This is Why I’ve Selected “Reflection” and Not “Resolution”
Why I don’t make New Year’s Resolutions and what I do instead
Many people use the start of a new year to start with a clean slate. Last year is done, time to try harder, be better, suck less. There are many things wrong with this thinking, like being mean to yourself, but the energy of the season is also working against you.
Winter is the season of hibernation and going inward, like I wrote about here, in honor of the Winter Solstice. If you let go of all the “shoulds” in your life, your true nature wants you to snuggle up on the couch in front of a fire, with some tea and a book (just me?) and just be.
New Year’s Resolutions are often sweeping declarations, where you attempt to make huge changes in your life. “I want to go the gym or practice yoga every day,” “I want to quit smoking/drinking cold turkey,” or “I want to eliminate sugar from my diet.”
These two energies are diametrically opposed to each other.
Winter energy moves slowly. It’s when seeds are nestled in the ground, waiting for Spring when they can burst out of the ground as plants. Winter is the time for setting intentions, planting the seeds that you want to bring forth later in the year.
I believe this is why so many New Year’s Resolutions fail: you are making big changes at a time that doesn’t support big movements. Plus, positive lasting change is made gradually over time, not all at once. Habits change slowly. Having an “all or nothing” approach won’t create sustaining habits. It’s like going on a diet, it’s temporary, and doesn’t last. Plus, willpower is a limited commodity, it only endures so long.
Winter is the time to set your intentions for the year, and maybe discover a word or phrase that will support your intentions. Winter is the time for meditation, journaling, introspection, and Svadhyaya/Self-Inquiry. Ponder the changes that you want to make and create a plan with gradual steps to make it happen.
Spring is the time to put thoughts into action because the energy is moving upward and outward. Spring energy encourages you to move your body, get outside, and be creative.That is the best time to make “New Year’s Resolutions” because the energy of the season is on your side, encouraging you to act.
Setting intentions
Because we’re in Winter right now (at least in the Northern Hemisphere), it’s time to plant seeds of intention for the Spring. Think about what you want for your life, your health, your work, and what changes or shifts would support that. How do you want to feel day to day, mentally and physically? What are things in your life that are working that you want to expand on or increase? Is there anything not working that you want to adjust?
Write a list of goals for yourself. Brainstorm and let them all fall out on the page. Then, for each goal, write down all of the steps that you’ll need to take in order to make those goals happen.
For example, if your goal is to lose weight, your steps might be:
- set times in your calendar to exericse
- join gym or yoga studio
- get appropriate clothing/gear/shoes
- throw out the junk food in your house
- buy more fruits and vegetables that are easy to grab
- get a slow cooker to make stew, chilli, and soup, healthy options that are easy to warm up quickly
- sleep more
Some of these steps might have smaller sub-steps in them, like “sleep more” could have:
- set a notification in your phone to remind you to go to bed on time
- turn off electronics at least 30 minutes before bedtime
- shower or take a bath before bed to encourage cooling and calming
- get a white noise machine/eye mask
Write it all down, be as detailed as possible. Small steps are much easier to achieve than big ones, especially during this time of year. Overwhelm is common with big sweeping changes, and causes you to give up. The best way that I know to get out of overwhelm is to make the task smaller. These small achievements give you the small dopamine hits that keep you going, building on what you did previously until you reach your goal.
Word of the year
I mentioned earlier creating a word of the year. A couple of years ago, my word was “self-love.” Last year I had two words, “connection and community” (I don’t always follow the rules of having one word, often I make my own. I’m an Aquarius…). I was curious as to what my word for this year would be.
After a yoga practice, I sat up for meditation and posed the question to myself: What is my word of the year. The word that came to me was “success.” Judgment and self-criticism came in with thoughts of “ugh, what a capitalistic word,” and “how can this be my word, I’m a yoga teacher?!” So I probed deeper, what does success mean?
The next word that came to me was “wholehearted.” Success to me means I’m wholehearted, but what does that mean? I landed on “heart-centered.” This felt right, and I knew that by how settled I felt in my body. If I use my heart for guidance, I will feel like a success.
For much of my life, my decisions were based on my fears, perfectionism, and shame. I followed my head, but this often led to misguided behavior based on my fears. I could talk myself into and out of all sorts of things, to my detriment. Listening to my heart, leading from a place of love, acceptance, and compassion, feels like the right word and intention for me in 2026. “Heart-centered” is my word. What’s yours?
Flow with me on New Year’s Morning!
January 1, 2026 8:30-9:30am EST I’ll be teaching Flow into the New Year live over Zoom! This all levels Vinyasa yoga class is for anyone looking to shake off 2025 and start the year with movement. This will be a slow flow class to build strength, cultivate balance, improve mobility, and feel grounded and present as you move into 2026.
This class is included in a Purple Room Yoga subscription, or you can just drop in! This live class will also be available on demand. Click the graphic below to sign up!
If you’re looking for a good book to curl up with, check out my book Living Yoga: One Yoga Teacher’s Journey to Surrender. This book is part memoir, part yoga philosophy, and part practical actions and journal prompts that help you integrate your “off the mat” yoga practice into your life. Through honest reflections, humor, and owning my humanity, I share my own bumpy and unskillful journey to finding peace and surrender. Yoga is a practice, not a “perfect.”
I also wrote Intentional Eating: Finding Peace and Balance in Your Relationship with Food. This is not a diet book, but a mindset reset to help you find peace and balance in your relationship with food and with yourself. You will learn to be kinder with your self-talk, as well as find ways to stop eating when you aren’t hungry. Also full of journal prompts and yoga philosophy, this book helps you apply your yoga practice to how you approach food. If you’ve ever struggled with emotional eating, this book is for you.
Click the graphic below to check out both books!
