The tradition of New Years Resolutions dates far back to 153B.C. I am learning it all began with a mythical Roman king named Janus. He had two faces: one that looked back on the past and one that looked forward to the future. Thus he could look forward and back at the same time. Janus became the ancient symbol for resolutions.
And so it goes in modern time that we do the same. Even though we don't have two faces we do reflect on the past year as well as look toward the future. We use this action of reflection as a means to make change in the future. It is in anticipation of new beginnings.
Yes it is that auspicious time to take an honest, kind yet firm look at yourself and see if there are any changes you would like to make. It’s a mighty time to harness the extraordinary collective power of the world celebrating new beginnings as well as the resolve to accomplish change.
As a yogi the purpose of cultivating your will is to give you the power to access your own divine essence - ultimately to choose to live from your inner radiance all the time ~Swami Nirmlananda
From a yogic perspective the point of New Years is to CHOOSE TO CHANGE vs. making change. And deciding what to change is a conscious willful process called svatantra. Svatantra means you choose how your life goes - what a novel concept! Everything in life is a choice even your reactions. Every day every moment we have been gifted as humans with the unique power to make choices –yes even in those times when it seems like you do not have a choice.
Yoga goes on to say it is not about changing what is around or outside of you. It is actually a calling for an inner change in you. It is the inner change in you that makes everything happen. I often think of the infamous quote from Gandhi:
You must want to be the change you wish to see in the world. Change is an inside job! It starts with you choosing to shift how you live and breath on the inside. Once you change yourself all other change naturally flows outward.
New Years is truly the time to embrace change, as change is a powerful agent. And yoga is the ultimate agent for change as it changes you on a fundamental level. Each time you practice you go inside and have the experience of yourself as consciousness – your truest version of yourself. Each time you practice it’s like dying a piece of cloth. The longer you sit in the experience the more you are permeated with this color - this knowing. So much that consciousness is your experience all the time - it's yoga's promise. Take time in 2020 to choose to change!