Start on a musical note
Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Yogi
A simple thing you can do to start the year positively is when you pick up your telephone, don’t say ‘hello’. Say ‘Namaste’ or ‘Namaskar’ or ‘Vanakkam’. There is a significance to uttering such words. What you say or do to God, you do to everyone around you. This is the best way to live. If something is sacred for you and something else is not, then you are missing the whole point.
I urge everyone to listen to Hindustani music nowhere else in the world has sound been looked at with the kind of depth as in this genre. Hindustani music avoids emotion and uses sound in such ways that if you are willing to open up, it can do miraculous things.
What does sound mean? In yoga we say ‘Nada Brahma’, which means ‘Sound is Divine’. This is because the basis of existence is in vibration, which is sound; this can be experienced by every human being. If you enter a certain state within yourself, the whole existence becomes sound.
If you observe people who are deeply involved in music, you will see they are naturally meditative. This music was not viewed as entertainment. It was a device for the spiritual process. The ragas were used to evolve a person into higher dimensions of perception, experience, and evolution from within.
The affirmation of wellbeing
Ruzbeh N. Bharucha, author, The Fakir Trilogy
First observe your breath. Follow the inhalation and exhalation till you are calm. Then, exhale all the anger that the past year has filled and surrounded you with. Exhale the negativity, frustration hurt and sadness that is knotted within you. Consciously, affirm that “with this exhalation I release into the cosmos all negativity, hate, anger, frustration, sadness that dwells within and around me and may it merge with Divine Radiance and become part of the Divine Radiance”.
Feel everything, which works against your own wellbeing being released from you; freeing you.
Empty yourself from all these shadows of darkness. With a deep inhalation, be filled with joy. Affirm, “with this breath I am filled with joy, happiness, strength, courage and wisdom and am enveloped with the protection of Mother Earth and the very cosmos”.
Be blessed and may this year make you feel one with all that taht is noble and good.
Get in touch with the beauty in you
Shammi Nanda, Compassionate communication expert
To start the year, surprise people with simple acts of generosity, which mean just offer gifts, something you know will make someone’s life wonderful. That someone could be a stranger or someone known. Let people be taken by surprise and see how it opens their hearts.
On gratitude
Research in psychology and quantum physics have established that being grateful is one of the most powerful tools to enable positive change in our life. Here’s a simple and effective way, based on Nonviolent Communication (NVC) of Marshall Rosebberg, to start your year with positive vibrations:
Step 1: Think of something someone said or did which moved you. Try to focus on a specific thing instead of an interpretation like they were nice or loving...
Step 2: How did you feel when you experienced that? Like moved, grateful, joyful, amazed etc.
Step 3: Which of your needs were met with or what did it mean to you? Like care, ease, love, nourishment, nurturance etc.
Step 4: How do you feel after remembering this? If you enjoy remembering it, then go and say it to that person whom you are grateful to and see what magic happens.
