If you don’t make space for it, how does the universe know you want it?

That’s the thing about creating goals and intentions that we often forget; we must make room in our lives in order for them to arrive.

When the nooks and crannies of our day-to-day are so full, and the thoughts in our heads are constantly spinning, and we are holding onto the past with a white-knuckle grip that won’t let go…how do we expect to get what it is that we are wanting? Because we clearly don’t have the space for it.

We are trained from a young age to take more and more on, but we aren’t taught how to let go of what we no longer need to carry.

It took me some time to learn this one—that slowing down, clearing, releasing, and allowing ourselves room to breathe helps us receive new things. It encourages our gorgeous minds to create fresh dreams and our big, beautiful hearts to shout, “Oh, yes I’d like that more.” Clearing out the old gives us space to create more and receive, which is the opposite of what our culture teaches.

Must have more things. Should always be multitasking. Need to be highly productive at all times. Must be engaged deeply in community continually. Layer after layer we pack ourselves until bursting.

The container of who we are becomes too full. We get burned out. We become stuck. We have breakdowns and get sick because of the stress of juggling it all (including our nagging, old internal demons). We are trying to keep up with all the commitments that make us a “good person” a “spiritual and healthy” individual, but what we are actually creating is the opposite. We are gripping so tightly onto the image of what we think life should look like that we are missing our honest desires for the life we truly dream.

Most of us crave peace, contentment, and success. However, we pile all these other things on top of that desire. We hope for self-love and an experience of feeling good about ourselves and our lives, but we choose the things that don’t support us to feel this way.

Ask the question, “Does being constantly filled up in our minds, our activities, and hung up on things that could be let go of, actually feel good?” “Is this what we want to bring into the new year that’s fast approaching?”

Maybe it is. And, if so, awesome. Embrace that as truth and run with it. If it authentically doesn’t feel good though, if you are feeling cloudy, confused, overwhelmed, and ungrounded, try something different. Slow down and begin to release. Make room for an alternative experience.

Many of us are afraid to slow down and discharge as we are concerned that if we do, we will lose momentum. Some of us (this used to be me) are terrified of taking a break as we don’t have faith we will get back up again.

I have to share something: if it’s your heartfelt intention and you truly want it, you will get back up and go for it. Our true desires have a magnetism all of their own. Trust that it is okay to pace yourself. Understand that in order to get ahead and be healthy in mind, body, and spirit, we need time to process and release as we go.

So here’s a practical exercise on how to make room for what you truly want in 2020:

>> Sit down and grab a pen and paper. Write down what isn’t serving you in your life, thought patterns, relationships, and habits.

>> Pause with this list. Really allow yourself to accept that it might be time to let these things go.

>> Send yourself love and compassion. Releasing can feel scary at first.

>> Next to each thing that isn’t serving you, write down what would serve you better to take its place.

>> Breathe.

>> Understand that you are releasing these old attachments because you need room for what is in alignment with who you are today and your future, not your past.

>> Choose one thing on this list and make a conscious effort to do, think, and be the thing that serves you better this week, instead of the one that does not.

>> Next week, choose another item on your list.

Make time once a day to sit with your intentions for what you’d like to release and of what you truly want to create room for. Try doing this for five minutes every day leading up to 2020. When you are doing this daily practice, imagine the feeling of that old, tight stuff melting right out of your body.

I bet your vision becomes clearer and more expansive with this practice. By pausing for five minutes every day, you sit with your breath. Exhale out through your mouth, releasing what you no longer need. This tells your body, your heart, and the universe that you are ready for more.

Build your faith in the practice of pausing and releasing (basic meditation). What doesn’t fit for you anymore is okay to let go of. You are not serving anyone by holding on to what used to be your reality, and whatever you release will be renewed to its own journey once more.

Allow yourself the gift in this last month of the year of creating space for the new. And if you feel shaky doing this, remember there’s an endless well of love inside you. You will not be less by slowing down to release, you will actually feel and be able to create so much more.

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