New Year’s is coming up! This has always been one of my favorite holidays! No, it’s not for the parties, I haven’t been to a New Year’s party in years; I can barely stay awake to see the ball drop in New York at 11:00p.m. The thing I love about New Year’s is reflecting on the accomplishments and lessons learned in the past year and the opportunity to make an even better version of myself in the New Year. There are so many memes that go around that make fun of the concept of New Year’s resolutions and it makes me so sad that there are so many people in the world who aren’t sticking with their resolutions or, even worse, have no intention of setting one because “New year, same me”. I hope everyone is constantly looking and working to better themselves, however that looks for us, individually; whether it’s losing weight, making more money, managing stress better, etc.
Needless to say, I am ALL about setting a New Year’s resolution. So, you can imagine how shook I was when the yoga world starting pooing all over New Year’s resolutions and starting promoting New Year’s Intentions. Similar to resolutions, intentions are a specific focus for moving into the new year. The difference between the two is incredibly subtle, but something worth considering. According to a Yoga Basics Blog Entry, a resolution tends to focus more on goals and/or short-lived rewards that make it easy to get down on ourselves if the goal isn’t accomplished. Intentions focus on the bigger picture and long-term change. For example, a resolution might be to lose 25 pounds whereas an intention would be to practice self-care by eating healthy foods and incorporating exercise into our daily routine.
Now, personally, I have a hard time pooing all over people setting goals like losing 25 pounds. So, I say why not set both a resolution and an intention? Think about what you are considering for your new year's resolution(s). And consider the intention behind it. If your goal, is to lose 25 pounds, what is your intent behind this goal? Is it to better your physical health? Is it to practice self-care?
I think the resolution can be a very valuable motivator, but by paying attention to the intention behind the resolution, we can measure or progress along the journey of our ultimate purpose, self-improvement. Resolutions are great for making goals tangible and easy to break down into steps but the intention allows for us to be proud of our journey, even if the journey hasn’t yet concluded with our resolution.
Namaste,
Leah
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