If You Want to Sing Out

Cat Stevens has been sending me subliminal messages for a while now -- just itching to be the song of the day. New Year's Day: there are sooooo many songs I could post about this day of intention setting and launching a new year filled with limitless possibility. But as I sat in my yoga class this afternoon doing lion's pose -- where you hang your tongue out to your chin -- I realized that Cat's day had finally come:

Well, if you want to sing out, sing out

And if you want to be free, be free

'Cause there's a million things to be

You know that there are

You can do what you want

The opportunity's on

And if you find a new way

You can do it today

You can make it all true

And you can make it undo

you see ah ah ah

its easy ah ah ah

You only need to know

Well if you want to say yes, say yes

And if you want to say no, say no

'Cause there's a million ways to go

You know that there are

This song carries a powerful message -- and one that is easier said than done -- that all you need to do is decide who you are and where you want to go and then set off in that direction. Why is this hard to do? Because sometimes there are things holding us back.

My yoga class was all about the chakras, and it's the same class I've been to for the past three years on new year's day. It's been cool for me to see how I've changed over the course of those three years. For example, last year on New Year's Eve, I had what the yogis might call an imbalance of the second chakra (related to sexuality among other things) -- which manifested itself in me picking up some stranger in a bar and going home with him at about 2am to some seriously unsatisfying sex. What was I looking for in that exchange? A little lovin'. But I was looking for it with my fourth chakra (heart) so tightly sealed away I couldn't possibly have felt love. I felt empowered -- that's all about the third chakra (sense of self, healthy ego) -- but I was closed down to love.

This year I find myself in a completely different place. Second chakra feeling balanced, fourth chakra open for business -- blood flowing between the two -- and a healthy sense of self (third chakra) enhancing the whole experience. But that doesn't mean there isn't work to do. As I talked to my teacher about what my challenges are likely to be in the new year, it kept coming back to first (root) and fifth (voice) chakras. So maybe I'll let this tune be my theme song as this year gets rollin' -- at least until the next set of shifts come:

Well, if you want to sing out, sing out

And if you want to be free, be free

'Cause there's a million things to be

You know that there are...