Helping You Love Yourself into Success with Personal Peace! A New Year, A New You: Three Steps for Creating Sacred Beginnings by Ilenya Marrin, DSS HOME FREE NEWSLETTER PRODUCTS SERVICES ABOUT ME TESTIMONIALS RESOURCES CONTACT A New Year, A New You Whether you are celebrating another January 1st, or a birthday or some other marker on the calendar that signifies time for a fresh start for you, here are some tips for how to create your own profound and sacred ceremony for release and regeneration. You could also choose to create a new beginning because of some deeply felt inner commitment or change in life circumstances, such as a geographic move, divorce, graduation, or because of a decision to take a new direction and purpose in life. As in life, new beginnings grow from the foundation of who you are and where you are in your life right now. So I suggest you begin by looking at previous gains, then at what you want to release to make space for more good in your life, and then focus on new loving intentions that you wish to manifest. Here is a step by step guide to help you design your own process for sacred beginnings. Three Steps for Creating Sacred Beginnings 1. Create an atmosphere supportive of spiritual reflection or meditation. Take an hour or two when you can be uninterrupted. You might want to light a candle and put on some soft music. Turn off the phones and shut down your computer. Get comfortable in your favorite chair or couch. Have a couple of pens and your favorite journal at hand. Have some tea or water nearby, and anything else you might need, so you can minimize distractions once you begin. 2. Begin with a prayer or invocation according to your faith. I like to ask for "Light for the Highest Good of All Concerned" as a part of that prayer, as my way of saying, "I want only that which is in attunement with the Divine plan to come forward in my life." (I talk about this prayer - my "insurance clause" - in more detail in my e-book, The Power of Personal Peace: Reducing Stress by Loving Yourself from the Inside Out.) I also like to ask for "clarity and understanding" as needed, to help me gain the maximum benefit from my process. I. Step One: Celebrate Your Wins This lays the foundation for the rest of the New Beginnings process. 1. Celebrate the journey you've completed so far! Give yourself credit for all that you've learned along the way. Look back at the past year, for instance, and reflect on how you've grown. Yes, maybe some of your growth was painful. Maybe you had to learn the hard way. Quite likely, much of your growth came through lots of practice and hard work, in the form of exploring and assessing your progress and making course corrections as necessary. Perhaps some gains came through Grace, through miracles or serendipity. All are to be cherished. Here are some questions to start your reflective process. What did you do that you are you proud of? What makes you feel good about being you? What skills did you learn or improve? What is the most important thing you learned this year? What has changed for the better? What did you give to those you love? What did you give to yourself? Have you experienced any positive changes in your inner awareness? Have you experienced any psychological or spiritual awakenings or breakthroughs? What was revealed to you about your Self this year? You are the central traveler in this journey! Take time to appreciate your process. 2. Write down your wins - spiritual, psychological, educational, career, financial, health, relationship, accomplishments, etc. - from the recent past in your journal or on a special page for future reference. These experiences are part of who you are. They are the foundation of the you that is blossoming into a greater being every day. I hope you are creating a long list of wins! 3. Express your thanks! Allow yourself to experience gratitude for all these victories. You're a wiser and larger being as a result of all that you've come through. Give yourself a hug and lots of loving gratitude for persisting in your journey of learning and growing! Savor your willingness to participate fully in life in your unique and wonderful way! II. Step Two: Release Unneeded Baggage This frees you from patterns that no longer serve a positive purpose and creates space for the New Beginnings to thrive. 1. Now, reflect on identifying anything that no longer serves you. You might ask inwardly for assistance in seeing or knowing what needs to be released. Allow ideas to come forward as you quietly meditate or contemplate on this subject. Be gentle with yourself in this process. Be a Neutral Loving Observer of yourself. Avoid judging yourself. Be compassionate! 2. Typical areas you might want to release are those in which you feel discomfort, pain, anxiety, self-judgment, hurt, anger, victimization, resentment, restriction, constriction, lack or limitation. Gently observe your life for any of these uncomfortable areas. You might check broad categories of health, relationships, work and finances to get yourself started. Make notes as needed. 3. Be as specific as possible about what you want to release. Once you identify one or two issues or challenges, gently focus inwardly on specifically what you want to change. For instance, instead of, "I want to be less controlling," you would narrow it down to, "I want to release my tendency to judge myself as too controlling with my kids. I want to release any overcontrolling of my daughter who is 19, intelligent, and needs to be making more of her own decisions. I want to release my power struggles with her." 4. Ask for spiritual assistance. In my experience, it can be difficult to look objectively at the challenging areas of life, the things we don't much like. However, these areas usually represent our greatest opportunities to learn and grow. In order to let go successfully, you may need to make your learning process conscious so you can complete the learning required in that situation. Asking prayerfully according to your faith can help bring answers to your awareness. For example, you could say something like this, in your own words: "This is what I deeply want to release. Please help me, in ways that are in the Light for the Highest Good of All Concerned. Show me how to do my part. Let me have the wisdom to learn what I need to learn from this so that I can complete it and let it go. Help me complete the learning and go free." 5. On the physical and material level, you might find you want to release old belongings -- clothing, household objects, books and papers -- that you no longer use or need. Make a definite plan to clear them out. Schedule time for action. Clients have often reported, and I have experienced first hand how freeing this process of physical release can be! It's a tangible way of loving and supporting yourself and making space for new energy and new beginnings. 6. One powerful approach is to create a sacred ceremony of release. The heart of the ceremony is simply to write down those things you want to release and to burn the paper in a safe manner. I have used a the backyard grill, a hibachi in the garage in cold weather, or a large metal bowl in the sink. (Look around for your smoke detector and try not to set it off!) You can be as simple and direct or as elaborate as you wish in creating your personal ceremony, with prayers and objects (such as candles, flowers, religious or spiritual symbols or pictures) that support your process and help to create a sacred and uplifting atmosphere. You can use a lovely fireproof metal or ceramic bowl, a special candle and paper, and so forth, all to add richness of meaning to your ritual of release and renewal in Spirit. Some churches and spiritual groups create a "Burning Bowl Ceremony" as a tradition for letting go of old patterns, attitudes, or behaviors that are no longer needed. The symbolism of burning sends a powerful message to your unconscious mind about your willingness to release. Working with such a sacred ceremony in a group can be a profound experience. Note: At times, burning paper is just not a safe option. When you're travelling, for instance, burning is usually not appropriate. You can still create your sacred ceremony for release, but dispose of the paper in some other way. I have written items to be released on tissue paper toilet seat covers that I tear up and flush away. If you write on regular paper, be sure to tear it into really tiny pieces and flush small amounts at a time to avoid plumbing problems! I also know friends who have torn up their pages and buried them in the desert or woods. III. Step Three: Create Intentions to Hold in Loving and Light This helps to align your psychological and spiritual levels of consciousness and provides a direction for your conscious and unconscious to follow. 1. Focus on your loving intentions for the time ahead. This is the final phase of the process and builds on the previous two. You have celebrated your wins, consolidating your awareness of who you are and where you are in your life. You have released a few key areas through intention and ceremony, making space for the new beginnings. Maintain your reflective attitude and atmosphere. Ask inwardly for clarity and understanding on the most important intentions for you at this time. What will create the difference that makes a difference? What is your heartfelt desire? What is your sincere commitment to the new beginning? What new behavior will you choose? What new thoughts, attitudes and feelings will you promote? What qualities do you want to manifest? Who are you becoming with these intentions? 2. Write down the answers to these and similar questions that occur to you. Reflect a little more and begin to distill these ideas into just a few points for your direction in the months ahead. Craft your statements of intention as positive "I am" statements that you can refer to daily for direction, purpose and renewal. 3. Lovingly take action to support your new intentions. I recommend taking small steps, even baby steps, in your desired direction. Save small amounts of money daily, or cut out a few unhealthy foods for improved nutrition. Zip your lips on your normal sarcasm as much as you can, but if you let a caustic remark fly out, be compassionate with yourself and see if you can do better the next time. As I suggest in my e-book, 77 Loving Steps for Success, keep coming back to these intentions over and over. Ingrain them in your awareness with repetition. Keep them in front of you, in your day planner, on your mirror or bedside table, in your car and office. At the same time, you might want to keep them rather private, not easily visible to strangers or family members who wouldn't be supportive. Let your intentions be sacred unto yourself. Nurture them in your heart. Allow them to unfold spontaneously as you hold a loving focus of direction. Be alert to your intuition and spiritual guidance related to developing your intentions. Make small changes gradually and naturally and you will find your process is proceeding in a dynamic and uplifting way, with ease and grace. Thanks to all your preparation and consistent focus, your Sacred Beginnings will not be determined merely by will power, but will flow as a natural part of your learning and growing as a divine consciousness in human form. Back to Welcome Page and List of Recent Articles A New Year, A New You: Three Steps for Creating Sacred Beginnings

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