Many people talk about resolutions at this time of year. Some people want to lose a few pounds, others want to spend more time with family; some plan on learning a language or finally reading the backlog of books which have been recommended to them. But the origins of the word ‘resolution’ go much deeper.
The word comes from the Latin ‘resolvere’, which means to loosen, release or explain and was later used in Middle-Ages France to mean ‘break into parts’ (which is why we use it to describe the number of pixels in an image today).
So what can these origins tell us about how to think about our resolutions?
Resolve can make us think about a firm promise, something defined like a goal to exercise more, but the actual meaning of resolution also means to loosen. Perhaps it is only by giving things space, light and relaxing into things that we can help ourselves. Sometimes we can do this with our thoughts, through conversations with others and through self-education, but this does not always work.
At other times, in order to not only loosen things but to provide a release, we don’t need to talk it through to feel lighter nor do we have to re-live difficult emotions consciously or subconsciously, instead we need to trust that through Reiki the healing energy will go to where it is needed and will rebalance where it is needed, and at the speed this is needed at.
When we undertake resolutions we can often imagine ourselves as a simple version of a person. We think to mid-January and imagine a new and improved version of ‘me’ who can jump out of bed, go for a run, make breakfast and do all the chores before most people would have brushed their teeth. But this often doesn’t work because the person we are imagining is not our true self. Resolutions often overly focus on the body and the superficial things in life. If we think instead about how we can ‘break into parts’ who we are, we find something deeper, and from these parts we can form a fuller picture.
As a wise person once said, ‘we are not our body, we have a body’. Through Reiki we can take time to give to our true self. This helps use nurture our complex and beautiful sense of self, which is where we can draw our perseverance, strength and true confidence from.
So why not try this year to re-think your resolutions and to give yourself the gifts of Reiki, to help you focus on the important things, to look after your inner self and to find release.