Last year in a yoga class one of my teachers suggested to set an intention for New Years rather than setting a specific resolution. I absolutely forget what my intention was or if I even made one. Regardless, I thought it was an interesting idea. In yoga this setting of a goal or intention is known as sankalpa. We can make a small sankalpa for every practice, or in this case an intention for the whole year.
With our New Years resolutions, it seems often we are playing to our egos. "I would like to be more fit this year." "I would like to get that promotion." Most resolutions start with "I" than rattle on with a very specific goal. Why limit to yourself to something so specific? Why limit yourself to setting life changing goals once a year? What is so magical about the bridging of one year to the next? Generally, I think resolutions are a great thing, but I still am left with lots of questions.
I haven't thought about a resolution or a sankalpa this year, so I'm not going to make up one for the sake of a post. I do hope to find an intention or motivation make my impact on the Earth a more positive one. That goes for 2013 and for 2014. Now just to figure out what general word would apply to such an abstract idea? Perhaps the word "yoga" itself would be a good intention given it means the union of the mind and the body, or at least it can be interpreted that way in some yogic schools of thoughts. In other words, I want my actions to match my ideals. Perhaps, "genuineness" would be a good word for it then?
Anyways, happy new years! Before things get too heavy, I'm going to go drink some champagne. Here is to an awesome 2014 for all of humanity!
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