10 Tips for Making a Positive Change Now by Cate

Right NOW -- this weekend -- is a great time to make a positive change. It will be the New Moon in Taurus. As we learn in the teachings of Kundalini Yoga, the New Moon is always a powerful time to set a new intention. With this New Moon, the energy of Taurus  supports lasting change. You can think of yourself as the bull -- determined and grounded in strength and confidence. 

Are you thinking of making a change? Do you want to eat better? Move more? Wake earlier? Drop a bad habit?  Shed a self-limiting or hurtful thought? Then, let's start NOW. If you've been considering a positive lifestyle change, start NOW. Give yourself every advantage. 

I've put together a list of 10 tips (which includes seizing the opportunity of the New Moon in Taurus) for giving yourself the advantage and anticipating and helping yourself through some of  the challenges of change because change can be tricky. Before I get to the tips, let's look at why it isn't always easy to step into new good habits.

No matter how much we want to step into a positive future full of good habits, our old patterning may threaten to overpower our positive intentions. Old patterning gets in the way in the form of discomfort. For example, you can imagine that you may feel off if... 

• ...you're used to plowing through a sleeve of cookies when stressed but instead you try to focus on your breath. 
• ...you're used to falling asleep in front of the TV but instead you lie in bed, scan the body for tension to release, and then wait for sleep to come. 
• ...you're used to hitting snooze a bunch of times and crawling to the kitchen for coffee but instead you try to get right out of bed, splash cold water on your face and sit in meditation. 

We are wired to relieve discomfort, not ride it out. This doesn't mean we are bad or unable to create a new habit. It just means we're human, and we need to help ourselves in our human tendencies. If we anticipate these tendencies and use helpful practices to deal with them, we can indeed get to other side of discomfort.  Tips for that are coming.
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In addition to the old patterns, we also have the constant chatter in our minds that can knock us off course. At times, many of us are flooded with unhelpful and distracting thoughts. Our minds can throw us off track. For example... 

• In the midst of a 40-day practice, you might think, "Well, I've gone for 22 days. That's a lot. That's got to be enough. What do they want from me?"  
• If we're endeavoring to eat more whole foods and less processed junk, you might think, "This isn't fair. Other people get to eat junk. I deserve treats too."
• A reminder goes off on your phone that it's time to go to yoga class. You might think, "But there are bills and dishes piling up. That's more important. Yoga is a luxury." 

We have to deal with our chatty, chatty, chatty minds who may get even chattier when we have made a decision to do things differently. We can observe these thoughts and not be upset. We can say to ourselves. "That's just the mind doing it's thing. I don't have to listen." Again it's about anticipating and using tools to support ourselves through the storms of the mind, with those lightning streaks of sabotage. 

Kundalini Yoga has a plethora of techniques for overcoming the tricks of the mind and the entrenchment in old patterns. I've put together a list of them below with a couple other things thrown in. Pick the tips that appeal to you; pick the ones that you feel will nourish you and carry you through. But, for goodness' sake, support yourself. Spoil yourself with support! You deserve it! 

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1. Start on the New Moon. Give yourself an awesome launch. As we mentioned above, the New Moon is the time to plant the seeds of intention and this New Moon in Taurus is an especially auspicious occasion, so why not take advantage of that? You can create a ritual around the New Moon and officially begin your efforts to change -- go outside, breathe her in, tell her your intention (For example, "I will rise early every morning to meditate."), light a candle and say a prayer, sage your home, or find your own way to honor this energy and yourself for taking a positive step. Or, if you're in or around Montclair, NJ, you can join us for our New Moon Gong Bath on Sunday, May 5. Our dear Gong Master, Manush Baldr will create the ritual for you: sharing, meditation, and a long healing gong bath. Click here to register and join us. ​Yogi Bhajan, the master who first taught Kundalini Yoga in the West, advised us to follow the cycle of the moon. He said, "Anyone who takes the phase of the Moon under consideration in any spiritual operation will have nothing but success." We honor the cycle of the moon each month at MKY, setting intentions on the New  Moon and releasing whatever doesn't serve us on the Full Moon. 
2. Breathe. Breathing is a magnificent tool for dealing with change. You can shift your emotional state by lengthening your breath. In a moment of challenge with change, focus on your beautiful breath: Count 10 deep, nourishing breaths in and out of your nose. I came across this quote today: "Your breath is the remote control for your mind." Change the channel whenever you need to. 
3. Chant a Mantra. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Mantra is one of the easiest-to-use and effective tools for dealing with a turbulent mind. Chanting mantra works because it allows us to shift our attention to something sacred. The mantra that I choose for managing the internal turbulence of change is Sa Ta Na Ma. It is the mantra of the cycle of life. Sa means Infinity, Ta means Life, Na means transformation, and Ma means rebirth.  You can chant along with this beautiful version by Mirabai Ceiba. Play it in your car, when you're cooking dinner, or just take a mid-day chanting break and sing along. You can also read about another technique with this mantra in our blog Sa Ta Na Ma: My Comforting Guide, by our dear teacher Kathy Livingston. 
4. Do Ego Eradicator & Then Visualize. I've been reading up lately on the power of envisioning what we want. If you're interested in the research and theory behind this, Google Dr. Joe Dispenza. His whole thing is that if we can hold a positive vision and believe in that vision -- truly believe -- it can come to fruition. In order to truly believe, we have to be in an amplified state so that the new belief overcomes old patterning. For example, if someone has believed their whole life  that they are not disciplined, replacing that belief with, "I can follow through on meditating every day for 40 days" is easier said than done. Dispenza recommends using a breath practice to amplify your internal state so the conditions under which the new belief plants its seeds are more intense than all the years of patterning that came before. Then you begin to meditate on the new belief: "I have the ability, competence, motivation, and discipline to complete a 40 day practice (insert your desired change)." So, here's a Kundalini spin on that... Practice Ego Eradicator for 3-5 minutes. After 3-5 minutes, sit in meditation, bring to mind the change you're wishing to make and see it in your mind's eye as made. See yourself with this change under your belt. Done. How does your life look? How do you look? Believe in that vision and hold that belief: "I have the ability, competence, motivation, and discipline to... " Continue this meditation as long as possible. (If you'd like instruction on go eradicator, you can watch this video.) 
5. Listen to a Shabd. A shabd is a longer mantra. The shabd that I think would be most supportive of change is Dhan Dhan Ram Das Guru. It calls on the energy of miracles and is said to make the impossible possible. You could learn this shabd and chant it, but you could also just play it and listen to it in your home and your car and allow the sounds to lift you up. Let the music bring your environment into alignment with your desires. Go here for the words, the translation, and a link to my favorite version of it.  
6. Read Uplifting Works. Take in the words that will pave the way, clear the path for a positive change and stay away from negative stuff that could pull you down. Here are some of my picks right now: You Are the Placebo by Dr. Joe Dispenza, Ask and It is Given by Esther & Jerry Hicks,  The Essential Kundalini Yoga by Karena Virginia, and Invincible Living by Guru Jagat. 
7. Journal. Reflecting in a journal as you ride the waves of change is such a gift to yourself. You can review your progress and understand your process. Treat yourself to a new beautiful journal. Get colorful pens and stickers if that does it for you, and write. Free write everyday. Let the Truth pour out. 
8. Use an App. Our phones are part of our reality. We might as well use them to steer us toward positive habits. ​You can use an app to track yourself and keep yourself honest. For a commitment to a 40 day practice, I like Sadhana Tracker. There are many habit making and breaking apps to choose from, like Done: A Simple Habit Tracker and Strides. 
9. Meditate. Any meditation will help you with change (and will also help you with every other aspect of your life). But this one -- Meditation to Conquer Self-Animosity -- is particularly helpful in dealing with self-sabotage. You can do it for just 3 minutes. Here's how to do it: ​​ 1) Sit tall with the chin pulled in toward the throat; 2) relax the arms at the sides , bring the hands into fists and point the thumbs start up to the sky;  press the fists together so that the knuckles and the sides of the thumbs are tou ching; hold the hands just below the chest; 3) direct the eyes down and in at the tip of the nose; 4) inhale through the nose and  exhale through the mouth; then inhale through the mouth and exhale through the nose; 5) continue with this pattern for 3 minutes. 
10. Have Reminders. Keep inspiring items around that remind you of your commitment to yourself. It could be magnets on your frig with inspiring quotes. It could be a special keychain. I had fun scrolling through spiritual keychains on Etsy. Or it could be Syd...

 Don't know who Syd is? Well, he's this super chipper Buddha who believes in you, believes in your vision and your ability to change. You can tell that he's saying, "You've got this. I love you." At MKY, we have a special connection to Syd because his creator is our dear friend and student, Ellen Atkins, aka the Suburban Monk. We are a proud Suburban Monk affiliate. You can click here to see all 14 colors of Little Syd, meet Big Syd, find out a little bit of how he came to be, and purchase a Syd for yourself and for your change.  

I hope these ideas serve you as you move closer and closer to a vision of your life that is the most expansive and joyful and aligned. Happy New Moon! Happy Change! 

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