Transcripts
1. Introduction: Have you ever made a new
year's resolution list only not to follow through
with them shortly after? If you're nodding yes with
this journaling class, you will learn how to
reflect on your past year more mindfully and set the
next year's intentions in a way that will give you
more clarity and confidence to flow and attract the
life you wish to live. Hi, my name is The Wong Janice, and I am a cellist, composer, and teacher
on Skillshare. I help people feel more calm and grounded through my ambient
cello meditation music, virtual and in-person
concerts, and online courses. You may know me
from my journaling for grounding and
positivity class, or perhaps the healing power
of music for self-care. I'm so delighted to guide you for this new
class with the theme of closing the year and setting the new year's
intentions with journaling. I've been a longtime
journaler and have been consistently doing
this end-of-year, year ahead journaling for
the last three years. It has been really interesting to look back on my progress, tick off things that
I've manifested, see what topics are recurring
but still haven't been carried out, shift
my priorities. Also it has been
really helpful to feel more ready for
the year ahead, even when there are completely unexpected
turns in the year, like going through a pandemic. In this class, I will
take you through a two-part journey of journaling prompts with live
ambient cello music. Through the journaling prompts, you will learn how to reflect
on the year and prepare for the year ahead in ways you
might not have done so before. We start with a short
three-minute opening meditation to put you in the right
mental and physical space. The first part, broken
up into four themes, is focused on reflecting
on the past year. The four themes are, the past year in highlights, successes, challenges,
saying goodbye. The second part, also
broken up into four themes, is focused on the year ahead. The four themes are
setting intentions, taking actionable steps,
creating a self-care plan, and choosing a one-word vision. By doing these prompts, this can lead to more groundedness as you learn
to accept what has passed and have more confidence in the year ahead as you
set your intentions consciously and not just a thoughtless list of new
year's resolutions. Each lesson will start with
the journaling prompts, and then I will
let you write for approximately 10-15 minutes, accompanied by my live
ambient cello music. Each piece of music
is created in the moment with a cello,
sometimes a guitar, or a melodic and with the help of my effects
pedals and loopers, all without any
pre-programmed sounds. I've chosen to
create the music in this way because I was fully in the present moment and let myself flow without
any restrictions. I hope to transfer this sense of freedom to you while writing. I'm really excited
for you to hear this music because it
marks a new phase of my musical and spiritual journey and you are one of the
first ones to hear it. By the end of the class, you'll have reflected
on the past year, bringing awareness to
successes and challenges, as well as setting intentions
for the upcoming year, planning for your future
with actionable steps, allowing you to feel
more control of your life and attracting
the life you want to live. This class is
suitable for everyone with any level of
journaling experience. The only prerequisite is
that you are open to doing the work and if you like
cello or ambient music, that would be a plus. Let's dive in [MUSIC]
2. Materials & Class Project: Here are some practical
notes before we get started. First, I'd like you
to decide if you will complete the whole
class in one stretch, or perhaps just half
or just one class. I personally would recommend
doing it all in one go, which is different from most other journaling
classes on Skillshare. If you commit to doing
it all in one go, you'll be able to go deeper with your answers as it takes
time to get into the flow, and since there are
only two parts, the past year and
the year ahead, the whole experience is more cohesive if done all at once. If you're up for the challenge, then you'll need to set aside about two to two-and-a-half
hours. What do you say? Secondly, take a
moment to create a comfortable space and find somewhere quiet
to do the class. You might want to prepare
a cup of your favorite tea or have by your side your
favorite stones and crystals. Thirdly, if you want to write the answers to the
prompts by hand, get your writing materials. A pen or a pencil will do, and your favorite
notebook or journal. As a bonus, I have prepared a worksheet with all the
prompts all ready to go. You can find it in
the Project and Resources tab to download. Once you download it, feel free to print it out, or you can fill it out digitally if you have a
suitable PDF reader. If you haven't had
time to print out the worksheet or can't
manage to download it, don't worry, I will read
out the prompts and will put the titles on screen
so you won't miss a thing. I encourage you
to write by hand, but if you want to journal using a computer or electronic
device, that's up to you. Lastly, because music is such
a big part of this class, be sure to set up your best speakers or get
your best set of headphones. Pause the video now to
get everything ready. Please note that you should set aside 10 to 15
minutes per lesson or two to
two-and-a-half hours in total if you want to
complete it all at once. Now you're ready, it's time to introduce the class project. I have two tiny
assignments for you. Number 1, at the
end of each lesson, go to the Discussions
tab and share one sentence or highlight from your journal or worksheet, and Number 2, after
completing the class, go to the Project
and Resources tab, click on "Create
Project" and share a photo of your
journal or worksheet. Now you have your
pen and paper ready, go directly onto
the next lesson. I think you're more than ready
to dive in, so let's go.
3. Opening Meditation: Before we dive into
the first lesson, I invite you to join me for
a short opening meditation, to be in the right physical
and mental space so you can journal with more mindfulness
and get the most out of it. Take a moment to find a quiet and comfortable spot
to either sit or lie down. Pause the track now
until you are ready. Now I invite you to
close your eyes. By closing your eyes, you make a commitment
to being here, to filter out distractions, and channeling your energy
to this space with me as your guide to bring you deeper and in a clear head-space
for the class. Connect with how you feel today. Connect to your breath. Take a moment to
reflect on why you are here and why you
chose to show up. Is there something you want to leave behind this past year? Is there something you'd like to manifest this coming year? You are here because
of self-care. By taking time out to reflect, accepting who you
are at this moment, and opening your heart, you become ready for growth, ready for change, ready
for your turning point. Be proud of showing up.
Are you ready to go? As we close the year, we acknowledge that
we have done our best and what's done is done. We allow ourselves
to leave it behind. The reason is to
open ourselves for new energy, new opportunities, and beautiful experiences
that we will attract by being open and shining bright
with the energy of love. But we will not do it alone. We don't have to do it alone. The power of
connection and being together will make
us more powerful. Connect to everyone
else during this class. Connect with everyone
on Skillshare. You are not alone. Feel part of a family. The one family. Smile to yourself
knowing you belong and you're exactly where you
need to be right now. Connect with the now. Put aside everything
else for a moment. Relax every muscle in your
body from top to toes. Open your curiosity for
this journaling experience. Open your mind and allow
yourself to be free. Open yourself to
any emotions that might arise during
these lessons. Let the frequencies of
the cello vibrate through your body and allow
the pen to flow. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe out stress. Breathe out anxiety. Breathe out worries. Breathe in love. Breathe in gratitude. Breathe in peace. That brings us to the end
of the opening meditation. Let's get started on this
beautiful journey together. After this lesson is over, will you introduce yourself
in the discussion tab? I would love you
to share who you are and why you are
taking this course. After you've done that, you can go directly to the
first journaling prompt.
4. Highlights: For the first journaling prompt, I invite you to write down
the past year's highlights. Think of events, happy moments, happy places, and memorable moments with
the people in your life, or even strangers who
you have come across. Bonus tip, look through your agenda if you need some
help jogging your memory. It's time to take action. Get your pen, journal,
or worksheet. In the next 10-15 minutes, using the music as inspiration, write down whatever
comes to mind, and fill the page with all your past year's highlights in bullet points or
small sentences. You don't have to write a full
story for each highlight. By the way, this is
not about successes, as the next section
is about that. Focus now just on highlights. If you find it hard to
remember your year, perhaps break it down and
go through the eight Wheel of Life categories and see if there are any
highlights there. I'll read them out
just as a reminder. Love and relationships,
family and friends, wealth and finances,
health and fitness, career and studies,
hobbies and recreation, spiritual and
personal development, or physical environment,
for example, your home or office. You may begin writing. [MUSIC] Great work. You have made it to the
end of the first lesson. If you feel like you
need more time to write, pause the track
now or rewind just a few minutes. How was that? What did you discover on
your past year's highlights? Did you try something
new or do something fun? Did you have any shared moments
with family or friends? I'm sure you have written
down at least one highlight, so take a moment
to feel blessed. After this lesson is over, will you share one of your
past year's highlights in the discussions tab? I would love to know
about your year. Be proud of yourself for starting this journey
of self-reflection. If you're continuing on, I'll meet you in
the next lesson. If you intend to come
back later, see you then.
5. Successes: In the previous lesson, we journaled about our
past year's highlights. For this lesson, I
invite you to journal about your past
years, successes. It's time to take action. Get your pen, journal,
or worksheet. In the next 10-15 minutes, using the music
gets inspiration, write down whatever
comes to mind, and fill the page with
all your past years successes in bullet points
or small sentences. You don't have to write a
story for each success. Here are some prompts you
might like to consider. Were there any goals
that you reached? Can you be proud of
yourself for anything? Did you make a small or
significant progress in any project or situation? Are you happy about the way something in
particular turned out? What was the nicest
surprise of the year? You might want to
zoom out of what typical success looks like. It doesn't have to be about
getting a promotion at work or quantifiable
achievements. It could simply be that you managed to try a new activity, or you started therapy, or perhaps you apologized to someone you've been
needing to it for awhile. You may begin writing. [MUSIC] Great work. You have made it to
the end of the lesson. If you feel like you
need more time to write, pause the track now or
rewind a few minutes. What did you discover
after your reflections? Is there anything you
can be proud about? I'm pretty sure of it. After this lesson is over, will you pick one
of your past years successes to share in
the discussions tab? Sharing is not showing
off by the way. It's being proud of yourself and inspiring others
at the same time. If you're continuing on, I'll meet you in
the next lesson. If you intend to come
back later, see you then.
6. Challenges: In the previous lesson, we journaled about our
past year successes and for this lesson, I invite you to journal about your past year's challenges. It's time to take action. Get your pen, journal
or worksheet. In the next 10-15 minutes, using the music as inspiration, write down whatever
comes to mind, and fill the page with all your past year's challenges in bullet points or
small sentences. You don't have to write a
story for each challenge. Here are some prompts you
might like to consider. What difficult situations
did you encounter? Were there challenging
conversations you had? Or any conflicts? Was there anything you
didn't manage to accomplish? Did you have any setbacks? Were there any moments you felt blocked or not in
your true power? By the way, this is
not a moment to beat yourself up or feel
bad about yourself. This is simply an exercise to acknowledge where you
got to and accept these difficult situations as lessons and
opportunities to grow. You may begin writing. [MUSIC] Great work. You have made it to
the end of the lesson. If you feel like you
need more time to write, pause the track now or
rewind a few minutes. What did you discover
after your reflections? Are there some challenges
that you would like to let go of or work on in
the coming year? In upcoming lessons,
there will be time to let go and make plans, so hold on to those thoughts. After this lesson is over, will you pick one
of your past years challenges to share in
the discussions tab? Maybe you'd like to also reply on another
student's comment. I'm sure they'll really
appreciate the encouragement. If you're continuing on, I'll meet you in
the next lesson. If you intend to come
back later, see you then.
7. Saying Goodbye: In the previous lesson, we journaled about our
past year's challenges. For this lesson, I invite you to say goodbye to the past year. It's time to take action. Get your pen, journal
or worksheet. Here are some prompts you
might like to consider. Start with gratitude, thinking of all the
highlights and successes. Continue with acceptance. Think of the challenges
from the previous lesson. Go on with forgiveness to
others who have pained you. Or perhaps you can forgive
yourself for something and end with leaving behind
and letting go all that was, no matter how good or bad, the coming year is a
chance to start fresh, with a clean slate and
new opportunities. In the next 10-15 minutes, using the music as inspiration, write down whatever
comes to mind, and fill the page with all you
would like to leave behind [MUSIC]. Great work. You have made it
to the end of the lesson. If you feel like you
need more time to write, pause the track now, or rewind a few minutes. So what did you discover
after your reflections? After this lesson is over, will you pick one of your
past year's goodbyes to share in the
classroom? Guess what? We have now reached the
halfway mark off this class. Be proud of yourself for your
persistence and diligence. I'll meet you in the next lesson where we start planning
for the year to come. Exciting. If you're continuing on, I'll meet you in
the next lesson. If you intend to come back
later, I'll see you then.
8. Intentions: In the previous lesson, we said goodbye
to the past year, and I hope you felt
good about that. Now it's time to start looking forward to the new year ahead. For this first
journaling prompt, I invite you to write your
intentions for the year. Setting intentions will help you feel your purpose and
allow you to go into the year with a
clear vision so you will be able to attract
your desired life. The reason why I chose
the word intentions is because I don't want
you to focus on goals. From my own experience, I've made the
mistake in the past of focusing on goal setting, which ended up being quantitative and numerical goals and not fulfilling
my life purpose. For example, last
year my aim was to release my first
Ambient album, and I kept putting it off
as it all seemed so hard. But a better
intention would have been to bring myself joy by creating new ambient sounds through experimentation
and trying something new. I wasn't motivated to record
an album, but guess what? By honoring myself and my
desire to be creative, I ended up buying
a new effect pedal and making new ambient music, and I recorded three
amazing songs which were perfect for my
first ambient album, and I also made all the songs
for this class as well. How cool is that?
I invite you to move away from the what
and more towards the why. If you want to make more money
and have a numeric goal, perhaps look at the
why behind it and use this as your north star instead. For example, what is
more important to you? Losing a certain number of kilograms or feeling good
by eating more healthily? Well, how about aiming
for a promotion with a heavier workload and better
pay or working a day less, so you have a free day to do your hobby or volunteer work? Which life do you want to live? It's time to take action. Get your pen, journal,
or worksheet. In the next 10-15 minutes using the music
gets inspiration, here are some prompts you
might like to consider. Which life would you
like to attract? What are your inner
transformation goals? What are your deepest
desires and biggest dreams? Write down whatever comes
in mind and fill the page with all your thoughts in bullet points or
small sentences. Don't worry if you sound
vague in your intentions, because the next lesson will be about writing action steps. For now, just set your intentions and
reach for the stars. You may begin writing. [MUSIC] Great work. You have made it to
the end of the lesson. If you feel like you
need more time to write, pause the track now or
rewind a few minutes. What did you discover
after your reflections? After this lesson is over, will you pick one of your intention to share
in the discussions tab? Take a read of the
other students and comment on those two? I'm sure they'll appreciate it. If y'all continuing on, I'll meet you in
the next lesson. If you intend to come
back later, see you then.
9. Actionable Steps: In the previous lesson, you journalled about your
new year's intentions. For this lesson, I
invite you to go deeper and start
thinking about a plan, review the intentions
that you set and then move
towards discipline. If you have taken
my journaling for grounding and positivity course, you'll know that I'm
all about action. Making conscious steps
is the only way to attract and manifest
the life you desire. It's time to take action. Get your pen, journal
or worksheet. Here are some prompts you
might like to consider. What small steps can you
make towards your dreams? What consistent steps
can you commit to? Is there anything you can
already do starting tomorrow? In the next 10-15 minutes, using the music as inspiration, write down whatever
comes to mind, and start to brainstorm
small steps, steps that you can
already make this week. Every big transformation
starts with a small action, and small consistent actions
will be the thing that determines whether you will
reach those dreams or not. You may begin writing. [MUSIC] Great work. You have made it to
the end of the lesson. If you feel like you
need more time to write, pause the track now or
rewind a few minutes. What did you discover
after your reflections? After this lesson is over, will you pick one of your action steps to share
in the discussions tab? If you're continuing on, I'll meet you in
the next lesson. If you intend to come
back later, see you then.
10. Self-Care Plan: In the previous lesson, you journaled about your
upcoming year's action steps. For this lesson, I invite you to journal about your
self-care plan. You might have already
touched on some of these themes in
the previous lesson. But I really wanted
to zoom in on this. Self-care can come in
many forms and it's not only about pampering
yourself with a massage. So let me break it down
further into four themes. The first theme is self-care
for physical health. For example, a plan could
be eating more colors of the rainbow or starting your day with drinking
a glass of water, or planning 30 minutes
of walking every day, or going to the doctor to check something that's
been bothering you. The second theme is self-care
for mental health for example reaching out to a life coach or attending
a meditation class, or learning about breathwork, or just setting aside time
for regular journaling. The third theme is
self-care for joy, for example treating yourself
by going to the cinema, trying a new activity
like singing in a choir, or simply allowing
yourself to stay in bed, reading a book until
midday, every Sunday. Lastly, self-care for your physical
environment, for example, is there anything that you
can do to make your home or a room in your home a safe and sacred,
and special place? It could even be to make a dedicated reading corner
or meditation corner. It's time to take action. Get your pen journal
or worksheet. In the next 10-15 minutes, using the music as inspiration, write down your self-care plans
for your physical health, mental health, joy, and physical environment
in bullet points or in small sentences, you can be as short or
comprehensive as you wish. You may begin writing. [MUSIC] Great work. You have made it to
the end of the lesson. If you feel like you
need more time to write, pause the track now, or rewind a few minutes. What did you discover
after your reflections? If you're continuing on, I'll meet you in
the next lesson. If you intend to come
back later, see you then.
11. Your Vision: In the previous lesson, you journaled about your
new year's self-care plan and for this final lesson, I invite you to think
of one word that sums up your vision for
the year ahead. It's time to take action, get your pen, journal
or worksheet ready. Once you have chosen the word, write it at the top of the
page in capital letters. Put a circle or box
around it if you wish. In the next 10-15 minutes, using the music to
get inspiration, write yourself a letter
starting with dear, showing your
unconditional support and belief in yourself for going
and living your vision. Bonus tip, write the whole
letter in capital letters. I personally do
this when writing really important messages
to myself and it makes me feel so much more empowered, positive,
and motivated. You may begin writing [MUSIC] Great work, you have made it to the end of the last
journaling prompt. If you feel you need
more time to write, pause the track now or
rewind a few minutes. What did you feel after
writing the letter? After this lesson is over, will you pick one sentence from your letter to share in
the Discussions tab? We're almost done and there's
just one last lesson to go, which is just a summary
of the whole course and a moment for
last reflections. If you have a couple
of minutes to spare, you can go directly
to the next lesson.
12. Last Reflections: Congratulations. You've made it to the
end of the class. Thank you for allowing
me to guide you. You have successfully
reflected on the past year, bringing awareness to
successes and challenges, as well as setting
intentions for the upcoming year and planning for your future
with actionable steps. Allowing you to feel
more control of your life and attracting
the life you want to live. I hope you have found it
both helpful and a powerful experience and I hope you will consider
doing this yearly. Before you go, it's time to complete the
second assignment. Please go to the project
and resources tab, click on "Create Project"
and upload a photo of your journal or worksheet to
show that you've made it. Don't forget to leave a comment on the fellow
students' project too. I'm sure they'll
be very happy and appreciative of your support. Oh, and if you could leave
me a standing review, I would also be very grateful. Now that we have
finished the class, you may take some time to read through
everything you wrote down and then put
it away for now. I can recommend setting a
reminder in six months to track your progress and
reassess whether those intentions are still
valid to follow through, or you can add some
additional notes for what's present for
you in that moment. Now it's time for a
short reflection. But there's no need
to write anything. Was this class helpful? Do you think it could be helpful to do this
class every year? Whatever your choice, please know that I will be
here to support you. If you enjoyed this class
and you liked journaling, I invite you to take my class, journaling for grounding
and positivity, or if you like something
without journaling, the healing power of music, 1-hour of self-care with Ambient
Cello is my other class. Thank you once again
for joining me. I wish you so much love and healing energy
in your onward journey. I encourage you to follow my teacher profile on
Skillshare so you can stay up to date and get notified when I
release a new class. Otherwise, you can connect
with me on my social channels, which you can find
on my profile. Well, that's it from me. Once again, my name is The Wong Janice and it has
been an absolute pleasure. Until next time, stay wonderful.
The Wong Janice, Where Ambient Cello Meets Meditation
