It is customary for many to set resolutions, establish goals or outline desires at the start of a new year. Two of my close friends and I for a few years have got together in early January to create our “vision boards”. We set our intentions for the year ahead by making a collage of pictures and words that represent what we would like to achieve and manifest. This is a fun time for us as we playfully express our creativity, as well as being a time of reflection of the year that has passed and for evaluating our aims of the next year.
This year when I looked at last year’s board I saw that I had placed a large picture of the Eiffel tower to overshadow the letters spelling out “Hawaii”. I have for some years excitedly anticipated revisiting Hawaii so I included a reference to it on my vision boards. I recall on impulse last year pasting the Paris landmark onto my board but wasn’t consciously planning to return there in the near future. However, at the end of last year I had decided to delay the Hawaii trip yet again as a seminar in the south of France had sparked enthusiasm and I had decided to book it. (I look forward to sharing what I will learn and experience on the upcoming trip in August/September this year. I will be exploring a part of the world with which I feel a strong affinity and the topics covered in the seminar/workshop will be relevant to my work specifically with women’s health and wellbeing). I relay this to convey an example of the ‘power’ of the vision boards and setting intentions. I realise this could be labeled a slightly ‘magical’ example, and I want to emphasise that the purpose of the boards and setting intentions, I feel, is a serious and useful tool.
This year when I looked at last year’s board I saw that I had placed a large picture of the Eiffel tower to overshadow the letters spelling out “Hawaii”. I have for some years excitedly anticipated revisiting Hawaii so I included a reference to it on my vision boards. I recall on impulse last year pasting the Paris landmark onto my board but wasn’t consciously planning to return there in the near future. However, at the end of last year I had decided to delay the Hawaii trip yet again as a seminar in the south of France had sparked enthusiasm and I had decided to book it. (I look forward to sharing what I will learn and experience on the upcoming trip in August/September this year. I will be exploring a part of the world with which I feel a strong affinity and the topics covered in the seminar/workshop will be relevant to my work specifically with women’s health and wellbeing). I relay this to convey an example of the ‘power’ of the vision boards and setting intentions. I realise this could be labeled a slightly ‘magical’ example, and I want to emphasise that the purpose of the boards and setting intentions, I feel, is a serious and useful tool.
Within consultations my patients often express their frustrations with situations in their lives and a desire for change. Although I respect, trust in and am in awe of the power of naturopathic and herbal medicine on the physical level, I am a strong believer of the role that emotions play in physical health and the need to address the non-physical aspects of a ‘dis-ease’. Hence discussions with patients often revolve around easing stresses and removing stressors wherever possible in their lives.
I often suggest writing a list of all the aspects to the “perfect” job/career, the new house or optimal health as a way of focusing attention to that which they would like to achieve. This can serve as a method of prioritising actions and planning manageable steps. I have seen the creation of this list be a catalyst to negative situations resolving and seemingly magical progress being made. “We just found the house that fit all the criteria on our list” and “I just landed my dream job” etc. The explanation for how this happens may depend on one’s philosophical or spiritual stance and I am only relaying my observations but perhaps upcoming posts may one day focus on my ideas on this intriguing topic. (This post has developed into something very different to what I had planned when I started writing it!? So I cannot predict the content of the upcoming posts but I do know that they will contain more of ‘my’ writing as that’s an intention I’ve set for this year.)
So do consider creating a vision board for 2015 or writing a list of intentions for a specific situation where change is needed and be open to the possibility that this year will bring all that you desire. That is my wish for you as well as vitality and optimal health for body, mind, emotions and spirit.
Be well,
