With the new year upon us, it’s fitting to stretch ourselves into a few new practices. Twenty sixteen can surprise us, even by its numerical messages. One of the greatest spiritual meanings of the number sixteen is, drumroll please: l-o-v-e-! Let’s peek into the ways we can focus this statement of love inwardly to, in turn, outwardly love those around us.
Loosen Your Insta Grip
It’s a cool time to be on planet earth. I would be soops jealous of us if I lived during an earlier age. We’ve conquered the art of multi-texting, sharing precious moments instantly to loved ones miles away, and of course, we are masters of making ourselves look even more stellar, thanks to Valencia, Amaro, and Mayfair. Appealing progresses like these in our technologically savvy sphere make us productive, personable, and polished in our interactions and images. We all get the downside, the distraction, the discontentment. Yet, the beauty about being truly human is our ability to choose. We must not forget the power we hold to own our days and explore the balances we need. It’s not so much about being on or off the grid as much as it is about how well you balance your reactions to your connections, grid or not.
If we are so embedded in the screen game of who-likes-who to the point where our peace is disrupted and our crazy comes out, it might be time to zen out. A few fun tricks I’ve enjoyed include: instead of tweeting it, journal it. Or, if you want to crop & share it, put it in a text to your best friend instead and send. It will be so much more meaningful to intentionally invest in a relationship and a connection with someone you love versus constantly appealing to the masses. Plus, you’ll make your bff’s day by simply letting them know you’re thinking about them.
Take Baby Steps towards Your Ultimate Bliss
The literal numero uno is affiliated with new beginnings, striving forward, progress, leadership and assertiveness; self-reliance and achievement, inspiration and attainment. To apply this concept of number-one-power this year, we can love ourselves simply by doing this: begin. Take a first step towards what is in your heart to begin, or even continue what you are building in your life. Create your own momentum by putting ideas into action. By beginning before we consider ourselves ready, we are capable of achieving our goals, one small step at a time!
Nurture Your Nest
The number six of sixteen refers to love of home, family, and domesticity; also, to be of service to others, be selfless and reliable. In this new season, as you begin again, it’s just as important to create an environment around you that allows you to look inward, reflect, and cozy up to the blessings overflowing your life. Allow the process of gratitude to unfold, but first, nurture yourself as well as your nest. Health and wellness company Saffron & Sage’s most recent post about this current season declares, “winter invites us to make peace with the dark, the silence, the resting and the dreaming… The trees have begun to lose their leaves, and the animals are readying to sleep through the long, frigid days. A time of stillness and quiet, is winter. It amplifies sound, challenging our ability to listen. Listen, during conversation. Listen, to your body and its needs. Listen, to the understanding of self and to others. Listen, winter is here and she is calling.” What does it look like to rest in your home, making peace with the year before and with what’s to come? Don’t be surprised when others will call to you for your warmth.
Thank YOU
Thank who? Thank you! Kind of awkward and takes a little adjusting, but once you realize the value of your capacity and the strength of your soul, there is inner healing that happens and magically changes your life. If we see ourselves, specifically our bodies as a potent and capable structure that carries our hopes and dreams, instead of constant pudgy disappointments, we might be on to something good. We will absolutely be able to enhance our experience in this lifetime and sharpen our perspective by simply acknowledging ourselves for the work we already do. Gratitude is the greatest attitude — saying thank you to yourself is the best soul food!
Practice Pick Me Ups
Start your new year’s savings by piggy banking that $6 latte, and welcome yourself to mood boosters! Personal pick-me-ups are the new caffeine. Thanks to Everyday Health’s 8 Instant Mood Boosters, we now know that taking a little time-out to be visually stimulated assists your brain to having more vigor. Staring at a painting can be beneficial to surging energy back in to your day, a study found: “During the study, participants underwent brain scans while eyeballing paintings by artists such as Monet, Rembrandt, and Leonardo da Vinci. When they saw something they liked, blood flow in certain parts of the brain increased by about 10 percent,” the equivalent of gazing at a loved one, according to the researchers. Wearing bright colors can achieve this same cranium excitement, too! Rest assured, you’ve got what it takes to love you.
By Christie Brooke
Image by Stephanie Pino
