you move? Did you run into an old friend? ect... Heck what were you doing then up until now... WRITE IT ALL DOWN! and be VULNERABLE! Did you inspire someone, did they inspire you? Did you get a new job?
This is your life...

As you write, you may be surprised at all you accomplished. I do this every few months and it is amazing what you learn... For instance, last year (almost exact to the day) I ran into a dear old friend. While we reacquainted ourselves, I mentioned that I taught Yoga and Wellness. He gasped and politely reminded me that although that was good and I know you like to help others, but... you are an artist and a good one... Your God given talent. In turn that inspiration led me to restart my graphic design business... Now I do both.

Write Everything!

3. Contemplate and read your year in review and contemplate some more. Do not rush the process. Through your experiences, what did you learn? How did you handle any challenges... could you improve in any areas? What are you grateful for? (I thanked my friend for the inspiration just yesterday.) And then contemplate some more...

4. Now own it! It’s your life!.... next.


Stage 2:

Now, repeat step one in stage 1. (you can stay at home for this one).
Center yourself and sit comfortably and undisturbed for a while... Breathe and center yourself again...

1. Now that you are quiet, think what is it that you want in your life. You
can have anything in this life you want it's your birth rite. Your
thoughts and aspirations have power.

2. Now right down an intention for yourself. Be realistic first time out.
But be diligent. (example: I will move to a new home...)

3. Place your intentions on a list, a post-it or a card and strategically place
them where you can reflect on them daily. Repeat your intentions as
often as you can. You can even find the object of your intention and cut
out the picture to reflect on daily with your intention (this is called
creative visualization).

4. Make a commitment to see your intention through, plan how you can
achieve it and handle your business.

5. Now if you haven’t started one, here is a prime opportunity to start a
journal. Record the process and progress in your journal that you make
and what you accomplish over the next few days, weeks, months etc.

6. As you accomplish these intentions, remember to have gratitude for
them... and write down what you are grateful for (lessons learned,
obstacles, challenges and how your overcame and persevered).

7. As you live from time to time change your intentions as you achieve
them. You will be amazed at how full and fruitful your life will be.


Enjoy!