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“Relax, Release, Surrender,”

Kila, my 67-year-old yoga teacher, calmly commanded my class yesterday afternoon.  Empty yourself and let in prana, the life force, he said.  By the end of the session, I was in tears.

After the class, Kila asked me how I was doing.  Emotional, I told him.  “Yes, we often hold in much, particularly in our neck and shoulders.  Just feel it and let it go,” this small man with big brown eyes told me. 

I’m sure Kila thought the shoulder stand pose, in particular, had loosened up this energy in me. 

My tears were tears of joy and relief because I realized during that yoga class that my life at any age has value. I am elated that I finally want to once again establish goals for myself this new year.   For the past few years, I thought the need for goal setting was past.  After all, I reasoned my career was over, my retirement comfortable enough, my children grown, my health fine, and I have traveled far more than I ever thought I would.  What was there to strive for now? 

Maybe it was the energy of the Solstice I felt last month, or the mystical, magical trip to Ireland I took last spring, or maybe I am finally rested up from decades of living in the Rat Race, but I have been thinking a lot about setting some goals for 2015. 

A retired, successful Grand Junction, Colorado entrepreneur, Linda Rose, first introduced me to goal setting in 1993 at a cabin retreat with several friends near Sarasota, Wyoming.  I was in the process of divorcing and was at loose ends.  She told me how much she had achieved by getting a Daytimer and establishing goals like Dr. Stephan Covey, the 1989 author of “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People,” suggested. These goals are based on concepts or principles of living that are important for individuals.  I followed her advice.  Much of what I have achieved as a single woman is the direct result.

Today, I am excited about setting some goals for 2015, and wanted to share with you some of them.

First and foremost what I realized was one of my core concepts or principles is to continue to try and improve myself until the day I die.  I respect and admire both women and men who continue to work on themselves.   It seems they have an excitement about life and are not bitter old people.

My No. 1 goal today as in the past is to increase my spirituality.   A couple of ideas “came to me” for this year: first, make a list of everyone and everything that really bugs me and then come to peace about these people and things; and second, quit spending so much negative mental energy, to go on a mental diet if you will.  These ideas, I am sure, came directly from some of my reading I do in the morning, particularly, Emmet Fox, a new thought spiritual leader of the early 20th century, according to Wikipedia.

My No. 2 goal today as in the past is to maintain and improve my health.  I found a wonderful section on health for elders in Rosemary Gladstar’s book “Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health.”  One of the points she makes is how important sleep is.  She says that we can operate on three to four hours of sleep each night, but need six to eight to recharge the brain and nervous system. Further, a good night’s sleep can do wonders for anxiety.   I have found that I need more sleep these days.  Also, I am going back to some of my old exercise routines – like a fun spin class and zumba.  These are in addition to my yoga classes. 

Under family, finance, companionship, travel, house and education and art, I have wonderful things planned for this year.  Yes, I will be writing more, and who knows, I might even reach that one elusive golf goal of shooting less than 100!

Finally, it did occur to me that this is a great time to once again go through Julie Cameron’s book, “The Artist’s Way.” It is a 12-week adventure to find your “hidden artist.”  Artist is very loosely defined.  The last time I went through this book, I discovered how important old houses are to me.  I ended up establishing my own company and eventually a nonprofit organization so that I could educate about and advocate for old houses.  I did this in addition to my regular employment and found immense satisfaction in this work, which I did for over 15 years.  Maybe this time I’ll come up with something new to bring me much joy.

Happy New Year!

Note:  Thanks to the efforts of my webmaster Joyce Cerretti, the comment section is now easy to use.  I so wish you would write your thoughts in the comment section, instead of personally emailing me, so that other ladies-of-a-certain- age can benefit from your wisdom, too.

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