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It’s January! A new year! And a new year means a new me!
I don’t care if every single day of every year has given me an opportunity to be a better version of myself. I will make each day of 2024 about reinventing myself.
My first resolution is to do an awakening, centering, grounding yoga flow every single morning. Regardless of my New Year’s Eve bender, I will rise with intention early on New Year’s Day thanks to the rhythm of my internal body clock simply because it will be a new year and I will be a better me.
I resolve to eschew coffee as I come to my mat on January 1. Although I’ve been drinking four cups of coffee every single day for years, instead I will ease into my space with a 78-ounce water bottle full of positively ioned water. There, I will ground myself and find focus. Though I may have a splitting headache, I will breathe deeply to generate caffeine within my center.
I resolve to time my yoga flow each day so when I begin my first Sun Salutation, the Sun will be rising in the east and warming my face. That means when I meet my mat on the morning of January 1, I will commence my Resolution Yoga Flow at 7:12 a.m., which is three minutes before my phone says the sun will rise, because it will take me precisely that amount of time to flow into Sun Salutation. On January 2, I will start my flow at 7:11 a.m. And so on.
I resolve to angle my mat by however many degrees needed each morning to perfectly face the Sun for my Sun Salutation. I resolve to learn how the Sun rotates through the sky on a Copernican level. By doing this, I will become closer to the total enlightenment I resolve to reach by February.
I resolve to never rush my breath or my poses in 2024. Even if I have COVID and have to cough, I will cough silently and with intention and the cough will not affect my smoothly flowing breath. Actually, I resolve to not get COVID in 2024.
Although I’ve never been able to practice Headstand, I resolve to move into a powerful and proud headstand on New Year’s Day. It will be a new year, after all, and a new me. While upside down, I will focus on my other resolutions, which include being more regular in my use of bathroom cleaner and dental floss. This will make me virtuous, which is another one of my resolutions.
I resolve not to wobble as I move through my yoga practice in 2024. And if I wobble, I will not judge myself—not even for a millisecond.
In every Savasana I settle into throughout the new year, I resolve to lie with a perfectly clear mind, soul, and spirit. I will not, even for a moment, think of what I need to do when I rise from my mat. It is my resolution.
I resolve that as I rise from my mat on January 1, I will clean it for the first time in four years. For 365 days, I resolve to do a thorough wiping down of my mat with an eco-organic, non-comedogenic, gluten-free, and vegan cleaner that dissolves into the ether, thereby spreading betterment and joy.
After each practice, I will perfectly roll my mat and lovingly place it next to the stack of 800-page books and 16 empty journals I resolve to read and fill in 2024.
I resolve to do all of this enlightened yoga with gratitude because it is my resolution to do so.
I resolve to be happy and to bring happiness to every being I encounter in 2024. Happy New Year!
About Our Contributor
Writer, editor, author Lisa Jhung is a contributing editor to Yoga Journal and writes regularly for Outside and other titles. She is the author of two running books that are illustrated, informative, and (surprise!) jokey: Trailhead (VeloPress, 2015), and Running That Doesn’t Suck (Running Press, 2019). She’s been practicing yoga for more than 20 years, mostly to balance out and recover from trail running and other adventurous exploits.
