Today, the yoga center reopened after our winter break and the 2025 classes began. Not only that, the sun came out after weeks of cleansing rain and everything shines. Happy New Year!

I love fresh starts, and I grab them wherever I can. New Year, of course, then again for the Chinese new year. I’ll get another fresh start at my birthday in March, then equinox, then solstice. This way, there’s always another chance and the stakes are never very high. On a sparkling new day like today, I think of all the things that call to me: more reading (less screen time), more willingness (less doubt and procrastination). Mostly, as I face the new year, I want to be open to whatever is, while remaining especially alert to beauty and love.

I’m not sure what I mean by being alert to beauty and love, but I think I’ll know it when I see it, and I’m going to use my yoga practice to help me discover. For contrast, last month, I was desultory as a yogi. I skated around practice, missing it, abridging it, being bored by it. I had trouble finding beaurty and love so the planner in me asked the doer in me – what gives?

and the answer was…….FUN!

I hope to maintain a strong upper body, a flexible spine, and strong, well-coordinated legs. Those gifts will all come from a regular yoga practice, but I can be wayward, and practice will not continue smoothly if it’s not fun. This is how I refresh fun:

Be positive. I scrupulously avoid self-criticism. In fact, I’m so lavish with praise and enthusiasm that I don’t take myself seriously, but that’s the point.

Be challenging. I try something new and difficult so I can be delightfully interested in all the ways I fall short as I learn.

Be nurturing. Honor fatigue and strain. When I feel tired or out of sorts, I remember to support myself with gentle and restorative poses.

Be surprising. Pick a sequence at random from a book. Practice with friends. Practice in a way that feels very different from my usual practice. If you have other ideas for surprise, share them with me! Please! Thank you!

Here’s to all the possibilities of a new year!