Three Great Practices to Welcome 2014 ...

Hello, everyone! After enjoying a wonderful Christmas at home for the first time in 10 years, I'm getting ready to leave for the Island to celebrate the New Year with dear family and friends. Getting ready, of course, includes writing an early New Year's blog post for those of you who are carepartners to patients, clients, students, family members, neighbours or friends.

While at this time of year the internet, TV and print media will be full of ways to make our bodies healthier in 2014, I would rather focus more inwardly upon ways of making our psyches and relationships more whole and well in the New Year. Three ways I know of doing this are to let a word choose you as a guide for 2014, to celebrate Women's Christmas and, if you're into resolutions, to choose a spiritually literate New Year's resolution for 2014. Each of these practices will help you to create the spaciousness and intention to welcome the new year.

This is my third year of allowing a word to "choose me" and it's been a experience of fun and continuing growth. Not only does my word act as guide during the year I choose it, but because of the focused attention it receives throughout that year, it continues to light my path in the years beyond. The first year my word was act, the second year it was veriditas and this year, embrace (as in embrace life) seems to be shimmering at the edge of my consciousness. I'll spend a little more time with this possibility over the next few days and see if it continues to resonate.

Celebrating Women's Christmas is a great way to reflect on the direction of our lives while in the company of women we trust. We can meet on January 6th in any number of settings - homes, nature walks, retreat houses, restaurants, pubs - and there, speak briefly about the year past and then resolve to spend the rest of the day sharing our dreams for the year to come and enjoying each others' company and support.

Finally, although I'm not usually one for resolutions, I have found on the Spirituality and Practice website, a list of ten spiritually literate resolutions that seem worth looking at. While I think one would need at least a year to work with any one of them, do check the list and see if there's one you or your family or workplace might like to use during 2014.

I hope that at least one of these practices catches your imagination and I wish each of you an expectant New Year filled with promise, possibility and peace.

Jan