As the year slides to its close the energies of the New Year may have already begun to affect you. You may already be formulating goals and plans that you would like to birth in the year ahead. New Year resolutions may already be forming. You may even be plotting pathways to achieve those goals. You may be one of the many who want to get a jump on the New Year, to enter the New Year already clear about how you’ll achieve your goals for 2015. One way to set the founadtion for success with your goals is with a simple New Year Release Ritual.

For the last few weeks I keep being surprised as I hear myself talking about things that will happen for me in 2015, ideas and plans I hadn’t even noticed were forming in my brain or my heart. But apparently these ideas were solidly there just waiting for me to notice.

Many of us have already formed plans even if we’re not conscious of them yet and you may find you are doing the same. This year you’re being urged to get real about what you want for yourself, to set a considered plan of action, and to get to it now.

It is way too easy, especially in these fast-paced times to allow your life to slip past. Days flow into weeks, into months, years and suddenly a decade has passed you by. Trying to look back and see the detail of your life pathway becomes more and more difficult as time moves on if you have neglected to mark points along the way.

 

Markers for Your Life

In times past traditions and ceremonies provided marking points in people’s lives. They provided moments in people’s consciousness when they paused, finding time to take stock of themselves and their life.

We still hold on to some of these traditions – 18th or 21st birthdays, weddings, funerals – but many milestones are no longer honoured or even remembered. Many of those we do still hold no longer require us to examine and consider ourself and how our life to date has evolved.

We no longer have many occasions where we pause and examine our progress in life, acknowledging our achievements and successes, appreciating our blessings, recognizing our lessons, and planning changes.

 

Set Strong Foundations For Goal Success

Trying to establish goals and resolutions to guide you along the pathway to achieving your dreams without first pausing and taking time to appraise the road you have just traveled is like building your home over a sink-hole. Without solid footings the structure of your life will simply collapse.

A Release Ritual is your opportunity to establish a firm base on which to build your future. It doesn’t take long to do and provides you with deep insights and clarity to steer you to better results.

As the energies of 2014 begin to unravel set aside time to draw together the threads of the year that has just passed. Find the space for yourself to weave them into a strong support that can carry you into 2015. Take time to examine your experience, the rainbow of coloured threads of your life, both the weak strands and the strong, threads of extreme beauty, and threads of fragility. Once you have examined the weave of your last year the signs that point to the new directions you need to follow next become apparent.

 

Old Year Releasing Ritual

Begin your reflection by settling down in a quiet corner with a pen, paper or a journal, and a relaxing herbal tea or coffee. Light a candle to signal the start of your ritual if this has meaning for you.

Life has a habit of drawing you back to the same old lessons, over and over, spiraling round, often revisiting them under another guise, until you reach awareness and understanding of that particular lesson for your life. Each time you revisit the lesson gets louder, as if the universe is shouting so you will hear.

To save yourself treading these same old well-worn paths yet again next year, begin your release of the old year by writing down the illuminating life lessons you learnt in 2014. What were those ‘Aha’ moments? What great insights occurred?

Next add the dreams that came true for you. It’s easy to forget what the dreams you once held even were once they have actually happened, and just as easy to forget how dearly you held them, hoping they would eventuate. Remember to include the small dreams as well as the huge ones. The small dreams of life often grow into the big important ones.

What did you achieve in 2014? Remember to include the small glories not just the major ones. What did you learn you could do that you didn’t realise before?

Now you are ready to consider how you have grown in the last 365 days.

How have you changed? What have you learnt about yourself? What changed you? What is it you now know about yourself that you didn’t know before? Write them all down.

What did you discover you had outgrown? What no longer serves you? What, or who, did you release from your life?

How did you surprise yourself – what did you do that you didn’t know you capable of? What have you done that swells you with pride? Was there something you were able to do that you have never managed before? Were you called to step up, and you did?

What was there in this last year that was a source of grating disharmony? What can’t you tolerate any longer? By now you know what it is you just have to change in your life. Write it down.

If there’s anything you need to get off your chest about this last year, do it now. Rant if you need to. If you feel the urge to cry honour it, it will bring release and relief.

Now finally, write down what it is you are grateful for, the gifts you received from 2014. Include every little thing. As well as the big stuff in my life I include small joys in my gratitude lists like my morning cup of tea, or the slightly creepy but endearing smile my gorgeous dog beams at me whenever I arrive home.

Finished?

 

Closing Ritual

And now dear friend, you are ready to release the Old Year. You are now ready to face the year ahead. You are ready to set your resolutions, to clarify your dreams and your goals, to decide what is achievable for you, and to stride forth with purpose into the New Year.

Take some time now to close down your releasing ritual.

Close your eyes and breathe slowly and deeply through your nose, down into your abdomen. Hold briefly and then breathe out slowly through your mouth making a small sound as you do. As you breathe out give thanks for the past year, for all your experiences, your joys and pains, the lessons you have been given and the insights you have received.

Breathe in again, drawing in with your breath the green light of healing, deep into your abdomen. As you hold it briefly allow the green light to flow into every cell of your body until your whole body shines with its emerald green glow. Breathe out again, slowly. Sense any negativity you have been holding in the cells of your body, any disharmonies from your past year, flow from you with your breath. Feel your shoulders relax as the weight is taken off them. Feel your body sink into your chair.

Once more breathe in deep into your abdomen this time drawing in the golden light of possibility. Feel it flow freely through you bringing renewed energy to your body, clarity to your mind, and generosity and fulfillment to your heart.

As you slowly release your breath allow the energy of the past year to ride on it. Allow it to float away, knowing that you hold within you all the loving positive energy you have earned in the last twelve months. You will always have the knowledge and insights you have gained.

Take your time and when you feel ready open your eyes and welcome with joy the new energies of the coming year.