“What’s your word for the year?” asked my last client of 2019 as we were wrapping up her session.
“Word?”
“My word for 2020 is going to be commit. Last year it was expansion. Whew! I’ve learned to be careful what I ask for.” she answered as she put on her coat, gave me a hug, and walked out the door.
“What is this word thing anyway?” as I turned out the lights to my office and headed out. This client wasn’t the first person who had mentioned it to me. When I got home, I googled and discovered that the idea of choosing just one word as your intention for the year is definitely a thing. Apparently it’s been around for 10 years or so, judging from this site One Word 365. Setting New Year’s resolutions had never worked well for me and I liked the idea of choosing one word I could focus on every day, all year long.
As I was about to embark on a new decade, as well as a new year, I thought about the word that would best capture my dreams and aspirations. The first word to pop up was freedom. Yes, free to be myself, free to explore, free to learn and grow. And then another word popped up: magic! Right alongside of magic came wonder. I knew I was supposed to choose just one word, but I’ve never been that great at following rules. It just felt right to invite all three - freedom, magic, and wonder - into my life in this new year.
It was my first day back in the office in the new year. As we were chatting about our holidays, my client said she and her husband did something different while in Cancun.
“We had a tea leaf reading. The reader was a lovely 80-year old woman.” she shared.
“Wow, I’m surprised your husband would go for that” I replied.
“It was his idea” she laughed. “It was actually fun and quite interesting. She recommended a book for me to read. I think you’d enjoy it, too. It’s called Into the Magic Shop.”
There was my word… magic. I had only been focusing on it for a few days, and already I was being introduced to a guide of sorts. So I downloaded the audiobook written by James Doty. Doty is a neurosurgeon who learned a set of magic tricks at the age of twelve that enabled him to overcome a wretched childhood, become a brain surgeon, amass a fortune, and collaborate with the Dalai Lama. The magic that Doty learned didn’t involve card or hat tricks. It wasn’t sleight of hand. It wasn’t Harry Potter waving his wand and chanting “expelliarmis”.
It was the summer of 1968 when Doty wandered into a magic shop and met a woman named Ruth. Ruth saw a spark in the 12-year old kid and offered to teach him magic that she promised would enable him to create anything he wanted. Over the course of six weeks, Ruth taught Doty four magic tricks:
Trick #1: Relax your body
Trick #2: Quiet your mind
Trick #3: Open your heart
Trick #4: Clarify your intention
These days, we call these magic tricks meditation or mindfulness exercises. Doesn’t that bring up an image of someone sitting in a chair, doing nothing interesting? Back in 1968, not many people had heard of meditation. In 2020, lots of people think they should meditate, but aren’t sure why or know how. Invoking magic, however, conjures up the wonder and true power of these rather simple practices.
These tricks aren’t new to me. I have practiced them off and on over the years, though never with Doty’s single-minded focus. His story has inspired me to renew my practice and commitment. As I have especially struggled with #2: quieting my busy mind, I’ve adopted Ruth’s suggestion to use a mantra, a word or phrase, that you repeat over and over in your mind. If you think the mantra long enough, eventually your mind will quiet down. Guess what mantra I’m using?
Freedom * Magic * Wonder * Freedom * Magic * Wonder …
By the way, if you’d like to brush up on your magic tricks, my friend, Claudia, is teaching a 4-week meditation class, beginning Thursday, January 30. Early bird special ends 1/19. Go to Sun Breath Yoga, and click on Workshop & Events to learn more and register.