“Focus on what you want, not on what you don’t want,” teaches Serge Kahili King, PhD, a Hawaiian shaman as he explains the Huna principle – Energy flows where attention goes. It sounds easy, but it’s not always. Can you focus on the health you have and ignore the aches and pains? Then more health will flow your way. Can you focus on the happiness in the world rather than the misery? Then more happiness will flow your way. Can you focus on abundance in all forms, instead of lack? Then more abundance will flow your way.

This concept is known the world over, but easily forgotten too. In one of Paulo Coelho’s recent blog posts, he mentions of complaining about one burnt- out Christmas light until his wife reminds him to look at the many that are brilliantly glowing.

Close your eyes and imagine what you want in the New Year. Focus on and bless everything and everyone that represents what you want. What’s so beautiful about this process is that the blessing (or praise) of others helps them as well as you.

For instance, if you want greater health in the new year, bless healthy people, animals, even healthy plants; bless everything that is well made or well constructed, advises King.

If you want greater prosperity, bless all signs of prosperity in your environment, including everything that money helped to make or do; all the money that you have in any form; and all the money that circulates in the world, King adds.

If you’d like to download a free copy of “The Aloha Spirit,” by Serge Kahili King, in which he further explains the power of focus and blessing, please see http://www.alohainternational.org/html/booklets.html.

Wishing you billions of shimmering blessings in the year ahead.

Namaste!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries

Whatever you’d like to see happen in your life in the year ahead, see it first in your mind’s eye. Creative visualization is a tool that is free, effective, and one of the best ways to work with your mind to create your reality. If you’re experienced with visualizations or have a creative imagination, picture what you want in your life. Add positive affirmations, feelings and emotion, and watch the picture unfold in your real life.

If you need a helping hand to imagine your best possible future, there are numerous tools available — guided meditations. Look on Amazon.com or iTunes for just the right creative visualization tape for you, one that will take you on a journey toward improved health and wellbeing.

Unlike traveling with the physical body, costs associated with a meditative journey are nominal. In fact, guided visualizations are the most practical, easily accessible self-help tools available.

Whether you listen to a soothing voice through your iPod as you undergo a medical treatment, or you doze off after listening to a relaxing meditation, you’ll find that giving directions to your unconscious can greatly help you to relieve tension and pain, assist in healing, as well as inspire you to achieve your goals.

By using words and images to directly contact your subconscious mind, which is in charge of our habits and beliefs, guided visualizations open a window of opportunity to screen out any interference from the critical chatter of the conscious mind.

Imagery has long been considered a healing tool in virtually all of the world’s cultures, and is now being recognized by major medical centers as helpful in relief of pain and stress.

For a sample creative visualization, listen to my free Chakra Meditation on the Meditations page of www.thechakras.org.

Namaste,

Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries

The secret of the Fountain of Youth is that you have to swim across it — it is the swimming, the exercise, that produces the youth. My yoga teacher was in her mid-70's when I first started classes 15 years ago and she still looks fit and healthy today. But if yoga isn't your choice for a New Year's resolution, search inside to find the type of exercise that you will enjoy and stick with, because exercise is as close to the Fountain of Youth that has ever been found.Whether you take a walk around the block to enjoy the fresh air, join a Zumba class for the social get-together and great music, or go roller-blading because it reminds you of the thrill of your first skates, every move will bring you closer to rejuvenation.


Exercise boosts wellness and youthfulness because it works on the cellular level, on the mitochondria -- where the body combines nutrients with oxygen to keep you going.

As we age, if our mitochondria dwindle and become less effective, our brains shrink, our  hair turns gray and falls out, it hurts to get out of our chairs. Well, science has proven that these changes are not inevitable. If you keep active, you may be able to offset much of this decline.

A medical researcher said, “The recipe for healthy aging is very simple, and that’s exercise. The problem is that most people find it a difficult recipe to follow.”

The secret is to find an exercise that you love to do. For instance, I live in Hawaii near a warm ocean pond because I love to swim whatever the weather, rain or shine. It makes me remember the childhood joy of going to the beach in summer and splashing in the waves, so I swim and snorkel as often as possible.

How can you find the right exercise that you will stick to? Let's try a short creative visualization... Take a few deep breaths to relax, then close your eyes and think back to an activity that was enjoyable, that was fun for you. Whatever it was, imagine a near-equivalent that you could do today. Imagine doing it, smiling, maybe even laughing with joy. Take a few deep breaths, wiggle your fingers to bring you back to the present moment, and now call a friend to invite them to join you in your new activity. Someone who will support you in your goal to get healthier and turn back the clock.

Tomorrow - another suggestion on my countdown to a Fabulous New Year!

Namaste,

Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries

www.thechakras.org

When you hear the word Yoga, what comes to mind? If you haven’t tried it, you may think of unusual, contorted postures or perhaps the opposite – simple stretching exercises that are now commonly used in almost every exercise or physical therapy regimen. But a true yoga practice is, in fact, a way to reach stillness, flexibility and physical calm so that one can ease into meditation and the many benefits it offers.

For over 5,000 years, people have been partaking  in this remarkable practice, and currently 11 million people in the US alone are experiencing dramatic health improvements from yoga and meditation.

Whatever your health goals in 2012, I truly believe you will see yoga help you achieve these:

• Stress relief
• Increased flexibility
• Improved posture
• Core strengthening
• Body Awareness
• Improved Mood
• Improved Concentration
• Lower Blood Pressure
• Reduced Back Pain
• Improved Sleep

The following days until New Year’s, I will offer additional health practices you may wish to explore in 2012!

Namaste!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries

www.thechakras.org

Prepare to welcome 2012 by focusing on completions of all kinds to end the year with a full energetic out breath. With a week left till the New Year, it's time to wipe the slate clean of all unfinished business, things that may be keeping you off balance, throwing you off your game.

These include communications, projects, even closet cleaning. Your incompletions might also consist of feelings you haven't expressed (throat chakra issues), appreciations you haven't delivered and acknowledgment of the many gifts you’ve been given this year (heart chakra issues).

Once you've completed old business, you'll be opening creative space for the New Year.

Watching the early pre-dawn sky today, a lovely waning moon rose with its bright white lower left crescent and the surprising addition of an arc of light cast up across the lower sphere of the moon. A lovely symbol of closure for 2011 ... with a suggestion of impending renewal and hope for promising changes ahead.

Here's to your new manifestations in the year ahead. To stay in balance, try listening to my 10-minute chakra meditation daily.

Namaste!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries
www.thechakras.org

Feeling the “holiday blues” – stressed out by all the shopping, or sad that you’re without your family or a relationship at this time? Disappointed by family fights or economic concerns? Now’s the time to show love and compassion toward yourself and others. The heart chakra is the seat of love and compassion. ‘Tis the season of forgiveness, the greatest gift you can give yourself, your family and friends. Use this HEART CHAKRA MEDITATION to move you toward this goal…

Breathe in and out a beautiful emerald green into the center of your chest, the home of the heart chakra, with love, joy and compassion for other people and yourself. Feel any tension blocking the flow here, shutting off or shutting out love. Any anger or fear is past, it can be healed. When you let it go, you’ll feel your true essence of love and joy. To send forgiveness, wrap those people who have caused you pain in the bright green light, cleansing and healing the situation. Release yourself and them from any negative connections, only keeping the good. Let go of anger to have space for love to grow. Now, with love and compassion, wrap yourself and your whole life experience in healing green light.

Spread the Love. Don’t expect a duplicate of an ideal holiday from years gone by. Create new traditions, fill your calendar with fun events and meet new people. Don’t wait for others to include you in their holiday parties – invite those who are without family to a potluck in your home instead.

Strengthen Your Mood through Movement and Music. Get exercise – yoga, walking, running – to beat depression, moving to music that uplifts you. Try getting at least 20 minutes of sunlight a day to fight any chemical causes (Vitamin D deficiency) for holiday funk. Exercise your mind too – read inspiring stories about those who have overcome adversity and succeeded. May I suggest The Chakra Diaries?

Express your Gratitude. Count your blessings, taking stock of all of the positives in your life. It will quickly cheer your mood. Ask yourself what you are most grateful for and to whom you are most grateful. Then tell them if you can.

Give of Yourself. Helping others is the best antidote to seasonal sadness and self-pity. Make someone else smile and, in the end, you’ll be the one smiling.

Namaste!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries

In this time of global financial insecurity, many are feeling unsafe and frightened. But it's possible to get to a place of gratitude for what we have that will attract more and more abundance of all kinds into our lives.

Earth energies are also in a period of change and affecting our chakra systems or energy centers. And it's time to move our thoughts regarding abundance from the Root Chakra's "survival" mode around money and connect it to the Heart Chakra's mode of love and gratitude.

The more we receive and appreciate abundance (whether in the form of money, love or health), the more we can contribute back to the world.

Open your Heart Chakra to abundance with this quick visualization -- after centering yourself with several deep breaths, visualize the energy of the universe pouring into your heart as you open your arms to receive it. See that energy travel down to the 1st Chakra, where there are roots grounding you into Mother Earth.

At this time of shifting earth energies, it's also a good daily exercise to balance all your chakras with a short healing meditation - try my free Chakra Meditation.

Namaste!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries

Amid all the festivities, it's estimated that a large percentage of us get the "holiday blues" - sadness and stress that can be hard to shake. Showing love and compassion toward ourselves and others can help beat the inevitable disappointments caused by social expectations, family dynamics and economic concerns.

The heart chakra is the seat of love and compassion. 'Tis the season of forgiveness, the greatest gift you can give yourself, your family and friends. Use this HEART CHAKRA MEDITATION to move you toward this goal...

Breathe in and out a beautiful emerald green into the center of your chest, the home of the heart chakra, with love, joy and compassion for other people and yourself. Feel any tension blocking the flow here, shutting off or shutting out love. Any anger or fear is past, it can be healed. When you let it go, you'll feel your true essence of love and joy. To send forgiveness, wrap those people who have caused you pain in the bright green light, cleansing and healing the situation. Release yourself and them from any negative connections, only keeping the good. Let go of anger to have space for love to grow. Now, with love and compassion, wrap yourself and your whole life experience in healing green light.

Spread the Love. Don't expect a duplicate of an ideal holiday from years gone by. Changes such as divorce, death of a loved one, or distance from family and friends can all cause depression. So create new traditions, fill your calendar with fun events and meet new people. Don't wait for others to include you in their holiday parties - invite those who are without family to a potluck in your home instead.

Strengthen Your Mood through Movement and Music. Get exercise - yoga, walking, running - to beat depression, moving to music that uplifts you. Try getting at least 20 minutes of sunlight a day to fight any chemical causes for holiday funk. Exercise your mind too - read inspiring stories about those who have overcome adversity and succeeded. May I suggest The Chakra Diaries?

Express your Gratitude. Count your blessings, taking stock of all of the positives in your life. It will quickly cheer your mood. Ask yourself what you are most grateful for and to whom you are most grateful. Then tell them if you can.

Give of Yourself. Helping others is the best antidote to seasonal sadness and self-pity. Volunteer at a local charity, homeless shelter, hospital or nursing home. Make someone else smile, and in the end, you'll be the one smiling.

The Dalai Lama recently wrote, "In my own experience, the highest level of inner calm comes from the development of love and compassion. The more concerned we are with the happiness of others, the more we increase our own well-being. Friendliness and warmth towards others allow us to relax and help us to dispel any sense of fear or insecurity so we can overcome whatever obstacles we face."

Namaste and Happy Holidays!
Becca Chopra, author of The Chakra Diaries