Happy New Year Yoga Fam!
I’m very excited about this blog post because even though I am slowly shifting out of the mindset of needing to restart or refresh something exclusively in the new year, I still get those fresh start *vibes*. The first thing I want to talk about is the title of this post.
”New Year”
Hopefully this is an obvious one… it’s a new calendar year! Our society really likes to latch onto this moment in our lives year after year for many understandable reasons, but it also can create a fixed mindset around our personal growth or trying new things. And don’t get me started about resolutions… actually we’ll talk a little about resolutions shortly and why I don’t think they *vibe* with yoga. But that aside, welcome to the new year!
"Infinite Yogi"
So yes, it is a new year, but I like to think we are infinite within our finite lifetime. Now this could get really philosophical and existential so I won't go totally there (because I could talk about infinity for literally... like forever). I almost made the title "New Year, New Yogi", but you're not new... you're different, or you're the same, or you're a little more this and a little less that, or you're happier, or you're braver, or... you see what I'm doing? You are INFINITE. This new year can still be a marking point for reflection and growth, but I don't see us as humans "starting" and "stopping" in the same way we treat the calendar year. But if you're a Type A person like me, then let's talk about the amazing endorphin rush of having a fresh start STRUCTURED INTO life!
The new year always seems to be the BIG refresh/reset for most people - which, like I said earlier, makes total sense! Let's think about this seasonally, really rooting back down to the earth, the stars, and the moon... January 1 comes shortly after the winter solstice so we begin to see the effects of the days getting longer and experiencing more light. This feels refreshing to us because we are literally seeing more light at the end of a period of darkness. In my mind, I can see why the tradition of making a resolution for the new year makes sense - there may be something that we don't like about our life situation (darkness) so we make a resolution (the lightness) to bring about and experience the change. But what happens when you complete your resolution? That’s it? You’re just done with it? You’ve accomplished something and then you just move on to something different? A new resolution? But what about the potential for MORE growth or lifestyle changes? This is my problem with resolutions and why I don’t think they work well with yoga practices. I feel like they start and stop, but yoga is about experiencing the fullness of yourself and growth and acceptance. Now this isn’t to say that you can’t make resolutions or set goals for your yoga practice! You totally can! I would just use those for something different. (I’ll give examples of differences below).
Enter in… the concept of intention setting! While resolutions and goals are good for milestone markers, setting and following an intention is truly rooted into the idea of changing your mindset and lifestyle. I see resolutions and goals being about the future and measurement; and then I see intentions as the present moment and how you feel in the moment - which will then effect the future!
"An intention is something you live BY, a goal is something you live TOWARDS." - Unknown
So I think there’s more to setting an intention than setting a goal or resolution. Intentions also don’t come from a place of judgement where goals and resolutions do in the sense of wanting to change something because that something is wrong or bad as it is. (Again, goal setting has its merits and can be done in unison with setting an intention - just use your intention as a guide for setting your goal instead of the other way around).
Here’s an example of a very common New Year’s Resolution: I want to lose weight. Now believe me, I've made this resolution myself and totally understand why it's a very common one! But statistically, after only 1 week, 25% of people have already "given up". 1 week! And that number just continues to rise until by the 6 month marker, about 54% are no longer successfully keeping the resolution they made in January. This could be for a variety of reasons... being too vague, being unrealistic, little to no education on the HOW process, etc. A popular way to address these issues is by using the S.M.A.R.T goal template for you resolution: making your goal/resolution Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Timely. Applying this to our example could look like this:
Specific: I want to lose 20 pounds.
Measurable: Track/ record weight every Saturday morning.
Achievable: (I think almost everything is achievable if you set your mind to it... *cough, cough* intention setting). Let's assume that this is achievable for the person setting this goal; meaning, if they lose 20 pounds they will still be in a healthy weight percentile. They will do so by walking 8k steps every day and doing gentle yoga flows for about 10 minutes after work.
Realistic: (I usually think about this one last because the timeliness of the goal could make this realistic or not). 6 months is a realistic timeline to lose 20 pounds.
Timely: 6 months
At a glance, this looks so much better than just vaguely saying "I want to lose weight"! Great! But... there's still so much more to dive into and so many what ifs. Yoga gives us the space to ask these deeper questions of ourselves and really reflect on what we are trying to achieve in our goals or resolutions.
Continuing with this example, why might this person want to lose weight? Is it self-esteem? Is it health? Is it fitting into clothes? No matter the reason, there are still other questions...
What does their lifestyle look like as they're working towards this goal? What does their lifestyle look like after they've achieved this goal? What happens if they don't reach their goal in the way they planned?
Now, just to clarify, I used the SMART goal template in a very skeleton kind of way. It's meant as a starting point to dig deeper and really help you plan HOW you will reach your goal. But the reasons for setting this goal and the mindset for the journey of achieving this goal are just as important to consider! So let's take this resolution and approach it from an intention setting perspective...
It could be very easy to think about intentions as just shifting the language. But if I say instead "I INTEND to lose 20 pounds", does that really change our mindset or what we're trying to do when setting an intention? No.
I like to think that intentions are the roots of our goals - the germination and underground workings of what we hope will come to fruition. So if the goal is to lose 20 pounds, truly and honestly ask yourself WHY and HOW? The answers to these questions will lead you to your intention. For example sake, let's say they want to lose the weight because they will be healthier as a result of it and they will lose the weight by getting more exercise and eating better.
** I'm interjecting to point out that getting more exercise and eating better are also 2 separate goals which we can apply the SMART goal template to. This is usually why setting a blanket goal of losing a particular number of pounds isn't the most efficient way to actually achieve that goal. **
So, with these questions answered (more or less) we can think about the roots of wanting to lose weight and what that means for your mindset and lifestyle.
Let's turn this into an intention! We've established the goal. *check* From here, we could make many different intentions; so I'm going to use one that I think about frequently: I cherish and love my mind and body. Can we see how this is something to live BY and not TOWARDS? If we live our life by loving and cherishing our mind and body, then the decisions we make are mindful ones meeting the energy of the intention. Can we see how this intention doesn't "end"? Like, we don't "reach" this intention and then move on. We ARE the intention and the intention is US.
I've created a sheet that you can use to help envision how your intention looks and feels as you live it. Fill it out. Post it in a place where you'll see if frequently. Live as your intention infinitely.
**PDF version at the end of the post
One final note before we close. I personally find that setting an intention gives you much more space for grace and forgiveness. I've struggled with body image, disordered eating, and anxiety. Setting goals really only reinforced my self doubt and heightened my anxiety. When I shifted my mindset and set an intention, I started to feel my lifestyle shift because I was (no, I AM) becoming the person I truly want to be and living the life I truly want to live. There's no "getting off track" or "wrong choices"; there's only you and the infinite.
So my friends, breath is life. A new calendar year is not life. Which means every breath of every day is a new opportunity to take a step in a different direction or build a new rhythm for yourself or try something that scares you! EVERY SINGLE BREATH! How amazing is that?! So take a breath, set an intention, and continue your infinite life. Yoga is infinitely expansive, why can't we be?
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