668: The Gorgeous Satisfying Way to Open A Year

Darlings, darlings, darlings. Welcome to the new year. Welcome to 2022. Doesn't that sound like a. Like a space age, you know, year you see in a novel sometime 20 years ago? 2022, if you're old enough to remember. 2022 sounds like we would all be flying around, you know, the moon and yes, we'd have flying cars. Everything, Every disease would be cured by now. Yeah. Wow. 2022. And here I am in my 18th year, 18th season of this show, which is ridiculous. I mean, it's just crazy. I was actually online earlier today and I was, you know, joining this group of female podcasters, and they asked for information, like, how long have you been doing this? And I said, well, ooh, 18 seasons. Oh, 668 episodes. And I just felt like the whale in the group, you know, like, oh, wow, how old are you? 79. Like, no, no, not quite. Not quite. Anyway, welcome to 2022. We have new and big things ahead of us. We have a future to program. We have lives to figure out and grow and shake loose a years of icky debris. We have things to plant in the ground and help flourish. We have new directions to take. So we're going to talk about all of that, especially that fresh infusion of life that I just want you to feel for a moment as we welcome in the old 2022 Flow Dreaming. It's a show where we talk about the power of your mind to change your world around you, to literally affect the fabric of your reality. We talk about this feeling of hope and joy and relief. And that is what being aware of your Flow does. It gives you a feeling of power again in your lives. Breathe. I'm Summer McStravik and welcome, welcome to another episode of Flow Dreaming. And as I was saying. Hey, Happy New Year, everyone. I hope you're shaking your head awake. Maybe you stayed up past midnight, maybe you didn't. Maybe you were at the crowd. Maybe you were still tucked home in bed, not letting anybody open the door to your house. It is a crazy time. It is still a crazy time. And two crazy years later, I cannot believe I'm still acknowledging such a crazy time. But here, hear me this. I feel the winds of change. I've been feeling them for months now. Even before the latest wave of the virus hit, I've been feeling them. There is something that has happened to all of us worldwide, and it's still happening to some of us worldwide. Some of us are moving more into it. Some of us are coming out the tail end out of it. But that something is this massive reevaluation. It is a humanity stop and check checkpoint. It's where we all have to open our purses. You know, as we go through the metal scanner of life and someone says, are you sure you want to be doing this? Do you really want to bring this? And you're like, yes, yes, we have been. We've all collectively looked inside and made some decisions, and a lot of us are just sitting here waiting on those decisions. Like, when do I get to really barrel out with them, bust out with them? And, you know, like I've been saying in the last few shows, we all kind of creep out at our own speed. Every bear in the forest does not wake up on the same day from hibernation. Now, one little bear wakes up another little bear. There's always a last bear to wake up. There's always a first bear to wake up. There's a whole bunch somewhere kind of in the middle. And it doesn't really matter where you are on that. You're going to wake up. That's the point. You've either already or you're going to. And if 2022, if this is the year where you gulp that fresh air and sunshine and clear spring day and you say hibernation's over, I really want you to be able to look at something that you've been dreaming about, thinking about, making about. I mean, we've had an unprecedented time to strengthen ourselves inside, to grow some new skills and abilities. And maybe those skills are outrageous and gorgeous skills. You're like, yes, I completed my online degree. Oh, yes. I got certified in this new healing practitioner program. Maybe. Maybe, though, it wasn't anything spectacular like that. Maybe it was. Yeah, I learned how to deal with crippling depression. And somehow I got myself through it. It all counts. Like, it all counts. So here you are and you're saying, what am I gonna do with this? Who am I going to become? That is what I want us to be thinking about today as we leap into this new year. Now, chances are you're probably not listening to this in 2023 or 2024 because it specifically is a New Year's show. But if you are, same deal, like, same thing goes every year. You can reset the clock, you can reset the wheel, you can get going again. And that's why people do all their New Year's resolutions. And, yeah, blah, blah, blah. We know that. But what I'm talking about is something deeper. I'm talking about an energetic shift. I'm talking about looking back to the last year or two years, saying, what was I able to cultivate inside myself? How much inner growth did I experience? Did I challenge myself with. And again, this doesn't have to be some stellar A report card, right? It could just be I discover that I have depression, or I discover that I have a health challenge, or, you know, I barely made it through my day and I had to figure out how to deal with the lack of social life around me. You went through that. You learned through that. Whatever it was, you are different. You have been challenged, and you hopefully have found some new bits and pieces out about yourself as a result. It all chalks up to a win. And I want you to feel that. I want you to think about that. It's been a win. The harder things were, the more of a win you could have chalked up. So what was your win like? What was your win the last couple of years? That is what you're bringing right now as you face forward and you walk out of your little tree. Mr. Bear, Ms. Bear. And you look at the year ahead and say, now what? Now? This is where a lot of us are scratching our heads. We're like, how the hell do I know, Summer? Now what? I don't know. Everything changed. My priorities changed, my life changed. I lost my job, I quit my job. I got a new job. I ha. It's all different. Awesome. It's all different. This is where I'm going to return to. Da, da, da da. Flow dreaming and the idea of flow philosophy and the inner growth and inner power that we talk about all the time through me. School. It is about you looking into your future and saying, if I don't have the tools for this, I will gain or grow them. If there is something that I want to challenge myself with, bite my teeth into, I will run toward it. If I'm just at the point where I'm trying to be functional, I will run toward that. Because all of this is my own inner power. All of this is my growth. And every single year of my life is giving me a different dimension to try and experience and taste my. A new flavor of my inner growth. And I've just had a couple interesting years, interesting flavors of inner growth. But every year will be different. Every year will give me something. If it's not the whole, you know, pandemic thing, it'll be a year where I'm all wrung out over politics. It'll be a year when I'm all stressed out over a relationship. It'll be a Year where I have to go through grief and losing someone. Every year, life is gonna give us something, but it also gives us gorgeous, beautiful things. It gives us things like, every year, I found a new strength inside me. Every year I was given a new opportunity, a new direction that I took, and I went with each. This year I went into a new career. This year I discovered that I inherited money. And now I have freedom I didn't have before. And I need to learn how to belong in that freedom. This year I met someone. Oh, my God. They're filling up my heart with so much light. I can't believe how much love I'm feeling. Life's gonna give you all kinds of stuff to grow with and grow through, and we'll all be different. A little mixed bag of candies. But here you are. Here we go. Let me circle back. What are we gonna do with this year? What are we gonna do with you? I'm going to share with you right now certain techniques, certain things that I work with my private students, I work with my classes. Every year we do these exercises together, but I'm going to share them with you. You can do them on your own when you have a moment or just let them percolate through your head. One of the rituals that I start my year with. Well, first of all, hold up. One of the rituals that I end my year with is to go through some closing ceremonies. Yes, Closure, the end of something, and the beginning of something else. I typically do this in the latter month of December, but you can do it anytime. I acknowledge and I look back and I draw the pearls from the year that I just experienced. I give it my gratitude, my thankfulness. I find it because that's what I want to carry forward. The next thing I do, as I start to really feel into my year ahead, I envision it. I go into flow with it. If you don't know what going in flow is, listen to my introductory episode on how to flow dream. Oh, gosh. What is that episode? What is manifesting? Does it actually work? No, that was episode five, 656. It's episode 650. New to Flow Dreaming. Start here. So go listen to that one. It'll teach you what this process is. It's an emotional reconditioning. It is manifesting. It is healing work. It is energy work, emotional work. It's fabulous. But I go into my flow, I move into this state and I. I really start to think and feel. What are the emotional endpoints that I want to experience this year? And again, That's a little more jargon. It's a term that we use a lot in flow, dreaming and mi school. It basically means what do I want to feel in each area of my life? Maybe I'll journal, get myself going. I could write it out. Sometimes I mind map things and I draw a circle in the middle of a paper and a bunch of spokes out from all the direct the, you know, the circle spokes out from like a sun, basically like a child's drawing of the sun. And I write down, I want to feel this, I want to experience that, I want to taste this. And I have a lot of different techniques I use, but this is the sort of general overview. And then once I'm starting to understand and feel, ah, this is the year that I want to xyz, for instance, this is a year that as I've been sort of sharing with you in dribs and drabs over this last year, this is a year that I'd like to see my writing really step up, really come to fruition. That I'd like to take a lot of the knowledge I've gained over the last 20 years and get it on paper and then have that paper reach people, whether it's through the screen of a Kindle or an actual book in their hands. So that's going to go on my list. Things that I want to feel or experience this year. Notice that for me it's not like typically, quote unquote, success driven. It's things that I want to experience this year. Because that feels very natural to ask for. It feels very, I feel very able to ask for it. Like, what's wrong with asking for that? It's not, I want to make $5 million. I want to buy my own plane. I want to be looked at, like with R, I don't know, whatever. No, it's. I want to feel like this. This is what I want to experience. And it feels humble in the asking, but it feels powerful in the asking. I would like to experience this, the universe. I want you to know I really want this. If I don't state it, if I don't get really clear in my statement and my intention of what I want to feel and experience, how the heck would the universe know? Just trying to read my muddy mind of thoughts and emotions that I kind of spew out without thinking. No, I tell it. I make it really, really clear. And I do that by going into my flow and I'm feeling my emotional endpoints. I'm flowing toward my future. I'M feeling like, ah, these beautiful things are happening. And maybe I do even share some specific ideas with it, things that I think might work, you know, to help me feel these things and experience these things. But I always say, it's this or better, right? Give me this, something better that I currently can't see. Just put me where I need to be. Connect me with whomever I need to be connected with. Put me at the right time, in the right place. Open that door. If you open that door, I will do my part and step through it. Takes two to tango, as I always say. So this is what I'm doing in flow. I'm getting it down on paper. I'm then moving into my energy state. I'm flowing on it, feeling it. I'm making that communication with my future, with life, with the universe. Now I might even take it to a third step and update what I call my energy anchor board. It's sort of like a vision board, except for me. Every time I glance at it, it pulls me right back into those original feelings that I was feeling as I created it. Oh, yeah, this is happening. This is happening. Mm, this is happening. I'm using it as a kind of energetic tug every time I let my eyes glance on it. In fact, as I record right now, I've got two of them taped onto the wall in front of me. And as I look at them, both of them, frankly, I've made some serious headway on them. They're only about a year, maybe two years old at the most. And looking at them, the things that I've written are happening or have happened or have happened to a degree. Now I freshen these up when the bulk of the things on my board have come true, which happens. So I'm really looking forward to freshening these up probably at the end of this coming year, maybe sooner. But right now I feel like these things are just taking hold and really starting to, like, blossom. So I want to go even deeper into the energy of it. So I use visuals to stimulate me. I do my flow dreaming around this. I've written it out. What practices do you have in your life right now that clearly communicate to your life, to your future, to your flow, to your higher self, that help you manifest, create? What practices do you have every day that keep you pure and centered on what you're going for, what you're making, what's happening around you? That is key. If there's only one New Year's resolution that you make, make it be that everything else stems from it. Your Exercise program, your diet, your commitment to be fearless, your commitment to grow your business, whatever it may be, it all flows from that. So make a practice that keeps your vision strong and aligned. Imagine if you were a CEO of a big company, and every day you came into the office and you said to your whole staff, you called a meeting and you said, what are we doing today? I don't know. I don't know. I forgot. I was just handling phone calls and stuff. I don't know, what products are we launching? What are we doing? And everybody around you, like, looked at each other, your staff, and they were like, this person doesn't seem to know what they're doing or where they're going. They seem to have forgotten. They told us all, like, a week ago, and we started to implement policies toward that, but now they seem, like, very confused. So maybe we'll all just wait a second, you know, just chill out a bit until the CEO gets their head together. And then the CEO wanders out of the boardroom and says, yeah, well, I'm just. I'm just gonna go deal with some crap that someone laid on my table today. Things that I have to just. You know, all the stressful stuff that I've been. I don't. Right. You would say that this is a company without leadership. You would say this is a company with its head cut off. A company doesn't know what its vision is, where it's going, who it's trying to serve, what it's trying to create or give in the world. Because the person at the head isn't reminding and reiterating and choosing toward it every day with every thought, with every directive, with every meeting. I'm using this as an analogy so you can really clearly see you're that person in your own life. Yet, just like that CEO I mentioned, we often get buried in our days. Like, just buried, you know, from getting up and making breakfast or getting kids out to school or handling phone calls or handling our work and making sure there's groceries and did we pick up groceries and, oh, God, what are we gonna do for dinner tonight? And. And the whole day goes, I know this. I know, I know. I'm not blaming you guys. I'm telling you, it's happens to me, too. Whole day goes, not once did we close our eyes and communicate to our life, hey, I'm doing. I'm handling all this stuff. But, yeah, the big picture is strong. The big picture is here. This is where we're going. This is what I want to feel. This. This is the energy in my heart that I want to experience. This is the level of success that I want to have. Oh, yeah, yeah. So right now, just make a commitment in your heart. I am going to do this. I'm going to spend five minutes a day doing it. Maybe I'll write it down in the morning and just have it to look at first thing as I sit down at my desk and I go, oh, yeah, that I need to feel this. I need to get into that. You know, making rituals like this is fun, honestly. I mean, maybe you know that already, but I love them. Oh, here's my little morning ritual. I'm gonna feel gratitude a little bit. I'm gonna feel like, oh, the doors are opening. I'm gonna do my flow dreaming. Right? I've got a little list of things that I do. What's your list? What are you doing? It's the most important thing you can do in the whole day, every day. Imagine if you did it every day for a whole year. Wow, that is a dang lot of direction that you are giving life, that you are giving your future. It is really stepping up and saying, I deserve this. I'm ready for this. I'm putting it out there, right? How could the universe not listen, not respond? It's going to respond. Maybe it'll respond with, well, there's a few more things you gotta get through to get to this. Granted, fair. Or maybe it will respond with, oh, thank God. We've been wanting to give you this forever. Finally, your mind and your heart are turned toward it. Let us pile it on for you. That's what I do. That is the essence of co creating, of manifesting, of sort of interacting with this future being, this future self that you are, this beautiful moment in the making, this being in the making, this soul in the making in its expansion. This is you. So I'm not going to do a flow dream today with you because I have some fabulous resources that I honestly can't top. And some of them are very inexpensive. So the least expensive, of course, is to just go play positive flow. That's the free flow dream you can get from my how to flow Dream kit at my website, flow dreaming.com. go do that. It will get you in this headspace. It will jumpstart you, get you going. But if you really want to use some flow dreams to get you into the state, to move you powerfully into this really strong current, Moving towards your 2022, moving toward this year and all the beautiful things you want in it, there is a flow Dreaming playlist I created last year. It's called Unleash Gorgeous New Directions. It contains several Flow dreams in there to help you find the direction, feel the direction, be inspired with the direction, feel supported and connected in this direction. Super, super good. And then if you want to take it even further, there is the future you course. Now the future you course is one that you can find at my website, flow dreaming.com. go where it says membership and courses and you will see a whole bunch of different courses. But the one that I'm particularly talking about is there to help you with really plot out what do I want to experience? What will happen for me? What level of success? Who am I becoming? What does this person feel like again? It's called my future self. Program the future you and manifest the future you want. It is super, super powerful and really, really good for it. It will very much set you up for your year ahead. So I'm gonna leave you with those resources. I hope you'll use them. In the meantime, please just close your eyes, you know and feel. Feel the way that I'm feeling. This year will open doors for you. This year will give you opportunities, good ones. This year will show you things about yourself that will help you up level and reach another layer of success in you. This year you'll have opportunities to increase your friendships, to get closer to the people that you do love already. This year will give you opportunities for even deeper intimate relationships, perhaps a partnership, perhaps with family. This year will stabilize you and get you to a place where you're not just secure, but you are thriving. This year your health can grow and strengthen and become something that you feel confident in and comfortable with. All these things can happen this year. Are you asking for these things or are you just playing the wait and see game like everyone else around you? Ask. Get out there, right in front. You deserve it. If you're on the path of personal growth, you've been working for it. So ask. It's time. With that, my darlings, I'll wrap up today's rather short but hopefully inspirational episode. You've got your resources. You know what to do. Just jump in and do it. Get things moving the right way with lots of love. I'll see you for the next episode of Flow Dreaming. Flow Dreaming is a universe. On the one hand, it's extraordinary. It's a technique that can change everything in your life. You can feel better, manifest your dreams, heal it does it all. And to learn it, just go to flowdreaming.com and get my free kit that teaches you how look under Free Goodies. And you can also download the Flow Dreaming app, which has the kit right there for you. But Flow Dreaming keeps going. Once you fall in love with the technique, you might want to know how to use it better. How to think better, feel better, really change inside. That's why I have Flow on a monthly membership where I teach people a new way of using flow in their lives every single month. Check it out. Finally, you might be perfectly ready for meet. I know you've heard a lot about MI School, but maybe you haven't actually looked it up yet. It's my most effective program, a culmination of 20 years of teaching. It's been taken by hundreds of students over the last seven years, and this is where you really light that fire that grows and you make this a life worth living. You can find it all@flowdreaming.com so go check it out and at least write yourself a note, even if you can't check it out this minute. And while you're at it, subscribe to the podcast.