My 2020 Word of the Year (Season 7, Episode 4)

It’s that time of year again — time for the Word of the Year! If you’re not familiar with this practice, it’s a little bit but not exactly like choosing an intention for the year. I think about it as something I’m interested in being in relationship with throughout the upcoming year.

In this episode I share how things have gone with my word for this year, which has been Receptive, and then I share the word I almost chose for 2020 before landing on the one I’m actually going with.

Also in this episode I invite you to share a question you’d love our podcast community to answer. Stay tuned to the end for how you can send in a question, as well as for how to share your Word of the Year with me — because you know I really want to know! I love this stuff!

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Transcript

[00:00:06] Welcome to “Love, Curvy Yoga,” the podcast where we believe that embodiment is a radical act, because when you’re cut off from your body, you’re cut off from your power. Now let’s get into it.

[00:00:21] Hi. Happy New Year. How are you? How have your holidays been? I hope that they have been lovely. Ours mostly have. The mostly is my mom was here for Christmas and she had a little upset stomach situation and we were like, “Was it something she ate? Was it a bug?” And we eventually settled on something she ate. Turns out: nope! It was a bug because then I got it. Oof. I don’t know. I cannot handle stomach stuff. It was just really difficult. I felt so terrible. But I’m feeling better. I’m here recording. So I am grateful for that. OK, so we are going to get into our episode and my word of the year, some thoughts for years in just a minute.

[00:01:13] [MUSIC].

[00:01:14] This episode is brought to you by Curvy Yoga Studio. If you are listening to this in real time, our annual sale ends tomorrow, January 4th, and we would love to have you join us! Save 20 percent on your membership and join us for just $20 dollars a month (regularly $25) or one $200/year (regular 250). We have mobile and TV apps coming soon. So now is the perfect time to join. Visit the link in our show notes at curvyyoga.studio/join and use the code 2020 to join us.

[00:01:52] [MUSIC]

[00:01:54] Another year is almost upon us, which means that I have been thinking about my word of the year. If you’re not familiar with the word of the year concept or practice, here is what it is, or at least how I work with it. So this is going to be my 10th year doing this practice. And I’ve had such an interesting relationship with this over the years. So for the first several years, I was really gung ho and I had all of these ways that I would check in with my word regularly. I would make a vision board with it. I would put it somewhere where I could see it all the time. It was really a pretty focal part of my year. And then over time, it has, I would say, become more integrated into my process, my year. It’s not something that’s, you know, first and foremost in my mind like it used to be. In fact, plenty of time during the year goes by where I forget I have one, I don’t know, I haven’t really thought about it that much. But I still find that it has this interesting way of weaving into the year and showing up in different ways.

[00:03:14] And that’s what I like about this. I think about the word of the year as something I’m feeling is wanting to come through. So I choose the word, you know, around this time of year at the end of the year, and so I’m feeling into what seems like it might be something I’d like to work with or explore in the New Year. So it’s not like, for me at least, something I’m necessarily trying to force into existence. It’s more like I can feel this at the edges of my consciousness or maybe a little bit more than that. And it’s something I feel is calling me that I am sort of answering the call of. if I don’t have a better way to put it than that.

[00:04:08] So let me just go over my words that I have done so far, because I think it will say a little bit about my process at least. So in 2011, I chose wholehearted. That was the first year I did it. 2012 was soften, 2013 spacious, 2014 expansive, 2015 remember, 2016 rooted, 2017 sacred, 2018 communion, and 2019 receptive.

[00:04:47] So here is a trend that I see in these words. They are almost all about getting closer to myself and staying on my own side, and I can kind of see how that has shifted and changed for me over the years as the words themselves have shifted. And of course, you certainly could do the same word more than one year. I just have chosen a different one each year.

[00:05:15] So this year’s word like I mentioned has been receptive. And here’s why I chose it. So at the end of 2018, I knew that I was going into a very unknown year because I was having a baby at the beginning of this year. And I knew I wanted to be open to what the year would bring. But I, I really resisted having my word be open because that just felt like it didn’t have any boundaries and receptive felt like it had some choice in it. Like I would see my way to what would come with curiosity rather than just like anything could come to me and I would just have to deal with it. That’s probably just my own personal baggage around the word open. But that’s why I chose receptive. You get to choose around your personal baggage. That’s part of it.

[00:06:14] So how it has played out, you know, I honestly didn’t engage that much with it the first half of the year. But once I got through the first few months of Hazel’s life, what some people call the fourth trimester, it started to come into my mind from time to time. And I mean, thank goodness, because there’s so much I’ve needed to be receptive to: how I’m growing into my role as a mother, what my work life looks like now, you know, needing to go with the flow pretty much all day, every day, all the unprocessed stuff from my own life that came up once I became a mother and so much more.

[00:07:02] So what I like about my experience this year is that in the past I have kind of, like I mentioned earlier, sometimes checked in with my word on a regular, even a daily basis, usually in my journal. But this year, my journaling has definitely ebbed and flowed and really all of my practices are always in flux in a way that they didn’t used to be. So I got to experience touching it on the word and then moving back into life. It kind of reminds me of checking in with an old friend who you love, but you don’t see very often where that check in is a great support and you know the friend is there for you and vice versa but you don’t have that kind of relationship where you text each other all day long. OK. So now let’s move on to my word for 2020.

[00:07:51] [MUSIC]

[00:07:55] In the past, I have often thought of my word of the year months in advance — not even intentionally necessarily. It just has kind of come to me. That did not happen last year, though I did think about it a few months early. This year I did not think about it at all until one of my besties asked me if I had one in mind. And then I was like, “Oh yeah, that’s the thing!” So that gives you an idea of where I am. So for 2020 I have chosen Aliveness. Now I’m going to be honest: this one feels a little bit edgy for me, but it is something that I, actually think I have mentioned this on the podcast already, but it’s a phrase that my therapist gave me, which is “orienting toward aliveness.”.

[00:08:52] So I have a tendency to check out — not out of boredom or disinterest, but as a coping mechanism. It’s really almost more like a habit now than anything. So I almost chose Nourish because it’s something else I’ve been working on in therapy after my therapist informed me I have an issue with it and honestly, everyone in my life informs me about this. And I don’t at all mean that in regards to food but in terms of letting my life nourish me, letting myself receive, for example, when someone offers me a compliment, I, um, I think it’s fair to say it’s almost impossible for me to let those things in. It’s not 100 percent impossible, but it’s like 97 percent impossible. So that’s kind of the nourish angle. And, you know, I thought about it and it just didn’t feel quite right. And a lot of choosing your word is about how it feels, actually, basically all of it is about how it feels. And I also think that nourish is part of aliveness and that they can kind of go hand-in-hand.

[00:10:11] So like I mentioned, when I choose a word, I don’t predetermine how it’s going to show up or how I’m going to work with it. I’m more kind of like inviting it to sit next to me for the year and be in conversation with me. So we’ll see how this one unfolds in the new year. I have no idea, but I will let you know. And if you want to explore your word of the year, I’m going to link you to a resource that I really like from Susannah Conway about how to find yours if you would like a guided exploration around and that resource is free. It’s just something that can give you a little bit more structure if what I’ve offered here piqued your interest, but you might want a little bit more.

[00:11:01] OK. Up next, an invitation and a couple exciting things coming your way soon.

[00:11:08] [MUSIC]

[00:11:20] A quick reminder that our annual sale on Curvy Yoga Studio memberships, and that’s our online studio, ends tomorrow, January 4th, if you are listening in real time. So during the sale, you can join our online studio for just $20 per month (regularly $25) or $200 per year (regularly $250). And the annual gives you four months free over the regular monthly price. And as you probably know, but I can’t say it enough, is now is the perfect time to join because we have apps coming! If you want to look at my Instagram, I shared a little sneak peak video of the test version of the Roku app, and by this recording, you probably also can check out one of the iPhone app. It’s so exciting! So if you’re not already a member, I would love to have you join us! You can get the link in the show notes to join and use the code 2020 to save. And the link is curvyyoga.studio/join.

[00:12:20] Okay, so last episode, I invited you to send in a question that you might like to hear from other Love, Curvy Yoga listeners on. I didn’t receive any questions, so I thought I would just float it again as an option because I know that it’s been the holidays, people have been busy, traveling, maybe you’re behind on your listening. So let’s try one more week and we’ll just see if any questions come in. If they don’t, no big deal. It was an idea. So if you want to send one in, here are some maybe just ideas to get you thinking and you might like some feedback from other Curvy Yogas on, Curvy Yogas, Curvy Yogis, haha: It could be how to find a good class, what they like to wear, their best advice when they don’t feel like practicing, what it feels like for them to be more accepting of their body, or anything else that you think of. So if you have a question for that, you can email it to me at podcas@curvyyoga.com. Text it to me at 615-852-8789 or D.M. or tag me on Instagram @CurvyYoga. And if any questions come in, I’ll make a list and we can get into it.

[00:13:40] So OK, let’s close with one breath together. We’ll inhale. And exhale. The light in me honors the light in you. Namaste.

[00:13:54] [MUSIC]

[00:13:58] Stay tuned next week when we will be talking about what I’m calling the chunky thigh episode. Also, inquiring minds want to know what is your word of the year? E-mail me at podcast@curvyyoga.com, Text me at 615-852-8789 or Tag or DM me on Instagram @CurvyYoga.