New beginnings

Our lives are full of opportunities to start over.  However, sometimes it feels easier than others. Sometimes there is a feeling in the air that might simply motivate you to make a change, or something happens that causes you to make changes. At other times it can feel like there are huge obstacles to prevent us from being able to make a change.

It can be incredibly frustrating to know what and how things need to be different. It can also be hard to stay present when you have the intention, motivation, and desire to change.

This time of year, with the energy of the earth increasing, can be a good time to effect change. But rising energy and the thought of change can equally be unsettling.

New beginnings can be terrifying to some and exciting to others. It is your perception of change that can be key to how you deal with change. Could change be more acceptable if you considered that the ending of something means the start of something new? The phrase "as one door closes, another one opens" is all about finding hope and possibilities in change or disappointment. If one "door" or opportunity has closed or become unavailable, the phrase suggests that another will soon become available.

Very often we are stuck in our ways of doing things. It might be the people we connect with or the places we go. It may be that you are unable to move forward because we are too attached and too comfortable with how things are. This stagnates our growth. You need to be able to release and let go to be able to expand and bloom.

The five spiritual faiths that can help with change

Buddha taught that five qualities can bring balance into your life. When considering making changes, it is important to consider them. They provide guidance and support to help bring about inner freedom and change.

1. Faith – This involves trust, clarity, and confidence. Faith is essential in making a change. If you do not believe in the possibility of a positive outcome, you will never begin because doubt overwhelms you and stops you before you even start.

2. Effort – sometimes referred to as energy. There are three kinds of effort.

   1. effort that comes from faith - if you have no faith you won't be able to take the initial movement towards change.

   2. perseverance – that comes during the hard times that inevitably happen when you are working with change.

   3. the effort that arises from the momentum of the effort itself as you engage with something you believe in.

   4. It may be helpful to realise effort in each of these forms and cultivate them consciously. Often when you are trying to make a change, initially it can seem as though nothing appears to be working. In this case, the only positive thing you can find to focus on is that you're trying.

3. Being mindful - the practice of mindfulness is a specific form of meditation. You can cultivate Vipassana or insight meditation in your life by keeping your mind focused on your experience in the moment it is happening. Before you add your reactions and feelings to it.

4. Concentration - concentration strengthens the intensity of effort. It provides a continuous connection to your intention. It is necessary for perseverance. Imagine trying to start a fire by rubbing two sticks together. If you start and stop, you won’t ever be able to create fire. This method needs constant and consistent action and concentration for a spark. This is the same as any project. If you lose focus you will lose momentum. It is this momentum that keeps you going through the difficult periods of change.

5. Wisdom - wisdom allows you to direct your movement toward change and alter the course when you realise that your goal was incorrect or that the way you are going about making change is not appropriate.

Each of these qualities is interrelated and builds upon one another. Faith allows you to initiate change in your life. The actual moving towards change requires effort and you need to concentrate on that effort to keep going – this requires perseverance. Then to understand everything that is happening you need to be mindful. When these five qualities come together, they allow you to change in healthy and wholesome ways. This is invaluable, especially when you're trying to make difficult life changes.

Cultivating each of these qualities is important. They are spiritual characteristics that need to be treated with respect.

Using the tools of yoga and meditation to help

Meditation is the perfect practice to turn to when faced with the impatient buoyant and vibrant energy of springtime. It is a particular tool to use when you want to focus on setting intentions for new beginnings. It also helps that integrity, authenticity, and meaningfulness to your plans.

Meditation helps you to remain present. It enables you to notice your thoughts casting back or projecting forward. It encourages you to bring your thoughts back to the here and now.

To meditate you don't need to be in any special position, you just need to find some stillness and quietness. To feel the body resting down on its support. You can close your eyes if you want and simply start to notice your breath moving in and out, or a place in your body, or a sound, a base from which to anchor. Then if the mind starts to wander you just bring it back to the anchor. This helps to foster that sense of concentration and perseverance. You don’t have to start with long periods either.

Change doesn't have to be big; it doesn't have to be momentous. Small steps will enable you to make mindful changes, with faith. Small steps are easier to concentrate on and to keep going with. This makes the effort smaller and more achievable which ultimately enables you to preserve. Small steps are easy to reflect on too and will mean that you haven’t gone too far off course when your wisdom realises you have taken the wrong route or that your goal isn’t the correct one.

What small change or step would help you realise your dream?