The Chinese New Year starts on a New Moon, a wonderful time to set intentions for the new cycle of abundance. Life is made of cycles and spirals and waves of energy to ride. The number one tip for bringing in more abundance is with our attitude. One of my favourite questions from Einstein is do we believe the world to be hostile or friendly? This underlying mental construct really does colour our other beliefs and our emotions and hence our decisions.
There are many reasons why people do not feel safe. We don’t have furs to withstand the cold. We don’t have claws to physically defend ourselves. We don’t have the speed to outrun predators. We have collective and individual trauma and the world can be overwhelming, with going-ons that baffle most of us. So we do not focus on the darkness. (Note 1) We do not deny it either.
What do we do? We focus on what we have, what we are, and what we want. We focus on leveling up to discover solutions borne not of the consciousness that bred the problems. (Again, thank you Einstein). Having an attitude of curiosity, gratitude, and positive action is indispensable, for facing adversity, for rising, for living our destiny.
Here are some more tips for abundance (with a nod to the Chinese New Year):
Let Go
The New Moon is indeed a great time for seeding intentions. It is also a time of letting go. As DK Brainard reminds us in this podcast, the new moon is about endings as well and it can feel heavy since we are still in darkness and something new is on the way and yet we cannot always see it. As humans, we mostly feel uneasy with the unknown. What is going to happen? Will it be hard? Will it hurt? Will I be lucky? Will I get what I want?
There is always underlying order in chaos and from this heightened state of motion, we also have tremendous energy to pull into the physical realm the structure of what we envision.
First, let go. Let go of the past, of the wounds, of limitations we have placed on ourselves. Let go of what we believe must happen. Let go of how we believe the form should be; focus on the content. Form follows function.
Let go of “stuff” that is no longer meaningful or “beautiful” to you. Marie Kondo of the KonMari Method asks – does it spark joy?
A big tradition for Chinese New Year is cleaning the house, much like a big Spring Clean. (The Chinese New Year is also called Spring Festival.) Cleaning out creates space for the new, physically, emotionally, symbolically. So go clean out that closet, your wallet (old receipts?), under the bed…
Nourish Yourself
Why do we want abundance? Why do people go for retail therapy? Why do we seek out our tribe?
Connection.
We seek connection.
We have lost connection to Mother Nature, and being part of the ecosystem. Our opposing thumbs and cosmic destiny have brought us down this path, this Hero/Heroine’s Journey to make conscious our unconscious treasures. For far too many people, a deep connection that was severed is that with ourselves. We grow up seeking approval, knowledge, definition, etc from the external world. This very yang part of growing up, of seeking, however is meant to be balanced with the yin of receiving, of allowing, of receiving wisdom from deep within. We have forgotten to sit in silence and hear a truth beyond this material world. We have forgotten to simply sit in the void and embody our full divine selves.
The easiest way to do this is to nourish ourselves on the physical world. Okay, this is the easiest and probably also the hardest. Easiest because we already do this, outwardly. We care for our family, our job, our animals, our shoes, our cars…. So we can simply re-direct some of that attention and care inward, back to ourselves. Hardest because we feel guilty and undeserving, we get judged for being self-indulgent and self-centered, and even for feeling “unspiritual”. How well can we care for others in a sustainable way if we ourselves are empty and tired?
So …
⋯ take a walk outside, among trees. Or even potted plants. Sometimes I drop by nurseries and hang with the plants (and bringing one home).
⋯ take a bath or a foot bath. Add some essential oils, epsom salt…It’s said that five-flower baths cleanse our aura. Light some candles, burn some incense, turn on some music or sing. Create an atmosphere of sanctuary for yourself.
⋯ Go for a massage or other bodywork.
⋯ Go to an art museum
⋯ Make yourself a delicious fulfilling meal
⋯ Do a retreat
⋯ Take that vacation, walk the Camino
It does not have to be something big (like going away for a retreat). Find what nourishes yourself. For me it is comfort food (quinoa, avocado, hemp seed oil, himalaya salt), it is hugging my animals (when they allow), it is reading profound words, it is that good deep massage, it is those moments of humour with true friends, it is being in silence, it is sitting with trees, it is…
⥤ Check out this list of Chinese Lucky Foods from 5 Element Food by Lillian Pearl Bridges of Lotus Institute
⥤ Are you a caretaker? Check out this article
⥤ Need some ideas? Check out Self Care by Zodiac Signs
Dream it
Living life without dreams is like sleepwalking. Dreams are essential to manifestation (and for many other reasons). If you do not know exactly what it is you wish, focus on the emotions you wish to experience – joy, peace, connection. Maybe it is hard to describe – use images to vision board it. Many people keep magazines for this reason. You can also use stock photography from the internet or draw them yourself. Even splashes of colours work wonders!
Check Your Communications
For the next week, pay attention to your patterns of speech (which reflect your underlying beliefs). What kind of words do you predominately use? Do you complain? Are you sarcastic or self-deprecating? If you were listening as an outsider, how would you feel? Checking your communications gives clues to your beliefs and subconscious thoughts. Also, since words are vibrational, this is the message you are sending out to people and the universe at large.
Crystal Power
Who else loves crystals? Crystals are Mother Earth’s gifts to us. The range of crystals and stones that we have to work with is quite amazing. People like working with different crystals for different purposes because of their vibrations. For abundance, many like yellow citrine, aventurine, pyrite, moss agate, yellow or green jade…. You can program your crystal with intentions and affirmations of abundance. Remember that quartz absorbs so be impeccable with your thoughts, words, and actions and where you place your crystals. You can make a medicine pouch for abundance and carry that with you. Some people place their abundance crystals at their cash register or cash boxes. Find what works for you.
Celebrate It
Many of us were taught that it is pretty narcissistic to celebrate ourselves. So many people crave this adoration that is not coming from the outside world. What if we celebrated ourselves, our milestones, our accomplishments, our rising from falling? There are many ways to celebrate. Simply acknowledging yourself or being accountable to yourself are ways to celebrate who you are. In Access Consciousness, we say “how does it get any better than this?” This is 1) to validate that what just happened really was awesome so thank you and 2) out of curiosity, what else can the universe bring? Perhaps what just happened was great but does not exactly match your immediate needs.
side note If you find coins and bills on the sidewalk, and if clearly no one you saw dropped it, pick it up! Abundance. Signs of things to come?
Use Imagery
A Chinese New Year Tradition is to put up auspicious symbols – hangings of words or phrases of blessings, red lanterns, fresh flowers, potted kumquats, Chinese knots, 8 treasures of snacks…
Take a look around your home and work space. What do the images project? Do the items you choose for your space convey positive memories, cultivate enthusiasm for life, or exude inspiration for your goals?
Gratefulness
This last tip is powerful – being grateful. To be grateful, we first must acknowledge that there is something to be grateful for. This requires mindfulness and awareness, as well as the ability to see what is indeed a good thing.
It is easy to be grateful for passing an exam, winning a lottery, having a safe childbirth (and a healthy child)… It takes more practice to be truly grateful for what has been challenging in our lives – betrayal by a friend or a spouse, a divorce, illness, death… death? Yes, losing someone is profoundly painful especially if that being has been a significant part of your life. I agree with Tennyson that it is better to have loved and lost then not at all. I am grateful for the wonderful times we had, no matter how short a time we had together.
I am not sure adversity makes us stronger. What it does is to help us see what we do not want with clarity. It is an opportunity to see life in a different way and try it another way. Life is like Edison’s invention of the lightbulb. It can take us a few tries to find our way. I guess we can include past lives as these tries as well.
So in the bigger scheme of things, it all balances out and aren’t we grateful for all these opportunities to step into who we truly are?
Try these tips for abundance and let us know what happens. Basically what we are doing is becoming more aware of our vibrations and returning to our high vibrational blueprint and signature. This is abundance. There are so many roads that lead here – sound healing, movement, loving kindness … May this new cycle bring us allies and helpers and gracious reminders to do just this, moving as parts of ourselves to the whole of ourselves, as individuals and as a society.
Cover Photo by Samantha Gades
Note 1 Trauma is frozenness and there are many ways to thaw out those parts we have disconnected, so we could survive whatever traumatic event that was happening. The broken was abandoned. While society is turning around on this, especially the Scandinavian countries with their health care programs, we ourselves have to step into the role of healer, finding the appropriate facilitator to guide us through the journey back to wholeness. There are fortunately available to us a plethora of therapies and modalities and likely it requires more than one. The key still is not to focus on the trauma but on where you want to be, how you want to feel. Don’t forget the message and the lesson that came with the event!
