5 Steps to Releasing Resistance

Here is a great article by Joy Heartsong

At the dawning of this new year, you may be thinking you “should” be setting new goals. You may be feeling a bit overwhelmed by all you have to consider: professional, family, health, spiritual and financial.  Here’s a new slant on the annual ritual. Review last year’s goals to see where you didn’t quite measure up to your desires. Then look at what went awry. To what do you attribute not getting what you wanted?
Now look for a common thread in those unmet goals. Are you hanging onto old ways, even though they’re not working, or stuck in your sense of “rightness”, making everyone else wrong? Maybe you lack motivation due to a past history of ”failure” or misperceptions about yourself or others. Are you resisting what is; determined to plow through it or hold your ground?
Where is your focus? Is it on doing what you’ve always done, or is it on releasing resistance to open up new insights and opportunities and heal body, mind and spirit? Perhaps, to your way of thinking, you are letting go of the old; and that’s a healthy goal. However, if you’re like me, sometimes I’m not aware of behaviors, feelings and thoughts that may be interfering with my well-intended efforts.
Old triggers that spur resistance can quickly thwart being at peace with what is. They’ll sneak up on you when you least expect them and blow those good intentions up in your face. Ka-boom! You didn’t even see it coming. Now what?
Isn’t it time to start creating what you do want instead of rehashing old grievances? You know what you want; so take a moment to consider where you are focusing your time, energy, thoughts and emotions. How often do you hear yourself saying: if only he didn’t…, if she wasn’t so…, if I didn’t have to…, or if I had more money, a better car or a new job? All of these are examples of resistant thinking or dissatisfaction with the way things are.
As long as we resist, protest, cajole, complain and control everything (or try to), we’ll get more frustrated and stressed, unhappier, and suffer more from the loss of our power. When we focus our attention on what we don’t want or the lack of what we do want, we create more of that (what we focused upon).
“Anytime you feel negative emotion, you are in the mode of resisting something that you want, and that resistance takes its toll on you. It takes its toll on your physical body, and it takes its toll on the amount of wonderful things that you are allowing to come into your experience.” —-Abraham
Let me see. I think I’ve got it! The more you push, try to get your way, express your unhappiness, your “stuckness”, and your insistence on your “rightness”, the more resistance you create in yourself and others and the less likely you are to get what you truly want. Wow, it’s amazing how easy it is to create more of what we don’t want!
Letting go of resistance is one of the most beneficial things you can do to stay on track with creating something better for yourself. Follow these five steps for releasing what you don’t want in your life and creating what you do want:

• Identify what you’re resisting.

Notice what you talk about, think about or feel bad about (regrets, limitations, the past, ‘coulda’, ‘woulda’, ‘shoulda’s). Abraham, speaking through Esther Hicks, says all it takes to manifest what you don’t want is 16 seconds of focusing on it. So how many seconds do you spend creating what you don’t want?

• Focus on what you DO want.

Whenever you sense old feelings of resistance kicking in, shift your attention gently back to what you do want. Exactly what does that look like for you? How much do you want to make? What type of work makes you smile? How do you expect others to treat you?

• See, feel, and believe in the changes you desire.

Know that it is happening now. Spirit (the Universe, Higher Power) is looking for ways to create what you want.

• Create, plan and implement changes that move you toward attaining your dreams.

Speak your truth. Communicate clearly. Take a picture of your ideal house or apartment. Update your resume. Research your area of interest. Ask for help. Make your own plan and take steps to put it into action.

• Give gratitude and reward yourself for the shifts you’ve made.

Feel good about yourself and your positive focus on what you desire. Celebrate and give thanks for your successes. Give yourself a pat on the back or a big hug. Treat yourself to a special activity: eat dinner with a friend, buy that new shirt or jewelry you’ve been wanting, plan a potluck or other get-together with friends or family, or explore in the mountains or on the beach. Let your imagination and your inner knowing be your guide.
Now about those goals…You can do it. Look at yourself with new, loving eyes. Try this new approach, and see how much easier it is to create what you really want.

You can do it! Celebrate your new you! Have fun and be happy!


If you are having a problem keeping your exercise resolution, its because you have to think of it as being a lifestyle not just another thing you start and stop at the New Year.  
Contact me if you are ready to do it differently this year.