Are you over the practice of making New Year's resolutions? These days our ongoing regular life and work to-do lists often feel endless. And so, the idea of adding a New Year's resolution to the list may feel daunting! If you're wanting less DOING and instead wanting to bring attention to an enhanced state of BEING (like more joy, play, light, grace, surrender), you might enjoy a the practice of creating a Word of the Year.
One of the reasons creating a Word of the Year can be more appealing is that it brings more feminine energy into our new year, which is refreshing if we are running so much in our masculine energy. It is our masculine side that loves goals, strategies, and action steps (hello resolutions!). And it is our feminine side that loves surrender, spirituality, and fluidity. If you're looking for something with less pressure and more fun, yet also powerful to help cultivate a better you in the new year, creating a word of the year might just be for you!
The Radio Interview
If you love audio content, tune into my interview on WGN radio with Pete McMurray and Lisa Kotara where we talk about choosing a Word of the Year. Pete has been doing this practice with me for several years, and Lisa for one year. Tune in for support in your own Word of the Year inquiry.
Word of the Year 101
Your Word of the Year is a simple yet powerful tool to use throughout the year. Whatever your vision is for the year ahead, your Word calls you to grow and expand into the higher potential required to fulfill on your destined direction. In any given moment, you can use your Word as a tool to help you align with higher consciousness and higher wisdom that supports your expansion. In essence, your Word is your prayer or personal mantra to catalyze you. When you speak your Word out loud, it calls you forth.
For example, my word in 2020 was “Limitless,” and let me tell you… that year I released many limiting beliefs and moved through the world with more faith and confidence. Part of the journey involved seeing how my emotions had really been controlling me in certain situations and limiting my potential. This was a block I had seen in some ways before but I felt totally powerless like there was nothing I could do about this issue. With this word Limitless calling me forth, time and time again throughout the year, I spoke the word and offered it as a prayer into my consciousness to help me to grow beyond feelings of sadness, grief, stuckness, and smallness. This practice helped me see and understand the way my limiting thoughts were often driving my emotions. And as I saw each limiting thought, I became more and more powerful to see them as illusions (untrue) and release them. With so many less limiting thoughts in my consciousness, I became able to tap my creativity at higher levels than ever before! Simply put, my Word worked.
When you begin tuning into your Word, to sense what is right for you, you want:
- A word that when you say it, you feel peace.
- A word that calls you forth into a better version of yourself, who you sense you are becoming.
- A word that in a challenging moment, when you say it, it helps you shift you from fear to faith.
- A word that in times of opportunity, you can speak it and it validates your higher purpose.
Pro Tip: Choose a High Vibe Word
Words are vibrations - ringing inside our consciousness as thougthts and coming out of our body as sounds when we speak them. So the Word you choose - it's vibration level - matters. As you can imagine, you'll be best served by a high vibration word. High vibration words feel divine, mystical, etherial, light. In contrast, a lower vibration word that is not aligned for you will feel hard, heavy, dense, and you may sense it comes from your ego out of fear.
Here are few examples of high vibration words I have personally used:
Allow
Embrace
Imagine
Trust
Limitless
Grace
Communion
Here are also a few more examples of high vibration words you might feel connected with or that might inspire more ideas for you:
Wholeness
Align
Harmony
Magic
Love
Connection
Wisdom
Connect with your Word through this Spiritual Practice
Trying to decide on a Word of the Year can feel stressful! If you try to "make it happen" or force it, you'll likely feel doubt about if you chose the right word. This becomes a rational assessment and "heady" exploration. Because using a Word of the Year is a more feminine practice, connected to your state of being, you want to tune into your HEART and BODY to feel the word that resonates most for you.
As a feminine practice, connecting with your word involves being open to receive the word coming into your consciousness with ease - like a lightbulb moment of inspiration. If you receive your word in a true state of surrender, you actually don't choose your word of the year; it chooses you. Now, this doesn't mean you are powerless! What you can do is to create intention to connect with your word. You can do this through an attunement, or a prayer that speaks your knowing of a higher truth that when you open yourself to higher wisdom, you can let go and your Word will come to you.
To help you, I've created an audio recording to prime you for the word to come through inside of you.
Listen HERE:
on the Insight Timer Meditation App (free!)
Next Steps: Allowing Your Word to Work for You
Once you hear a Word that you beleive is yours - don't feel you have to rush to claim it. Give it some space and sense more deeply into whether it feels aligned for what you are sensing is ahead this year.
Then, once you do claim your Word, ideally you want to keep your word present in your life. You might display your Word in a special place so that it’s always top of mind for you and you. You can use it like a prayer - speak it in times of oppportunity and challenge - to call your higher self forth. And, notice how it works for you.
Once you claim your Word, the magic is in motion. This is true even if you forget all about your Word for awhile. If that happens, it is a fun practice to close your eyes and look back to see how this Word has been with you all along, guiding you into your next level of greatness.