soul fitness coaching

Vision Boards, Soul Fitness Style

12/30/2020

I'm a big fan of making a Vision Board to start a new year. I find it sets a fresh tone and helps to shake off any residual negativity from the past twelve months.

I made my very first one in 2006, the year I lived in Hawaii.

I'd been collaging as a creative outlet since childhood but hadn't thought to focus the craft in an intentional way around manifesting my desires until the dots were connected for me on a rare cloudy day in Kona, when I accepted an invitation to cut up magazines and glue the findings haphazardly onto a piece of poster board with four other women, only one of whom I knew, and she only vaguely.

This is my board from that year:

I wanted to find true love, I wanted to share my life with a partner in a home we made beautiful, and I wanted to lead a healthy, peaceful life.

I never saw any of those women again, but many of those visions have, in good time, become realities in my life (note the little white dog near the top!) and I have done a Vision Board every single year since.

Funny how sometimes angels who show up in our lives for just a day can have a positive, lifelong impact.

Over the years, vision boarding has become an anchor for me, despite its abstract, sky's-the-limit inherent nature.

As a highly visual learner, I use my Vision Boards as a touchstone for generating and emphasizing the way I want to feel about the different areas of my life.

So long as I'm in tune with the vibration of my goals, I can trust my action steps to unfold naturally and easily.

I choose to begin every Vision Board session with some woo-woo, to clear the channels of communication between my conscious mind and my higher self.

A tarot reading, a guided meditation or two, some soft, uplifting music in the background. I used to light a candle and burn some incense, but since our overhaul last year to healthier alternatives in our home, I now diffuse essential oils instead.

I spend a brief moment reflecting on where my life is currently at, because while this isn't exactly a reflection exercise, you can't decide where to go if you aren't fully aware of where you already are. Then I ask myself what "ideal" looks like, and it's with those answers in mind that I browse through my pile of magazines, waiting for images and/or phrases to jump out at me, asking to be included.

And because I am a sucker for All Things Organization, I like to use a Feng Shui grid called a Begua Map as an invisible overlay for my Vision Board creation.

I find the guidance helpful, but it's definitely not necessary. (If you are already a vision boarder, it can be interesting to look back at past boards with this grid in mind, to see if any unexpected correlations appear.

While the point of creating a Vision Board remains consistent, my articulations have varied wildly over the years.

One year, I used a canvas as tall as I am.

One year, I used three smaller boards that I hung on my wall as a collection.

One year, I used fancy paper to frame everything I cut out and arranged it all like a gallery wall.

One year, I made a Vision Mobile that hung from a hook on the ceiling of my home office.

Some years, I collect pictures and phrases throughout the months, tucking them in a file folder labeled "Vision." Other years (most years,) I cut and collect everything the same day or week that I create the collage.

Sometimes, I leave blank spaces on my board to let the Universe have room for magic I haven't imagined yet. Sometimes, I am in no mood for surprises, and pack my board full to the brim.

Some years, I vision board with friends. Some years, I fly solo.

Historically, I plaster my completed board all over my social media, although in recent years I've felt my vision too delicate and sacred to subject it to other people's projected energy, so I have kept them private. For the past couple, I've found a happy medium.

The point is, no matter how you choose to honor your vision, you're doing it right.

All that really matters is you can conjure up the feelings you are aiming for when you see and study your finished product.

As for me, my 2021 Vision is so big, I don't even have a table that fits it all. This year, I chose to use four base panels, which means I had to spread out on the floor to create it.

This year is less about the literal things I want to do, see, and experience, and more about the way I plan to show up no matter what comes my way.

I said it last year and this year it's extra true: this moment in time, both in my personal life and in history as a whole, is a pendulum swing out of a dark season and into the dazzling light. It's sheer volume of potentiality, and it has me positively buzzing with gleeful anticipation.

All this life, ready to be lived.

It makes me so happy I could scream. Sometimes, I do.

I feel calmer, steadier, and definitely readier for adventure and growth than I have in absolutely ages.

I feel ready to build my business as a true reflection of my gifts, values, and personal mission.

I feel ready to use my voice, my energy, and my resources to make change for my clients and the world at large.

I feel ready to roll in financial abundance.

I feel ready to dance more, love bigger, and forgive relentlessly.

I feel ready to cultivate new friendships and gracefully release the dredges of the leftover stagnant energy.

I feel ready to travel to distant lands and interact with interesting strangers. Soon enough.

I feel ready to stretch myself energetically, physically, spiritually.

I feel ready to create, serve, organize, coach, and flourish.

I feel ready to publish my story, to share some truth, to answer some questions.

I feel ready for a few pleasant surprises.

I feel ready to step right into the sizzling spotlight of my 2021 vision.

All four panels of her.

These are the closet doors in my office.

What about YOU?

I'd love to hear what YOU'RE ready for in 2021 if you're willing to share.

Tell me, have you ever made a Vision Board?
If so, what kind of manifestations have you seen come to fruition because of it?
If not, are you willing to try one to kick off the new decade?

Remember, nothing changes if nothing changes.

I love you and I will see you soon!

xo,
Coach Alex

What about YOU?

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