Beginning the Year by Connecting with Inner Intentions and Desires

As the year turns, there is space to pause and notice what is alive within you—what has sustained you, what you hope for, and what you want to bring forward. This practice invites you to connect with inner desires and quiet hopes, creating intentions that are gentle, grounded, and rooted in presence.

Arrive in the Body

Take a moment to settle into your body.
Notice your breath, the weight of your body, points of contact with the ground or chair, and the sensations around you.

Allow awareness to rest in what is present. Presence itself opens access to your inner guidance.

What Are You Carrying Forward?

Bring attention to what feels sustaining.
It could be a value, a relationship, a quality, or a practice that has quietly supported you. Simply notice it. Allow it to guide your intentions for the year ahead.

What Is Softening?

Notice where effort, tension, or holding is easing.
Sense where space has opened or where something is naturally loosening. This awareness allows new desires and intentions to emerge.

Choose an Orientation

Select one word or phrase that captures your focus for this moment.
It might be steadiness, aliveness, rest, or devotion. Let it serve as an anchor, connecting you to what matters now.

Asking For Support and Self Guidance

Gently ask:

What kind of support would help me live this more fully?

Notice what arises. Support might appear as rest, boundaries, creativity, or connection. Simply noticing it strengthens your inner guidance.

You can also invite guidance from your future self—the person you will become as the year unfolds.

As shared by @thatglasgowwitch: hand yourself the wisdom you hold now.

Imagine connecting to an earlier version of yourself - someone less experienced or facing a choice you’ve since navigated. Offer guidance from what you know now.

You can:

• Write a letter

• Make a simple visual note

• Speak to yourself internally

This practice helps you notice patterns in your thinking, recognize the wisdom you already carry, and build confidence in your ability to make choices in the future.

Stepping into the Year

Intentions are invitations, not obligations. By attending to inner desires and hopes with presence, and by listening to guidance from your future self, you start the year grounded and attuned. Each moment of awareness nurtures your inner guidance, shaping a year aligned with what matters most to you.