How to create a more pleasurable 2014

Last weekend my friend and fellow health coach, Stephanie Jackson, and I hosted a "reconnect with you" retreat. It was filled with incredible women who wanted to connect with others, slow down, and reflect on their own lives for 2014. One of the things we talked about was what we wanted 2014 to mean to us. Not goals, exactly, but how we actually want to FEEL in 2014, and then to create an intention around that. Instead of running around constantly doing everything for everyone else -- filling our calendars with a thousand Things To Do, missing a soulful connection to ourselves -- we would try to find ways to live our lives awake, engaged, and fulfilled.

How to transform intentions into reality

Wanna do this for yourself? Here's a great way to start. Reflect on the feelings you'd like to have in 2014, then hone in on one or two. From there, create intentions around those feelings. Here are the questions we asked our retreat participants...if you fulfilled these intentions:

• What would your life look like?
• What would your life feel like?
• What would your life taste, smell, and sound like?

Infusing intentions with all of your senses enables you to be more awake, and to more effectively create what you desire.  Creating a cinematic impression in your mind has powerful repercussions.

As I reflected on my last couple of years, I realized I'd like to feel more pleasure. I want more adventure and fun in my daily doings! Life is cyclical, and for me, the last couple of years have been a time of nose-to-grindstone -- building, remodeling, coping, honing. And while it certainly hasn't been a bad thing, when I came up for air I could see that my overall wellness was lacking. I was feeling that "Groundhog Day" feeling all too often, and it was beginning to wear me down.

For me, 2014 is going to be about finding ways to make daily life more pleasurable. It doesn't have to be big things...it could just be having a dance party with my kiddos, going on a hike with my husband (which I sorely miss), spending an extra 10 minutes soaking in the bathtub with a trashy magazine, exploring new trails in my community. You get the idea.

So what about you? What would you like to feel in 2014? More joy? More grounding energy? More love? Do you want to feel sexy? Adventurous? The list goes on. I hope you find a few minutes to sit and reflect on this, so your 2014 can be lived a bit more soulfully and meaningfully.