It’s that time of year again. January. A new year. A clean slate. Our hopes and dreams rise and we make promises to ourselves again, “I will make better food choices”, “I will start exercising”, “I will meditate every day”, “I will stop eating sugar”, “I will practice yoga every morning”, “I will quit drinking and smoking”.

If you are making New Year’s resolutions, I bet you made them before. If they work for you and you achieve your goals, hurrah! Keep on doing what works! But if you are like me and most women, you made the same resolutions year after year, only to get frustrated and disappointed that the magic is not happening.

New Year’s resolution don’t work for a variety of reasons; we don’t drop deeply ingrained patterns just because the calendar turns, we have unrealistic expectations and we don’t allow ourselves the ups, downs and detours that a health journey requires.

This year I invite you to make a different kind of resolution.

Not action based, though it will inspire your actions. Not goal oriented, though it will create a compass for your goals. Not making lists of things to do and places to go, but a place you can claim in your heart forever.

I invite you to make the commitment to love yourself more.

This is not just idle words or an abstract direction. It is a real, deep and important commitment. In fact, it is the most important commitment you can make. It is a commitment that will challenge your every decision, choice and direction. It will bring up every harmful and unhelpful pattern that you have so you can heal it and release it. It is a commitment that you will have to make over and over again, with forgiveness, gentleness and humor, until it becomes rooted in your heart and in your soul and leads you to a life filled with radiance, brilliance, sacredness and joy.

When you make that commitment, you cannot be harsh with yourself, talk to yourself with unkind words and punish yourself for not being perfect. You CAN gently and lovingly ask the following questions: “ Is this the most loving choice?”, “Will these food choices love my body?”, “Will my digestion be happy?”, “Will this choice give me energy or deplete me?”, “Does this practice feel nurturing?”, “Will my most loving self choose that?”

It is ok if you sometimes answer no, just acknowledge that you are not ready to make the most loving choice at this moment and that you will try again. You will not give up on yourself. You will be patient. You are there for the whole journey.

I am making this my only resolution this year. Will you?

xoxo Rachel