This week, after Chanukah, between Christmas, during Kwanza, and before the New Year begins, I recommend taking some time to renew and recharge the soul.  We have filled our bodies with great food and drink.  Many of us have filled our relationships with connections, gatherings, phone calls, emails and even holiday greeting cards.  Now, let’s take time to be mindful and spiritual, to bring in the New Year peacefully and mindfully.

Here are some soul renewal techniques that I am taking time to practice this week – you might like them, too.

1 – I am taking time to meditate and pray.
2 – In opening a place for God in the midst of silence, I take time to listen.
3 – When I am in the Presence of God, I take time to confide in Him, by sharing my appreciation for my life, admitting mistakes, and confessing sins and regrets.
4 – I imagine (or “image-in”) God holding me in the palm of His infinite hands, caring for me, and loving me, just the way I am.  I allow the feeling of grace and forgiveness from Him into the core of my being.
5 – I take a few deep breaths and renew and energize my physical body with the air of life.
6 – I make a conscious effort to see and appreciate the good aspects of myself, and of others.
7 – Surrounding myself with pictures, sounds, and real experiences of beauty, I allow the nourishment of God’s majestic aesthetics to come into my senses.
8 – I follow the encouragement of the Apostle Paul, and make an effort to pray continually.  Sometimes it’s just whispering a prayer: “Thank you God,” or “I am,” other times I recite an ancient prayer called the Jesus Prayer, other times I chant “God is love, God is here, now.”
9 – During this “between week,” I reach out to family and friends, making time for them, and putting less important things aside for later.
10 – I remind myself that even though I am limited, and I am not perfect, my soul is a gift from God and is a likeness of God within me, therefore, I have always been with God and always will be – safe, sound, and infinitely loved.

I wish you great tidings of joy, and a wonderful soul-filled and beautiful New Year.

Make my year, please!  WRITE A COMMENT ABOUT HOW YOU ARE NOURISHING YOUR SOUL TODAY.

***** Join me right here on Beliefnet.com, January 4th for a whole new concept in self-care and renewal: lose weight by helping others.*****

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