Winter is the season of stillness, introspection, and restoration. I’m aware that for many of us, it sure isn’t feeling that way currently amidst the rush of the holiday season. However, in Chinese Medicine, winter as a season encourages us to conserve energy, reflect on the past, and prepare for the growth and renewal that spring will bring. The darkness before the dawn, the end before the beginning. As 2024 comes to an end and the New Year approaches, this natural time for reflection feels that much more amplified.
Like many others, I’m looking back on the past year—what happened, what didn’t—and feeling that familiar pressure to correct, improve, or make changes in the year ahead. Just hearing the words “New Year’s” often prompts my brain to think of their natural companion: “Resolution.”
In years past, I haven’t been a huge fan of this word or really the general concept of New Year’s resolution setting. It felt overdone and a wasted effort amidst everything going on around me. When has a New Year’s resolution actually ever worked for me? This year, I’m challenging myself to explore this and to ask myself: What really is a New Year’s resolution? Why do I feel so compelled to set one? And why, if I’m being honest, have I almost come to expect that I won’t follow through?
For me, resolutions have often been about identifying areas of dissatisfaction and vowing to fix them—something I now realize has often left me feeling more shame and guilt than satisfaction and motivation. (Mmm, wonder why I never was much of a fan?) So this New Year, I’m choosing to change my tune on resolution-setting and also still not really set a resolution at all. Rather, I’m looking to tap into the opportunity offered by this season to reflect and reconnect with who and what I would like to embody in the next year.
In the busy rhythm of life, it’s easy to get stuck on autopilot—going through the motions, living task to task, weekend to weekend. While productivity has its place (we gotta do what we gotta do), if we don’t give ourselves time to pause and reflect, we can lose a sense of balance and connection from our lives. In Chinese Philosophy, this balance is expressed as Yin and Yang—the interplay of action and rest, doing and being. Winter and a New Year offer us the gift of stillness, a Yin counterbalance to life’s usual Yang energy. This seasonal magic invites us into this space where we can slow down, reflect, and recalibrate.
From a yogic perspective, we might approach the New Year much like our practice on the mat: with curiosity, self-awareness, and without judgment or expectation. Rather than setting rigid resolutions, can we consider a Sankalpa—an intention rooted in your deepest truth? Unlike a list of “fixes,” a Sankalpa reflects your values and aspirations, helping you resolve to live in alignment with your authentic self and your mission.
Instead of feeling pressure to change from a place of lack—believing we need to fix what’s broken—what if we approached resolution-setting with compassion, curiosity, and love? That we ourselves are already whole, and we can just redirect as needed to align with what feels true.
As the holiday craze settles, I invite us to pause and reflect on the year prior without judgment. Notice what no longer feels aligned, and instead of focusing on “fixing,” explore what you can invite into your life to create balance and joy.
When we set intentions with compassion, we create space for real change. Resolutions don’t have to come from a place of shame or expectation but from love for who we are and who we want to continue becoming. Below, I’ve included journal prompts to help guide and inspire you in setting your New Year’s Sankalpa/Intention/Resolution—
Reflection:
In the last year…
- What brought me joy? What made me feel alive?
- What made me feel drained?
- What challenges helped me grow? What challenges made me retreat?
- Where did I feel stuck or out of balance?
Sankalpa Exploration:
- What’s most important to me right now? What aspects of my life require my attention
- Who do I want to be in the next year?
- What are qualities of this person? How do they spend their time, talk to others, talk to themselves, etc?
- What qualities of this person am I already living?
- How do I want to feel 1 year from today? What can I do in the next year to feel that way?
