A pox on New Year’s resolutions. Yay for you if they work, but they have not worked for me, ever. Instead, they raise an unrealistic bar set by any guilt and shame still hanging around from the old year. I am motivated by my failures until about January 7th, at which point I give up trying to be someone else and settled, slightly deflated, into myself. Thanks, and no thanks.
What does work for me is the thought of exploring new ideas and practices for the year ahead, usually inspired by last year’s successes. This year, I want a lot. I’ll skip right to the yoga desires.
As in love as I am with my asana practice, I’m hungry for more yoga: deeper meditation, breath work, perhaps chanting, and some kind of conscious relationship with myself all day long. I want yoga to show up in everything I do. (Which is to say that I’d like me to show up in everything I do. I’m hoping that all of this is not about yoga with a capital Y, but about the development of us, of our bodies, minds, and hearts through yoga.) My library bag this week is filled with yoga books for holiday reading. Deepak Chopra on yoga, yoga for dummies, and a full book on yin yoga.
I swear that my physical practice has created this desire. It’s as though yoga has found an entry point and now wants its way with me completely. Why not take all of me, I say.
What do you want in yoga for 2011? I’d love to hear.
Thanks for the enduring interest of yoga. And thank you for the conversation. Happy New Year,
kristin