How to keep New Year’s resolutions

As we look into the new year, we often set ourselves a resolution, but by the end of January have given up, and are back to our usual habits. This was certainly always the case for me, but in 2016 something extraordinary happened, I kept both of my new year’s resolutions for a whole year. I'm going to share with you here briefly how I did that, and also delve into it in more detail during next monday's class.

In 2016 my resolutions were to do yoga every day, and to abstain from alcohol. By the end of the year I was half way through my yoga teacher training and I felt healthier than i'd ever felt before. I felt emotionally nourished and I felt more confident in who I was and my boundaries.

1. Try replacing a bad habit with a positive habit, instead of outright banning yourself from something.
Often our bad habits are an emotional crutch to help us destress and relax. For me, drinking helped me do that, but I hated how I felt the day after. I am not demonising alcohol here - I still enjoy it as part of a balanced lifestyle! But the key here was replacing a bad habit with a healthy habit that helped me relax in the same way - which was yoga.

2. Start small and focus on the process
Don't focus on the results on your new habit. Focus on the actual action. For example, I did not have any expectations attached to the action of doing yoga every day. I wasn't trying to get fit or flexible or more mindful. I just liked how good I felt when I was doing yoga, even if it was just a few poses some days. The Bhagavad Gita states 'You have the right to work...You have no right to the fruits of the work. Desire for the fruits of work must never be your motive in working.' I believe this quote is also very useful when applied to resolutions.

3. Don't beat yourself up, be kind to yourself
Try not to see your resolution as an absolute (I know, this seems a bit contradictory!). A year is quite a long time, and the likelihood is you might break your resolution. It's at this point that most people give up and go back to how they were before January. During 2016 I got ill a couple of times and the right thing to do was to rest, not to do yoga on those days. I also had a day in the summer where I had a few drinks and technically broke the resolution. This is the point where I usually would have thrown the towel in, but instead I was kind to myself and decided that the next day was a new day and acknowledged that i'm only human. The point is you're doing the thing. Life isn't perfect and neither are you - pick yourself up and keep going.