Archives for 2018

Earth Day Yoga and Writing

Editor’s Note: we apologise if you are receiving this twice! Somehow the first one got deleted.

“The universe corresponds to the nature of your song.” Michael Beckwith

Earth Day fell on Sunday 22 April this year so a special event was held at our new studio: our inaugural yoga and writing immersion. We took time out to go within and venture deeper on all levels of our being. This is what I call “extreme self care”, making time to connect with something so much greater than our small everyday self. Our day opened with a quote that reflects this so beautifully:

“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait so see what others do.” Mahatma Gandhi

By raising our own vibration we affect everything around us and this was our contribution to Earth Day as we spent Sunday afternoon investigating on a deeper level.

Kel and I enjoyed sharing the afternoon exploring writing before and after some yoga practice. We pondered the theme of Earth Day and one particular exercise provoked some great conversation around this year’s theme, plastic. Kel took us through a gratitude journalling exercise to finish our afternoon and this is an example that I wrote that I’m happy to share.

“I am grateful for the stormy weather upon us, the smell of the rain, the sound of the leaves being blown by the wind. The birdsong in my garden, varied, intriguing and delightful.

“The sand beneath my feet whilst walking on the beach this morning, the bubbles in the sea water as the waves washed up on the sand. The coolness of the water as it reached my feet.

“The sight of a rainbow out over the ocean, magic in the air. The dark clouds approaching, rolling closer in and appearing like ink splotches in the sky, from an ink pot, various shades of grey to black.

“All this playing out on our great planet Earth, so much to observe, feel, smell, sense and taste. I put my hands into the salty sea water then rub my wet hands over my hair, bringing that element closer to me.

“Oh all this from a reasonably quick walk on the beach, barefoot on a Sunday morning, Earth Day April 22nd 2018. I’m grateful I shared this experience with Kel – what a joyful morning as we then went on to brunch. More sensory experiences to enjoy as we enter the cafe. The rain falls and we smile.”

We will be running the Yoga & Writing workshop again on Sunday 8 July. If you’re interested in attending, please visit the High Aspirations website.

Wondering what the afternoon was like? Here are some comments from participants:

“Thank you so much for your inspiration to combine Dru Yoga and Creative Writing. The environment was very conducive to immersing myself completely in the process – the yoga provided the means to ‘go within; to find my creativity; and to stay connected to it’; the conversation about the creative writing process was supportive, informative and encouraging. I am delighted with my creative results from the workshop and feel encouraged to ‘do more writing’. :-)” – V

“Thank you for giving me a safe space to explore my creative writing. Most of my life I have written a lot of letters and stories in my head and just did not know how to translate them onto paper, not being a good speller and becoming anxious writing in the company of others has put a block on me coming out of myself. Being in lovely company of the group I was able to see things in a different light and many ways of starting writing.” – M

“I have studied Creative Writing and Writing Therapy as part of my ongoing BA and I am also a Yoga Teacher, who, not surprising, always is in search for inspiration. So when this inaugural workshop was advertised by Sarah and Kel of High Aspirations in Australind I didn’t hesitate to book in. Knowing that writing and Yoga can go very deep I was wondering how this fine line of writing from the heart and cathartic let go would be recognised and handled by the participants; and of course by myself. It turned out that Sarah and Kel skillfully nudged us onto the creative and spiritual side of things and managed to offer us a balanced and nurturing three hours of opening Yoga sequences, creative writing sessions and relaxation. Overall I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed this quiet afternoon with like-minded Yogis and, yes, looking forward to the next Yoga and Writing workshop!” – I

Yoga for balancing your energy system: aligning into one’s own place

I like to think of my body as a temple that facilitates the full expression of my soul. It puts a whole new meaning on how I care for this body temple! As we continue our theme of extreme self care, what could be more important than honouring our own temple? In my last post, we explored the first chakra and the importance of grounding to establish your foundation within your body. I hope you felt the difference some intentional grounding can make to centre the base chakra. This week we will explore the second chakra, svadhisthana, and its meaning and importance as we work our way up the chakra system and learn how we can manage our energy to bring about transformation in ourselves and our lives. We’ll look at how this chakra can have a huge impact on aligning us with our values and vision.

Hopefully you have already started with my last post by deeply grounding and forming a firm foundation for this work to sit upon; if not, go back and read it here and do a little grounding work. Moving into the realm of the second chakra, we start to work with feeling and sensation and how harnessing this power of feeling can empower our values and vision.

Feeling into our emotions is vital so we can allow the releasing that takes place when we open up to unexpressed emotion that may be ready to let go. When we allow ourselves to feel we bring consciousness into our body. Feeling in the svadhistana chakra includes emotional and sensory experience. Sensation is like a gateway between the inner and outer worlds. As we allow our senses to come alive, we become fully present to feeling, sensing, hearing, smelling and we allow the outside experience to be felt on the inside. Through our second chakra, we enhance our ability to relate deeply in the moment.

Great yoga practice for our second chakra is hip opening movements. To start with, try some gentle figure-of-eight movements starting with one hip then swap over and go the other way. Circle your hips around one way then the other. Latin dance moves are great for this so maybe put on some Latin music, leave any inhibitions behind and move those hips, get that body swaying and transmute some energy. If you attend my classes you might remember our hip release sequence where we lie on our back with feet on the floor, interlace your fingers and place hands under your head. Then with feet hip width apart let your knees lower to one side then the other, repeat a few times then do the same again with feet and knees touching. Take hold of both knees and hug them into your chest, gently circle around and massage your sacrum into the mat. That should leave you feeling a little freer in the sacral region.

As we open to this centre we may discover pockets of stuck emotion ready to bubble up. When we are grounded in the base we find the courage to go deeper into our practice, stay a little longer, and let the amazing wisdom of our body/mind/heart to come more into balance. I encourage you to start to notice the sensations and feelings that may be there during your practice and when you notice something have a sense of wonder. Explore with your breath as you breathe into this feeling and breathe out of it, letting your breath transform this feeling and release it.

“Let the breath be the thread that weaves your mind and body together.” Rodney Yee

In the practice of extreme self care be kind to yourself. When you feel emotion bubbling up go with it, feel it, express it then allow yourself to rest. Give yourself the gift of yoga nidra, relaxation practice or restorative yoga that soothes your whole being.

Some other acts of self care may be:

walk barefoot on the beach and let your feet be washed by the salty sea
take a walk in the bush, breathe deeply and take in the freshness of nature
read something inspiring; you may have a book of quotes that inspire you or some spiritual reading that nourishes your soul
listen to music
light a candle and prepare a nourishing meal for yourself

A balanced second chakra will allow you to feel more balanced, less reactive, to come from a place of understanding and acceptance not only with yourself but when relating to others. Balance here will also allow a sense of flow in life and easeful creating; therefore, spending time to bring balance here will allow you to clear the way forward to align with your values and vision, raising your vibration to match your vision.

Happy exploring of your second chakra, let the feelings flow, let light flow in, move with ease and grace into more balance and harmony and see your life in more colour.

Namaste

Sarah

Yoga for balancing your energy system: entering the physical body

Balance in life is all about energy management. Your energy management.

As energy beings we are made of energy. Everything we interact with is energy, all of varying vibrations.

An example of a vision board

Last week I talked about values and vision. I’m working on my new vision board collecting pictures, words, photos and planning where I’m going to place them. I’m also working on bringing my vibration into alignment with my vision. That brings me to the issue of balancing my whole energy system, starting with my base chakra.

A chakra is an energy centre, a spinning vortex of subtle energy. In Sanskrit the meaning of ‘chakra’ translates to ‘wheel’. It is generally accepted that you have seven main chakras and many minor ones throughout the body. We are going to work with the seven major chakras over the next few weeks in this blog.

“A chakra is a chamber in the temple of the body that receives, assimilates, and transmits life force energy.” Anodea Judith

In yoga we refer to life force energy as prana. Prana can be found everywhere in varying levels of vibrancy. It’s in the sunlight, the air, the food you eat, and it’s in and affected by the interactions you have moment by moment with people, places, experiences and more.

Your chakras receive, assmilate and express prana all the time. They are like portals between the outer world you live in and your inner world connecting your body mind as they filter and assimilate from your environment. How well you know and manage your energy is dependent upon how well you know and manage your chakra system. Yoga gives you tools to open pathways and raise your awareness of what’s going on inside. Everyone has the capacity to develop this awareness.

“Be at least as interested in what goes on inside you as what happens outside. If you get the inside right, the outside will fall into place.” Eckhart Tolle

Mooladhara Chakra

We will start with Mooladhara, the base or root chakra, associated with the element of Earth and the colour of a rich, ruby red. When balanced this chakra provides support, stability, and a solid foundation to feel grounded and stable in life. When unbalanced or deficient we may feel scattered, ungrounded, flighty and or fearful. If this chakra is in excess we may feel heavy and weighed down. When Mooladhara is out of balance, it can affect all the other chakras.

How can your yoga practice support your base chakra? By connecting with your physical body. Your body is your vehicle from which to begin this journey. To be deeply rooted in your body temple is embodiment. You need to be comfortable in your skin, notice and learn how best you can serve your body.

In our Dru yoga tradition we use activation at the beginning of a class to bring your awareness into your physical body by shaking, twisting and stretching with full awareness and presence. This helps bring you more fully into your body and become aware of your body in the space around you. The root chakra element of Earth will help you connect and ground your body. This is why, if you are currently attending regular classes with me, you will notice that I guide you to check in with how you are feeling in your body, heart and mind. This helps to bring you into the present and be fully mindful.

The key to entering your body according to Anodea Judith (2016) is to embrace the first chakra element, which is Earth. This element represents everything solid – not only the dirt beneath your feet but all material substance, especially the flesh and bones of your body. The essential properties of the Earth element are gravity and solidity, and they make an important pair.

Here’s an example of this at work. If you wanted to jump you would first have to bend your knees and push down into the earth to enable you to spring upwards. The pushing down activates and energises your muscles and this energy then can fill your legs allowing you to rise upwards. So you see that your yoga practice can benefit greatly by being aware of and practicing this principal. All this is relevant to managing your energy because when you can generate and manage this energy you can fill your body and direct this prana where it needs to go to bring balance into your whole being.

Try practicing this in Tadasana (mountain pose), setting up a great foundation to begin your standing postures from.

Once you have aligned yourself into Tadasana start to push down into the earth as you breathe in, bending your knees slightly, then exhale and slowly push down through each leg. As you do this your legs will begin to straighten; ensure the knees do not lock as that will block the energy flow and prana you are creating. Repeat this, breathing fully and slowly with all your awareness on grounding and bringing that prana up into your legs and imagine it filling your base chakra. Explore in your own practice and observe.

Sarah doing the Tree pose

You can bring this practice into other postures like Vrksasana (tree pose, pictured left), Uttanasana (peace pose) and Setubandhasana (bridge pose). Try it with Adhomukha svanasana (dog pose) and also Bhujangasana (cobra pose) as you use the same principal with the arms and hands to push down.

I hope you enjoy exploring energising your base chakra and the self inquiry that comes with practicing at a deeper level.

Happy practicing,

Namaste

Sarah

Judith, Anodea. 2016. Chakra Yoga, 1st ed. Llewellyn Publications. USA.

The Value in knowing your Values

As we come into the second quarter of the year (yes a quarter of the year has gone!) it is a good time to reflect upon what our intentions were as we came into the New Year in January and where we are now.

You may well be on track and know exactly where you want to be in six months time or you may not. You may have got swept up in the new year fever of making many plans and, for want of a better term, new year resolutions.

As you know I declared this year to be my year of extreme self care. Well what was I thinking? Here we are coming into April and I am struggling as I try to work out what that looks like, what sort of things represent self care to me, how many do I need and how often do I need to do them and so much more. This declaration has sent me into some deep soul searching.

One could look upon a year of extreme self care as making time to go to the hairdresser more often, pamper oneself, see more movies, eat more cake, buy more clothes, shoes, jewellery and so on. Or, as I am realising, this self care needs to be long lasting and sustainable, it needs to feed my body, heart, mind and soul.

This deep soul searching has reminded me to re-evaluate my values and check in with whether they are taking me where I want to go. I do a lot of values and visioning work with others and have done a lot for myself over the years. When I looked at my vision board recently it was pleasing to see that many of the visual representations I had on there had materialised; in fact, as I looked more I realised that most had and I actually needed to do a new vision board and therefore also re-visit my values.

I had been feeling like I was treading water a bit, whilst I have a lot going on in the area of study I didn’t have a clear vision of where I’d like to be in five years time. My vision was vague, tired and colourless. This was reflected in my body, mind and heart and was beginning to flow out in my self talk.

As I embarked on some serious values assessing I began to see that some things in my life had radically changed. For example, I got married, and that’s pretty major. I have also changed my business structure and I’m now making changes that include Nic, my husband, and his work as we look at combining our skills to offer more services in the wellness industry. These are major changes for someone who has been independent in all areas of life for a long time.

So my reflections go deep. Deep into the changes that being in relationship bring and the opportunities for strong soul growth. While couples often share some values, and that’s probably what brings you together, there is a healthy need to be clear about your values and revisit them when major life changes take place.

I am continuing to reflect on my core values I encourage you to do the same. How do you find your core values? Start asking these sorts of questions:

What makes my heart sing?
If time and money were not an issue what would I be doing?
How would I like to be remembered? Write your own eulogy perhaps, and that will give you lots of clues to what you feel is important and what you need to do next.
How am I giving back to the world – what am I contributing?

These questions will set you on your way to exploring what is important to you.

Narrow your values down to five and keep them handy. Write them on a card and keep it in your wallet, on your bathroom mirror, on your car dashboard – wherever you will see them every day. Then check in with how well you are walking the talk with them, as though someone was looking upon your daily life and checking off with your list of values all the things you thought, said and did that reflected them.

If you need some help consider some life coaching with me as this is an area I love and a couple of sessions should see you on your way with your values development and vision board creation.

Namaste
Sarah

It’s FINALLY HERE! New Creativity Forum

Hello! Kel here, with a cool new thing: the Creativity Forum!

We promised this at the end of last year’s Spring Retreat and it’s taken a while to sort out the tech end of things, and then to sort out a time to release it, and then I lost my password and had to reset it all and, well, you get the idea. It just kept falling off the list. But it’s here! And it’s ready!

The basic idea is this: during the last retreat, I joined Sarah to run a session on creative writing. People enjoyed the process and wanted a way to commit to doing it regularly, so they’d have a space to contribute and other like-minded people to play with in this creative writing space. We decided that an online forum might be the way to go.

How to do it:

Go to sarahcollin.com (you’re already here, if you’re on the main blog page, but not if you’re reading this as an email)
In the top right corner, you’ll see “Members”, “About Me” and “Contact”
Hover over “Members” and select “Register”
Fill in your thing
Then you can hover over “Members” and select “Log In”
Do that
Now where before it said “Members” (top right), it says “Creativity”. Hover over it
“View posts”: Click on the image to read what people have written about it. Write your own contribution in the comments
“Create a post” to upload another image and words

If you got in but are not sure how to contribute or what to say, read the one that says “Please Read” with a photo of a blue coffee cup and a notepad. If you have creative writing questions, ask them in the comments to the blue coffee cup post. I’ll check there on a roughly-weekly basis.

If you can’t get in and the instructions above didn’t work, comment under this blog and I’ll help you out.

For now, just contribute to the images there, and add one of your own if you want to (please make sure you have the rights to use the image – you can’t use most images from Google). Once we have a group going, we’ll set up a roster so someone puts a new image up each week 🙂

I hope all that makes sense. This weekend, sit down with a cup of tea or glass of wine and see what happens!

Happy creating,
Kel

My year of extreme self care!

I chose the theme of extreme self care because last year I declared was my year of “Slow Living” and that manifested some potent keys that I intend to continue exploring. I feel like I need more time with the slow living concept as I know I need more of it. It was that feeling at the end of last year, of wanting more time, that sparked my realisation that I could do with some serious self care. It was a full on year and finished on a high but left me a little tired!

So I’ve been exploring options of how to fit nourishing activities into my way of life. I realise that this self care need is not fleeting, nor will it be fixed with a few pampering treats. It needs to be deeply nourishing on all levels of my being for the long term.

Firstly it took some soul searching as to what had brought me to this point, not just one busy year but decades of being many things to many people! I did a bit of an audit of what I had achieved in the past forty years, including what had really challenged me, how many times I had moved house, how many jobs, how many study courses, how many roles had I played in that time and who had been in my life, who still is and who has moved on. Phew! That was huge but really valuable in getting the bigger picture and also getting a sense of how far I have come. The ages and stages of life that shape us to this point.

In this process I realised that if I died tomorrow I would die with no regrets, happy in the knowing that I lived a full, rich, often messy life but one that has, through its challenges, given me so many gifts. Having said that, I do intend to live a very long, fulfilling life so I reckon I will be around for some time to come; I have much still I would like learn and share!

The first step on my journey of extreme self care is to simplify everything! I have started with a big office cleanout, throwing out old course material, course books, and industry books that I had been keeping just in case I went back into that field of work. In this process I came across work I had completed on various topics, courses I had delivered, notes from people who had benefited from something I said, did or shared. It was an amazing process to be able to look at piles and piles of files, books and notes and realise how much I have done and how much I know. It was also very freeing to be able to throw it all out with the confidence that I know that stuff and no longer need to hang onto this validation of what I have done.

Since then I have gone on to simplify more areas like consolidating bank accounts and accounting processes that are all making life lighter and freer.

I am applying this simplifying to as much as I can. In my kitchen for example I am throwing out surplus and coming back to basics. I’m bringing my pantry to order by only storing whole foods and not keeping things that might be used one day in the future but will probably still be hanging around years later! I am putting some order in place that makes everyday life easier.

The other big one is putting boundaries around my time and being really clear and strong in not letting “my time” get eroded by work, people, demands etc. The more I claim the time I am making for myself to do things like gardening, being in nature and connecting with friends, the more I feel that this year is going to be one of great insights as I lighten up and allow space for the wisdom to emerge.

So your challenge this month on the theme of extreme self care is to see where you can simplify your life, what can you throw out, where can you create space for “more being” rather than “more doing”?

I look forward to sharing this journey with you and please share with me your experiences of bringing in more self care.

Namaste

Sarah

Managing your energy – Energy Block Release sequences

Greetings and welcome to my first blog for this new yoga term.

As I have been reflecting on what to share with you through this platform I felt that a great way to start the yoga term would be to shed some light on these amazing sequences we refer to as EBRs. Some of you are very familiar with them and others not so much. It is always good to refresh our memory on why we are doing certain things and learn more that will add to your practice of these amazing sequences.

As a traditional Dru yoga teacher I stick with what has been tried and tested and proven to be most effective. In the Dru tradition, we always start our classes with what we call an activation. This involves the first ten to fifteen minutes warming up the body with movements to enhance circulation and our awareness of the physical body, also this activating process awakens the energy body layers. It is especially important to awaken the energy system before working with the EBRs to ensure you get optimum benefits.

As human beings we operate on many different and subtle levels. In yoga we refer to these levels or layers as “koshas”, of which there are five we commonly refer to. We can understand them as layers of human experience, if that helps. They are:

Annamaya Kosha = Physical body
Pranamaya Kosha = Physiology layer
Manomaya Kosha = Emotion layer
Vijnanamaya Kosha = Thought layer
Anandamaya Kosha = Bliss layer

I will go into more depth about the koshas another time but briefly, all our interactions in our everyday life affect all these layers. For example, if we have a creative idea that we share with a friend or colleague and it is received with great enthusiasm and acted upon, we would most likely feel good, validated and valued, and this would have an overall positive effect on these layers of our being. As this creative idea finds a place in our mind to be expressed and shared, it ripples out and bounces back in an affirming way. It would produce feel good hormones to be released into our bloodstream, and our physical posture would very likely be open and upright, with feelings of worthiness and contentedness towards those we shared with. Overall, an affirming experience that supported our whole being in a positive way.

On the other hand, if we received some criticism that we felt was unjust, how do you think we would feel? It might evoke the emotion of anger; we might feel hurt. Can you see how this could then percolate outwards from the mind through to the other layers, affecting us emotionally? If we don’t recognise it and take action, the emotions of anger and hurt may be felt in our physical body as we tighten up, moving into our joints to cause stiffness and aches. From our joints this energy, if not discharged from our body, will transfer to the muscles and from there into our internal organs. Once this happens the energy block becomes deep-seated and over a long period of time creates dis-ease within our body.

So take a moment to reflect on all the thoughts you have every day. As typical human beings we often have thoughts, as we look in the mirror in the morning, that are more negative than positive. Do you look in the mirror and say “Gosh you are so beautiful this morning, take your amazing self out into the world and share your goodness!”? Or is it more like “Oh God, look at those bags under my eyes and I really must book that hair appointment!”. You get the idea, I’m sure, that our internal self-talk is often more negative than positive over the course of a day and it is that, as well as our interaction with other people, our environments, what we consume and feed ourselves with, and so much more, that affects our energy layers.

Negative thoughts and attitudes create rigidity in our actions and patterns of behaviour. These can become quite entrenched and we may not even be aware that we are losing touch with our capacity to feel what we are really feeling. This includes our capacity to not only feel love and joy but also pain, sadness, grief or loss.

Emotions are part of our experience of being human and unfortunately we are often not taught how to deal with all these emotions and they therefore can become stuck.

The process of Energy Block Release, over a period of time, softens and begins to melt this rigidity around the energetic and emotional layers. EBRs reverse the process of absorbing energy into our joints, muscles and organs and allow us to detoxify from the inside out. The movement work on its own releases energy initially at a physical level, and then gradually at deeper levels. When we bring in affirmation and visualisation that move into our mental and intellectual layers, the whole process is greatly accelerated.

So you might like to think of the Energy Block Release as a process that assists detoxification at every level and therefore helps us clear the dross and create space for us to see more clearly, find the way forward, and open up as we bring about self-transformation.

As you know there is always more going on beneath the surface than we often realise. This is why it is vital to train yourself to be fully present moment by moment. Work at it and you will gain so much more from these EBRs. You will begin to feel the benefits and bring a sense of aliveness and freshness to each movement. I encourage you to come to your mat, in this precious time you have given yourself, with a sense of wonder about what you might discover about yourself each and every time, as though you are doing this EBR for the very first time, every time!

I’d like to leave you with an analogy for what the EBR is doing.

Once upon a time there was a beautiful little village nestled in the hilltops overlooking green rolling hills and open space. A lovely stream ran through this village, which on one side was bordered with trees from an old growth forest.

The village council paid a man to be the keeper of the stream and his job was to keep it clear of debris that fell in from the trees and that washed down from upstream. The stream provided fresh water for the village and the people of this village lived simple lives and enjoyed good health well into their older years.

As time went on the council had to make some cutbacks in their budget so they decided that the keeper of the stream would have to go as they directed funds to more important things. Before long the stream became blocked and stagnant pools of water began to form in places along the stream. The village people started to get sick, their health declined, moral dropped and the once healthy village with clear running water was slowing getting more and more energetically blocked as the effects of the blockage moved into the many layers of their lives.

So the moral of the story is never under estimate the power of our Dru EBRs to nourish your soul and put some time into them. Set your intention to be fully present with every part in your next class.

Namaste

Sarah

Recipe – Almond Crescents

Kel here, with a post-Christmas reflection 🙂

I have been the family’s Christmas spirit for many years. I’m the one who puts up the Christmas tree, checks out the best brandy for eggnog and goes crazy with fairy lights (although Sarah’s husband Nic may now be the new fairy light king!). The past couple of years I’ve been busy studying summer units, which has dampened my Christmas bug a little, but not completely. I love the feel of Christmas – the anticipation, family time, eating Christmas-only treats like fruit mince pies. And the fairy lights.

However, as many of you probably find, Christmas has been increasingly commercialised over the years. Not only that, but we are learning more about the effects our Christmas habits have on the rest of the world, particularly the real human and environmental costs of cheap plastic trees and tinsel and the throwaway nature of many Christmas gifts and paraphernalia. Power to the bah humbugs!

But all is not lost for us Christmas spirits – the trick is to get creative with how we celebrate it. This year, I decided that my gift would be time and love spent in the kitchen. I went on a baking mission – rumballs, raw white Christmas and almond crescents dipped in chocolate. The picture, by the way, is not mine – my biscuits got packaged up quickly so they wouldn’t get eaten! The crescents in particular received rave reviews, so I am sharing the recipe. Link at the bottom of the page 🙂

tl;dr – Recipe time! Super easy, tasty almond crescents. Gluten and dairy free, but they do contain eggs and (obviously) nuts. Happy baking!

Almond Crescents

Make it a year of dreams

(by Kel Fox)

When I was a kid, my mum and brother and I would go outside on New Year’s Eve and lie in our hammocks under the trees to write our New Year’s resolutions. I had a special section in the middle of my journal for it (the front was a diary of all the angst of a 14-year-old introvert, and the back page was reserved for very special wishes, which had come true so often I began to suspect the book had magical powers).

Before writing the new list, we would review our previous year together. We’d talk about what we’d done on our list for the year gone, and what had changed. We would not have looked at our lists since the previous NYE, so it was sometimes funny – “Hell yes, I did that”, “I can’t believe I wanted to do that” or “Well, that was never going to happen, and thank goodness it didn’t”. We human beings can grow and change a lot in just twelve months, so it’s interesting to see what shifts. But most importantly, it was a special time of sharing what we’d achieved and enjoyed about the year.

Then we’d spend time in silent reflection and begin the new list.

I remember writing lists that covered an entire A4 page. They contained everything, even small things. Some things were achievable and within my control, like ‘start a vege garden’. Others not so much. Some things were vague – ‘be more active’. Others quite precise. Some things came across from the previous year’s list. But I wrote down everything I wanted to do that year, all things going well. Everything. It was a time of unrestricted dreaming. I don’t mean I started to write down pie-in-the-sky ideas – everything was conceivably possible, albeit sometimes unlikely (like finding a good hairstyle). But that didn’t matter. I didn’t get bogged down in details. I just wrote down stuff I wanted to do. It was a time of realising how much I might be able to accomplish. I knew I might not do all of it. I probably wouldn’t even make half. But it wasn’t a list of mandates – it was a list of options.

I’m older now, and I haven’t done it for a long time. I learned about SMART goals, and making things realistic, and having a list of only six small items in a day or bigger ones in a month so it was achievable, and breaking things into actionable steps that I knew how to do. And then it became laborious and too much like work, and I stopped doing it so I could feel freer.

But I missed the point.

The point is not to lock myself down to do everything on the list. It is to realise how many things I can imagining myself doing.

The point is not to make it achievable. It is simply a list of options, and there is no succeeding or failing. I do it, or I don’t, and it doesn’t matter.

The point is not to fit myself into a fixed idea of who I want to be. It is to create a snapshot of who I am and what I want at a single point in time, and then to reflect on it, noticing how much I’ve grown or changed. It shows me what is important to me.

The main point is this:
It is not a time to be conservative. It is a time to dream. And just writing down dreams makes them more real.

This year, I am going to dream again. Get out your journals and dream with me.