A New Year’s Ritual
This is a tremendously powerful time of year — a time when the universe is moving all of us in an exciting and positive direction, a time when everyone, whether they know it or not, is looking to complete the past and move into a new future. 2016 offers all of us a new beginning!
We’re excited to share with you Debbie Ford’s 2011 New Year’s Ritual (with a few updates) to support you in clearing out the past and opening up to a new future. This ritual is a great opportunity to powerfully end this year, igniting new possibilities in your inner and outer worlds, so we invite you to set aside some time to read her message and do the exercise she outlines.
We at The Ford Institute are wishing you a healthy, happy, inspired new year. We look forward to continuing to support you in 2016.
A New Year’s Ritual
by Debbie Ford
This ritual is designed to support you in letting go of whatever it is that keeps you holding on to the person that you’ve been, no matter how great or un-great you think that person is. Why would I want you to let go of who you’ve been? Because there is a you that already exists inside of you, one that is just waiting to be discovered, that can deliver you an unpredictable, unimaginable, extraordinary life in 2016.
When you do this ritual and presence your gratitude, acknowledge yourself and nourish yourself from the inside out, you will be able to let go of the past and open up to a new pure state of consciousness, one that you have never experienced before, one that will support you in growing and allowing new experiences into your life.
And here’s a quick tip for you. Since the process I’ve designed is one of the heart and not the head, I encourage you to write out the answers to the questions I ask you as quickly as you can so that you’re not thinking. If you find yourself trying to come up with answers from your head, just use your breath to reconnect with your heart where all the answers reside.
The Ritual
- Begin by taking some slow deep breaths. As you breathe out, use your exhales to breathe out who you have been in the past, all that you know yourself to be, all the decisions you’ve made in the last few years that are old decisions by now, anything that stands between you and the you you don’t know yet. As you breathe in, allow yourself to breathe in new energy, inviting a state of consciousness you’ve never known.
- Now allow yourself to see all that you’ve done in 2015 that you’re proud of. Make a list of the courageous acts, the changes, the breakthroughs, the accomplishments and the achievements in 2015.
- Read this list out loud to yourself in the form of “Thank you for…”. Thank yourself – the you of 2015 – for all that you’ve done this year. As you thank yourself for every item on your list, allow yourself to feel like you’re being tickled in the heart.
- Take another few slow deep breaths and let yourself to see what you would need to let go of and leave in 2015 so that you can feel the gratitude and appreciation for being you and for getting to play a role in this universe. Make a list of the thoughts, beliefs, habits, addictions, grudges, resentments or harsh internal dialogues that are robbing you right now of a new future. What is in the way of you standing in the joy and magnificence of life?
- Now imagine that your list represents a weight keeping you stuck in your current reality, a weight that keeps you attached to the you that you are right now. See the items on your list as anchors that are weighing you down and then imagine that by unhooking from these anchors, you will be able to float to a whole new reality that is just waiting for you. Let yourself see what you would need to do — what actions do you need to take — in order to unhook from these anchors and move forward in your life. Make a list.
- Take another sweet, strong breath and give yourself permission to expand beyond the you that you’ve been. Put all your energy around your heart and invite an inspired vision to come to you. As you see this new future for yourself, feel the energy and the light around your heart. Notice what makes your heart happy and joyful. See what turns your light on. Make some notes.
- Feeling this love in your heart, ask yourself if you are willing and ready to be guided by this love in 2016. Are you willing and ready to be guided by this love in 2016? If you are, affirm that to yourself out loud seven times. “I am willing and ready to be guided by this love in 2016.” As you repeat this phrase, let your inner smile emerge on to your face.
- Now let yourself see all your friends, all your supporters, all the gods and goddesses, and all the angels cheering you on, telling you it’s safe to let go and open up. Spend a few minutes basking in the love of this cheering squad.
- Send deep love to all of your selves — the self you’ve known and the self that will emerge in this new year. As you’re giving yourself this love, allow a short statement — a love mantra for 2016 — to come into your awareness. Write it down and then repeat it to yourself seven times.
- Pick one dramatic action to take in the first 24 to 48 hours of the new year to demonstrate your seriousness to the universe about allowing a 2016 version of yourself to emerge. Maybe you will take all the beer out of your fridge if your 2015 self drank too much. Maybe you will remove your television from your bedroom if your 2015 self used it to avoid caring for yourself. Maybe you will write a letter of forgiveness to someone your 2015 self harbored a grudge against. Let yourself see the dramatic action you can take.
Transformational Action Steps
- In the first 24 to 48 hours of the new year, take the dramatic action that will demonstrate your seriousness about allowing a 2016 version of yourself to emerge.
- Take the other actions you identified that will support you in unhooking from whatever it is that keeps you stuck in 2015 or the you that you’ve been.
- Repeat your love mantra for 2016 to yourself at least three times a day — when you get up in the morning, in the middle of the day and when you go to bed at night.
- Share this New Year’s Ritual with your friends and loved ones to support them in having an unimaginable year.
From the bottom of my heart, I am wishing you a year filled with the knowing that you are the greatest gift there is. I love and support you in being the greatest expression of yourself in this new year. May your precious soul be watched over and protected each and every day. May you know yourself in a whole new way and may you see, even if just for an instant each day, how holy, divine and magnificent you really are.
