This message was posted on December 31, 2025 by Charlotte Bell. </p><div>
It’s that time again: time to set our intentions for the new year. About 30 to 40 percent of Americans make New Year’s resolutions every year. Judging by the ebb and flow of yoga classes, that seems about right. I always expect an influx around the first of the year. This tends to level off as the months go by, but yoga resolutions are definitely a thing.
New Year’s resolutions have a history
According to a story on NPR’s website, New Year’s resolutions may have their roots in yoga itself. Here’s an excerpt:
“One of the first appearances of the phrase ‘New Year’s resolutions’ was in a Boston newspaper in 1813, according to Merriam-Webster:
“And yet I believe that there are multitudes of people, accustomed to receiving commands in connection with New Year’s resolutions, who will sin throughout the month of December, with an earnest determination to begin the New Year with new resolutions and new conduct, and with the full conviction that they will thus atone and erase all their past errors. –Unknown, 1813
“But diary entries show that people had been putting the concept into practice long before that – such as the English writer Anne Halkett, who wrote a list of Bible-inspired promises on January 2, 1671, entitled ‘Resolutions.’
“Historians trace the phenomenon even further back: to 2000 BC, when Babylonians celebrated the new year with a 12-day spring festival called Akitu. They marked the arrival of the agricultural season by crowning a new king, thanking gods for a bountiful harvest and, according to The old farmer’s almanacwith the decision to return the neighbors’ borrowed agricultural machinery.”
Why it is sometimes difficult to keep good intentions
Perhaps we avoid making yoga resolutions because we are too busy and preoccupied to think about our goals. Or maybe it’s because we’ve learned that it’s difficult to stick to those New Year’s resolutions after the initial bloom has worn off. The same poll shows that while roughly 30 percent of Americans make resolutions, only half of them claim to stick to them. No great chances.
Still, the new year seems like an opportune time to assess where you’ve been and how you want to direct your life. I think the trick is to make resolutions that you can keep. You’ll have a better chance of keeping your resolutions if you first figure out how to fit them into your life. Keep it simple. Start with one, the one that inspires you the most. See where that goes before you try again. Putting one sincere intention into practice really means a lot!
I like to think of yoga practice – including meditation – as my time to check in and practice who I want to be for the rest of my life. It’s the moment I give myself permission to not only replenish my energy, but also to see where my body and mind have integrity and where they don’t. Here are some of the intentions I have practiced for years that have transformed my life on many levels:
Four yoga resolutions to fuel your practice
Stop judging your practice
I’m not saying this will be easy. I think the greatest challenge in Western yoga practice is to overcome the deeply ingrained idea that asana practice is about achieving ‘perfect’ or beautiful postures. Even when our intellect knows it is not about competition, the roots of comparison run deep into our being. Often we have no idea that we are competing and comparing; it just happens automatically. The point is: our bodies are genetically unique. As we enter the world, the countless inputs we experience every moment help shape who we are. How can you even compare your practice to someone else’s? Please give yourself a break. This is a true ahimsa practice. It starts with you.
Make the decision to respect your body
Asana is not about conquering your body or forcing it into fancy poses for which it was not designed. And even if you can get your body to perform Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (Full Pigeon) or some other fancy poses, over time you may discover that it wasn't such a great idea. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it. Here's another real-life ahimsa practice: Think of your practice as a partnership with your body, something that body and mind explore together in friendship.
Meet Your body where it is every day
At the beginning of each exercise, take a moment to sit, stand, or lie down and check in. What is the character of your energy? Is it fast, slow, heavy, light, excited, calm, warm, cold or something else? About thirty years ago I had the privilege of studying for about six months with Richard Freeman, a teacher I implicitly respect. But I discovered that if I was honest with myself and respected my body, I couldn’t practice Ashtanga every day. In fact, most days my body craved something slower, quieter, and less exciting. If I felt sluggish or heavy, I would do Ashtanga to bring my weight up vata a little. If I was already feeling irritated, Ashtanga would only make it worse. So I learned to meet and work with my body so that the daily practice yielded sattvic results. When you practice in this way, you are also practicing satya.
Think of the miracle
Recognize that every exercise, every pose, every moment is a new moment. No matter how many times you have done Dog Pose, today is the first time you are doing this particular Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose) right now. It will never be the same as that massacre of two weeks ago. It’s gone. This one, here at this moment, is truly the only one that exists. Wishing for the past or hoping for a “better” pose sometime in the future only dulls the experience of the pose you are in. We miss a lot of everyday magic when we think where we are isn’t good enough.
These are just a few of the intentions I set for practice that have yielded the richest rewards for me, not only in my asana practice but in the rest of my life. If any of these resolutions resonate for you, take it and run with it. If not, think about what yoga resolutions you might want to make.
What are your resolutions for yoga this year?
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<strong class="author-name">About Charlotte Bell</strong>
Charlotte Bell discovered yoga in 1982 and began teaching in 1986. Charlotte is the author of Mindful Yoga, Mindful Life: A Guide for Everyday Practice and Yoga for Meditators, both published by Rodmell Press. Her third book is titled Hip-Healthy Asana: The Yoga Practitioner's Guide to Protecting the Hips and Avoiding SI Joint Pain (Shambhala Publications). She writes a monthly column for CATALYST Magazine and is an editor for Yoga U Online. Charlotte is a founding member of GreenTREE Yoga, a nonprofit organization that brings yoga to underserved populations. A lifelong musician, Charlotte plays oboe and English horn in the Salt Lake Symphony and folk sextet Red Rock Rondo, whose DVD won two Emmy Awards.
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