Happy New Yoga Year

By Mehtab, Founder 
January 2011

Each New Year brings new resolutions. Visit a gym, walk the hike and bike trail, or come to a yoga class this month and you will see people keeping their New Year's resolution to be healthy, to be better and to finally make that change. Yet change is hard, and so often by March the New Year resolutions are guilty reminders of promises not kept.

Here is how to have a Happy New Yoga Year:

Over 2000 years ago, the ancient Yoga Sutras of Patanjali told us that "this practice of yoga is built, with devotion and commitment, over a lengthy time period." (I, 14)

So how can you have a committed yoga practice? Again the Yoga Sutras (I, 20) outlined the five qualities we need to develop:

Many religious and spiritual traditions also follow this 40-day cycle, most famously exemplified by the fasting and prayers of Jesus in the Judean wilderness (Matthew 4:1-4).

Trust and confidence (Shraddha)

• Energy and will power (Virya)
• Intention and mindfulness (Smriti)
• Oneness and absorption (Samadhi)
• Wisdom and discernment (Prajna)

Shraddha is a trust in yourself that you are moving in the right direction. It is a feeling of confidence in your intuition to guide you.

Virya is the positive energy that comes from exercising your will power. When you make the choice to move forward on your path, virya is the conviction that brings the power and strength to your commitment.

Smriti is maintaining a constant state of mindfulness about your choice and commitment. As you walk the path, it is holding on to your original intention behind your commitment, being a witness to your progress and mindful of the process.

Samadhi is remembering the Oneness behind your commitment and being absorbed in that union. It is allowing the commitment and the committer to become one and the same. The commitment then ceases being something you trying to do and becomes who you are.

Prajna is the wisdom of your Higher Self that comes from discrimination, meditation and self-study. The more you understand the nature of your own self, the easier it is to hold to your commitment.

Your commitment and your resolution to a regular yoga practice brings a change that permeates every area of your life. With commitment, all things are possible. Without it, nothing is possible.

My teacher Yogi Bhajan said it simply: "Life without commitment is like a flower without fragrance. Life without commitment is like a moon without light."

Happy New Yoga Year Forever.