Rachel MacDonald

“I am here to seduce you into a love of life; to help you to become a little more poetic; to help you die to the mundane and to the ordinary so that the extraordinary explodes in your life.” ~ Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh

We’re not far into a new season (and where I live, that means Spring, glorious Spring!) and with the seeds of change comes the desire for newness. New opportunities, sparkling new energy, nourishing new thoughts and habits, and new daydreams to light a fire within us.

I’m a huge advocate of conducting life reviews at regular intervals throughout the year to take stock of where we’re at, where we want to be and most importantly, how we want to feel. These reviews often reveal to us the dreams and desires that sit in the corners of our souls gathering dust, and always help to bring to light the YOU inside that’s been pushed aside because of a demanding schedule, lack of time or lack of motivation.

Thinking back to January, the dawn of a new year, ripe with possibility, what was your big dream for 2011? Have you achieved it yet, or do you need a little push to get from here to there? Are there new goals you want to accomplish before the year is out? Yes yes and yes? Then listen up, because you’re going to LOVE the In Spaces Between Life Reset!

What we’ll be doing

Quite simply, taking emphatic action! This Life Reset is about holding a magnifying glass up to your life as it is right now and making subtle or big (scary) changes to your personal universe through the following:

1. Review

Grab a pen and a notepad and start writing. Think about the goals you set in January – do they still resonate with you? Is it time to release some of these goals, or refocus on the ones you haven’t yet achieved? Write down a list of three things you’d like to accomplish over the duration of the Life Reset. Three goals in three weeks is a totally achieveable so choose the ones that fit best – big or small. You might like to:

• Increase your exercise
• Cut out sugar
• Take a break from alcohol
• Take on a creative project like snapping a photo a day or scrawling your thoughts in a journal
• Get up an hour earlier to soak in the sunrise and gift yourself with some healing time for ‘you’
• Read more books
• Keep a daily gratitude list
• Meditate every night

It’s totally up to you – you’ll know what aligns best with your ‘big dreams’ so get loose and go wild with that juicy pen!

2. Rest

Give your body a break over the next 21 days. Slow down, retreat a little, shift your energy away from external influences and instead point it inwards. This is a time of reflection – on what you, right now, at this juncture of your life, love doing and feel nourished by. Give that stuff the room it needs to percolate its way to the top.

3. Rejoice

Why are we doing this reset? To feel freakin’ amazing, that’s why! Over the next three weeks, make a conscious effort to do the things that fill you with unbridled pleasure. If running is your thing, then run girlfriend, run! If baking cupcakes for co-workers brings you joy, whip out that apron, or if reading speaks to your spirit, get thee to the bookstore or library and pile those tomes up high.

I’m so excited to think how refreshed and revitalised I’m going to feel come Sunday 9 October!

What will my Life Reset entail? Read on below for my action lists, broken into the challenging stuff and the heart-opening, soul-supporting stuff.

The Challenging Stuff

1. Three week detox: Starting today, I’ll be following the Clean Program by holistic doctor Alejandro Junger (and I’ll be providing you with updates on my progress, because if you’re anywhere near as curious as I am, you’ll be dying to know what the program is like!)

The challenging bit: As far as meals go, I like to think I eat well and have a firm grasp on nutrition and what I need to function properly, but when it comes to my afternoon snack, I’ve got a dirty little sweet habit that trips me up – often – and I’m over it. Well and truly. I want to get to a place where I can either take the sweet stuff (mainly chocolate) or leave it. This is a big goal for me and I must admit that completely eliminating sweets for 21 days kind of terrifies me! In the best, most terrifically exciting way.

Fear is an incredible motivator, and is also a big shining beacon of light exposing the things we really need to shift or work on, so I’ll definitely be listening to that fear. I’m anticipating that the no sugar thing will bring up all my resistance and there will be moments of weakness where I’ll feel like throwing in the towel, but I’ve promised myself I’ll grit my teeth and work my way through the emotions. You heard it here first! Hey-yah!

2. Three day juice cleanse: In between my detox (from Wednesday to Friday this week) I’ll be doing an Urban Remedy juice and soup cleanse, which I’m super excited about and will be reviewing for you right here on the blog.

The challenging bit: Um, not eating solid food for three days… and not being able to reward myself with a big, satisfying meal after I finish the cleanse as I’ll be going right back to the Clean program. Glutton for punishment, say what?!

3. Writing: For In Spaces Between and in a journal for myself. I’m committing to ‘writing it out’ when thoughts pop up that need to be examined and processed, which will no doubt happen – detoxing isn’t just about cleansing the body, it’s about clearing toxic thoughts, old stories and beliefs that no longer serve us.

I also want to spend the time looking a little deeper into myself and the best way to make sense of my thought patterns is to get pen to paper. I want to peer inside my soul and release – release pressures, expectations (of myself and others), self-doubts, defeatist attitudes – basically any of the residual stuff that’s hanging around unwanted. My goal is to write one page a day of ‘my thoughts’ (not for public consumption!)

The challenging bit: finding the time for free writing and waging the battle in my head that will no doubt tell me that if I’m writing, I should be blogging. Which I know isn’t true (that’s just my ego talking) Free flowing creative practice is so important and should be viewed as a necessity not a luxury.

The Heart-opening, Soul-supporting Stuff

1. Five minutes of meditation every day – five minutes I can absolutely do and I know it will make a difference! I’m also going to list five things I’m grateful for at the end of each day before I drift off to sleep.

2. Daily exercise – I’ll be focusing on pilates and walking, with a few up-tempo sessions mixed in.

3. Disconnecting – I’m going to take some time off the computer when I feel I need to. Not sure when this will happen, I’ll just listen to my body and wait for the signal!

4. Connecting – with friends, family and my love. Quality time, deep conversations, hugs, kisses, appreciation.

“We are often tired and imbalanced not because we are doing too much, but because we are doing too little of what is most real and meaningful.” ~ Marianne Williamson

I want to finish by saying this…

The time is NOW! Let’s get real about living the life of our dreams right this very second! You have the time to do what you want to feel fulfilled, so peel back the layers to find what’s really burning inside you – those pearls of desire tied to a string around your soul. You have everything you need to make positive change, so don’t put off your happiness and your sense of fulfillment any longer. Reboot and rejuvenate! I’m 100 million % commited to increasing my energy through deliberate action, and I truly hope you’ll be joining me along the way!

+ So, how does all that sound to you? Let me know in the comments if you’ll be joining the tribe for the In Spaces Between Life Reset and what three things (could be more, could be less) you’re going to zero in on. I can’t wait to hear about what part/s of your life you plan on transforming!

Massive love to you all xx

Image: 1. Sf Girl by Bay 2. Little Things Studio on Etsy

Posted on: 19 September, 2011 | Filed under Inspiration // Empowerment | 22 Comments | ADD YOURS
Tags: life reset