Making resolutions in 2024

Is it too late to wish you a Happy 2024?

I am always late to the new year party - by that, I mean that I am never off the blocks straight away as soon as the 1st January arrives. There is still too much leftover festive cheese, it is too cold and dark outside and I am clinging onto Christmas lights and decorations well past Twelfth night. I'm not ready for a new me, just yet!

It is a tradition to make resolutions at this time of year. I think we need a reset after Christmas, after weeks of over-indulgence, rushing about and family commitments. We need a refresh - more "ME" time, more exercise, less drinking, better eating, more sleep!

I always feel though that it is such a hard time to make resolutions and stick to them - when it is dark outside and it never stops raining, getting out for a walk or to a yoga class feels such a challenge. Hibernating animals have got it right. It is easier to stay in, watch a film and eat left over boxes of biscuits. Maybe that's just me...and the hedgehogs!

Or maybe not, the second Friday after New Year is called 'Quitter's Day' when the most resolutions get broken. Are you still on course with yours?

Equinox seems to me an easier time for life changes when you have the promise of spring or the nostalgia of autumn to push you down the road to positive change.

Still, 2023 wasn't great, so now it is gone, it does feel like the new year has brought some hope of evolution for me. How about you?

We are exploring being "Committed" in yoga this term. How to embrace a more whole-hearted approach to life and how to find true commitment to the things that we believe in and want to achieve. Having a clear goal and a willingness to make time seems to be the way forward.

What would you like to achieve this year? Are you feeling resistance to the commitment you would like to make?

I have a blank page in my book and lots of ideas of things I'd like to achieve this year, so I am going to write them down, make a plan and finish the last of the biscuits...just in time for the "midpoint of winter" on 3rd February - the exact halfway point between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. Happy 2024!!