At the beginning of a new year, it is a very common tradition to make resolutions about how you would like to improve yourself. Using positive affirmations, you can accomplish any resolution that you would like to make. By definition, resolutions made at the beginning of the year are things that you want to do to make your life better, or to change. Commonly, these resolutions last for maybe a week. The reason for this is that people, in general, do not truly believe that they can change these things. That is why it is important to ring in the New Year with both resolutions and positive affirmations.

One of the most common resolutions that people make is to quit smoking. If you smoke, you may realize that quitting is very hard. You can help your chances of successfully quitting by using positive affirmations. When you are ready to start reciting your affirmations, visualize yourself without a cigarette. Tell yourself that you don’t need to smoke. To reinforce your statements, visualize yourself in a situation where you would normally smoke. Then take that cigarette out of the picture. Imagine yourself enjoying the same situation without the need to smoke. Some good suggestions to get you started on your positive affirmations include saying “I am happy as a non-smoker” and “I am above the temptation of smoking”. These tips combined will go a long way toward helping you achieve your goals of not smoking.

Another resolution that positive affirmations can help with is getting into physical shape. Many people decide that the New Year is a great time to start getting that clean physique they had when they were younger, or they want to just feel better about themselves physically. This could mean going on a diet or even starting to go to gym on a more regular basis. You can help yourself with this goal by repeating to yourself such statements as “I have a good physique and am happy with my body” or “I am more physically fit than I have been in years”. While using these statements, visualize what you want your end goal to be. In other words, picture exactly what you will look like when you reach your current goal. Are you going to be rippling with muscles, or are you going to just lose some weight? Picturing exactly what you want to look like will help reinforce your positive affirmations, which will in turn help you achieve your goals.

Financial independence is another resolution people make that positive affirmations can help with. Coming up with statements that illustrate what you want to achieve will help strengthen your willpower, improving your chances of success. Imagine what life would be like if you had enough money to do what you want, when you want to. What would you be wearing, who would be around you, and what kinds of things would you smell in the air at the time? Make all of this into a complete picture while repeating your positive affirmations such as “I am financially secure” or “I have financial freedom”. This will ensure that you can reach your goals.

A new year often brings about new changes. These can often be lofty goals that you can only achieve with the help of positive affirmations. The best thing to remember is that it is a great plan to use the saying “a new year equals a new you” but it is important to use every tool in your toolbox. Using positive affirmations can help you be all you want in 2012.

Richard is a Master Practitioner of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), Hypnosis, and Neurological Re-patterning™. He is also the co-founder of New You Life Coaching.
Because his interests stem from philosophy, spirituality, psychology, and leadership, Rich’s coaching style incorporates a rare and ingenious approach to understanding and empowering you in an insanely effective manner.

http://richardaluck.com/
New You Life Coaching

If you are feeling desperate because you are trying to save marriage alone, do not despair. There are many others in the same boat as you and such cries for help can be heard from both men and women alike. This is probably because they have made the same common mistake; entering a relationship with unrealistic expectations of fulfillment and happiness.

Unknowingly, they have started off the relationship on shaky grounds but they had been so blinded by love that they were not aware of it. When they finally discovered that the ship they were in had started to sink, it was oftentimes too late.

However, once you have faced up to reality and admitted that your marriage is in trouble, it is a lot easier to save marriage that way then for someone who refuses to admit that there is something wrong with the relationship and continue to hold on to false hopes. It is indeed hard to admit failure but that is the first necessary step to finding a solution and acting on it.

If you have analyzed the situation you are facing and discovered that you still love your spouse very much and do not want a divorce, it is vital that you remain determined. Since you are trying to save marriage alone, you will have to persuade your partner to work at getting the marriage to work because both parties need to play a part. Both of you have to work at recapturing the old flame and healing your relationship.

It is a much easier battle to fight when the troubles have only just started but many couples are often so caught up in their own personal matters that they fail to notice the tell-tale signs. Some initial symptoms could be a lack of affection, getting more interested in themselves or frequent late nights. If you are starting to sport such signs, it is time you make an effort to re-ignite the old flame and get it to burn strongly again.

If your marriage has already gone down the hills and you are finding it hard to save your relationship on your own, you might want to consider marriage counseling. However, both parties have to be willing to work at improving the relationship, otherwise no amount of counseling will work. Your spouse might not be willing to open up to a counselor or even to meet up with one.

When that happens, you should then consider counseling your own marriage. It is really not as hard as you think because you can carry out simple counseling yourself. You understand your spouse well so you will know what will attract his or her attention again. Even if only one spouse is willing to make the commitment to change, your marriage can still be saved.

The vital thing to keep in mind when you save your marriage alone is to be persistent and patient. You might not see results overnight but look out for signs which might tell you that your marriage is improving.

However, if your relationship is really beyond salvage because your spouse refuses to reciprocate no matter how much effort you put in or come clean and admits to you that he or she is in love with someone else, then it is a sign that you should move on with your life. There is really no point in hanging on to a marriage if it is obvious it will not work but you will never know till you try and a marriage saved is definitely going to be worth the effort.

If you are really committed to to get your marriage back on track, click here.

This article is one of the breakup series I write. Please check my author page for more articles on the subejct or join me in my ex-back support group and relationship forum for more tips on how to deal with your breakup and how to get yourself on the path of getting your love and your life back. Please also follow me on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/katarina.phang for my daily nuggets of reflections/insights/advice and tips on attracting and maintaining a lasting relationship and fixing a broken one.

By SpiritQuest Sedona Retreats

Any given moment of your life can be a choice to experience “This Moment” as a miraculous opportunity to deepen your Love and heighten your spirituality. One of the simplest ways of uplifting the “Love you” experience, is through understanding how “energy follows intention.” This simple principle can actually change all areas of your life!

At any point in time, whatever the situation is that you’re dealing with, you can stop, take a deep breath, and ask yourself this basic question: “what is my intention right now?”

Seeing that, allows you to take a wonderful next step into greater ease. You can do this by asking yourself “what would be the highest good for myself and all beings, as One?” This question automatically shifts and aligns your intentions into the highest vibrations of loving-kindness. (Which automatically alters all of the reflections that come back to you!)

Once your spiritual intentions are set to that level, you don’t need to worry about understanding or “directing” the way things will unfold from there. Experience shows that you can trust in the perfection of the energy dynamics that will follow.

Your inner desires and knowing will automatically shift, as will people’s reactions to you. Your inner inclinations, as long as you stay aligned with the vibration of this Loving Intention, will naturally guide you and reveal to you exactly what actions are in alignment with this.

The key is in your spiritual healing and emotional vibration. Here is an explanation of how the process of shifting your vibration works.

Beginning with the question: “what am I feeling right now?” as a starting point, allows you to identify the texture or flavor of the emotions you are currently associating with this situation. Having felt what all of those textures are, you can then release them to align your emotions with a deeper feeling of love.

The next step is to align your emotions with Love by thinking of things that give you a feeling of wishing pure and genuine well-being for All Creation.

Thinking of birds, pets, children you love, good friends, the sun, water… whatever comes easiest to your heart with genuine love. Once your emotional vibration is settled in a space of sincerely wishing Love for All, asking the question: “what is the highest good for All in this situation?” opens an easy pathway for great inner clarity to come through.

Because your vibration is now clearly aligned with this highest resonance of love, your inner knowing naturally opens to receiving the purest guidance.

In this manner, your whole life simply begins to change.

The intentions that you give to the world, are what directs the energy that is reflected back to you. In this experience of reflection, it is understood that it is not the “action” or what is “done” that influences the effects: it is the seed vibration at the core of the intention. (The law of karma does not “give back to you what you DO,” it “gives back to you what you VIBRATE.” In other words, if you step on someone’s toe by accident, you get a different karmic reflection than if you did it on purpose!)

Another simple way of uplifting your life, on a subtle and basic vibrational level, is through the use of affirmations.

Your emotional, vibrational state is always changing, and the great news is that YOU can CHOOSE where you want it to go! You can choose to believe that negative things will happen to you, and the entire miraculous mechanism of your body/mind and emotions will cooperate to find those negative experiences for you. You can also choose that you are a being of Light and Joy who will give and receive pure Love, and the energetic spirals will follow these pathways.

If you choose, here are some wonderfully uplifting decrees/affirmations that you can use in your daily life:

I AM Here to Experience Joy and Bliss

I AM Infinite, Perfect Love

The Divine Perfection of the Universe is Alive as Me

My Highest Radiant Presence is grounded in my Physical Awareness

My Heart Shines as Bright as Ten Thousand Suns

I AM the Grace of my Heart’s Dearest Beloved

I AM Creating Only Goodness Everywhere

I AM Dreaming the Universe’s Dreams

I AM Radiant Clarity

Katherine Lash – An Arizona native who has lived in the Sedona area for over 40 years, Katherine specializes in small group and individual relationship dynamics. She teaches interpersonal life skills and guides people and organizations through critical transitions in life. With a Bachelor of Science in both Metaphysical Philosophy and Education, Katherine is a master life coach and confidant to people aspiring to the highest levels of personal growth.

Her travels to Tibet, Nepal, India, and Thailand, along with living in Bali Indonesia, have given her great insights into cultural diversity and spiritual practice. While living in Hawaii, Katherine studied aesthetics, holistic health, ayurvedic medicine, plant medicine, and various Eastern modalities. Her own personal practice of Ashtanga Yoga helps to keep her centered as she facilitates healing with the following: Chakra Balancing, energy attunements, life coaching, breath work, guidance readings, ceremony, Tesla High Frequency, EFT, and European Facial.

Serving as a business woman and spiritual guide, Katherine’s life has been devoted to empowering individuals to reach their full potential by shifting perspectives and awakening to higher consciousness.
http://sedona-healing-retreats.com

By Yamini Bhatt, Founder, Rhiddam Online Spiritual Growth Center

Are you ready to bring new energy into your life?

Think about your environment. Most people are unconscious of the effect their environment has on them. Yet everything in your home has an effect on you from the smallest object to the largest. In fact, every particle in creation is alive and filled with life force energy, spirit and intelligence. Pure energy of spirit is all around us even though we may not see it. Everything – a human, a dog, a tree, a table, a stone – is giving off energy.

You may have walked into a room and felt heavy as soon as you entered the room. This is your energy responding to your surroundings.

So how would you describe your home? Is it elegant, untidy, welcoming, functional…? It is important to pay attention to the energy you surround yourself with. If your energy is healthy, not only your body is healthy but your life will be too. You will know who and what you are, what you want from life.

Here is a way to start:

Step 1: Access your level of balance

When we are out of balance with our surroundings, we become physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually sick. One of the quickest ways to assess where you are at in your life is to ask yourself questions:

Are you aware of and in control of your thoughts, feelings and emotions?
• Do you feel you have low energy levels, often feeling tired, exhausted or weary for no real cause?
• Do you “escape” through alcohol, drugs or food?
• Do you sometimes feel powerless or victimized?
• Do you find you get involved in other people’s lives?
• Do you feel insecure or unsafe?
• Are you in anyway aggressive, domineering or controlling?
• Are you critical of either yourself or others?
• Do you find it hard to find balance – in your moods, your body?

The more “yes” answers you have, the more likely you are to have an imbalance. Awareness is one of the first steps to change, and while asking questions seems so simple, it is a very powerful way to begin any healing process.

Step 2: Declutter

Start with decluttering your physical space intentionally to clear old stagnant energy and bring in energy that will support your abundance and well-being. Toss, donate, clear. Start small if you wish, choosing to focus on only one drawer or one counter top a day, or pick a date on the calendar for a marathon decluttering. Just start and marvel as the new, fresh energy and sense of possibility that enters your life.

Step 3: Usher in new energy with a meditation

Allow yourself to see your environment and yourself anew with this meditation. This Kundalini Yoga meditation helps usher in new energy by affirming a new way of living life.

Affirming that you are “Healthy, Happy and Holy” literally changes your subconscious perception of your environment. Don’t underestimate the power of this simple meditation.

• Sit (or lie down) with spine straight. Close your eyes to turn your attention inward.
• Breathing only through the nose, inhale deeply then recite aloud:

HEALTHY AM I

HAPPY AM I

HOLY AM I

• Inhale deeply again, feeling divine, loving, healing energy pouring into your body with each inhalation, and repeat the affirmation again. Continue for as long as you choose. Affirm loudly and forcefully allowing the message to sink deep into your subconscious! Enjoy!

Yamini Bhatt is on a mission to effectively shift the consciousness of our world. As a profoundly successful, internationally recognized, transformational teacher and healer, Yamini integrates several powerful, carefully selected and individually tailored healing modalities for both groups and individuals. Yamini founded Riddham (defined as Opulence) Online Spiritual Center to serve those who seek to overcome their fears and limitations and releasing struggles and to find the truths from within for a profound shift in consciousness. Yamini is an Ordained Minister, Certified in Spiritual Response Therapy (SRT), a Spiritual Restructuring Teacher, Yoga and Meditation teacher and a Certified Prosperity Guide. She has served on the Board of Directors and as President for the Spiritual Response Association (SRA).