New Year

Happy New Year, everybody!

We are nearly a week into 2022 as of this writing, and when I sat down to write today, I started feeling stuck.

There is always so much pressure with anything related to starting a brand new year. New beginnings and new opportunities. Optimism trying to win over pessimism (at least for the first month or so). Turning over the proverbial new leaf and making all sorts of improbable resolutions.

When I was teaching yoga full time in New York City many years ago, New Year’s Day was always my most packed class of the year. It was full of students who had resolved to do more yoga in the New Year, and there was a palpable feeling of hopefulness and positivity in the air.

By the end of January, class numbers would always stabilize and return to a more typical number: a physical representation of many a New Year’s resolution falling by the wayside.

But January 1 was always my favorite day to teach, even though I knew that there were many students in the class I would likely never see again. In that moment, they were there, doing something good for themselves that they might not have done otherwise. That alone is so wonderful.

Nowadays, I no longer teach on New Year’s Day. I make merry with my family, and it is still one of my favorite days of the year.

But there is something about teaching those January 1 classes that I miss, especially on days like today when I am feeling a little stuck.

Those classes felt the opposite of stuck.

They felt joyful and hopeful. They felt like movement in the right direction.

As I approach 2022, I am going to try to tap in more to those feelings of joy, hope, and moving forward. And I’m not only going to tap into those feelings, I am going to actively seek them out.

Even when I’m feeling stuck. Even as I’m worn out by COVID and all the crap that comes with it. Even as I’m going about the mundane quotidian tasks of everyday life.

I am also going to pay more attention to this when I am practicing and teaching yoga.

I am going to imagine my whole body smiling softly from the inside out. I will picture myself becoming spacious. Supple enough to withstand shifting terrain, strong enough to move forward with courage and conviction.

And I wish these same things for you, as well.

Happy 2022, everybody. Let’s do this.