Happy new year!

A very happy, healthy and peaceful new year to everyone! I hope you had a wonderful night celebrating the change of years. Patrick and I celebrated with some good new Knoxville friends, indulging in cheese and chocolate fondue, playing and singing music, playing games and talking about the old and the new. A new year is always an opportunity to reflect on the old and to make resolutions for the new year. I have tried in previous years, but soon noticed that I was not disciplined enough to carry out my plans and therefore stopped making them. The frustration of having broken a contract I had made with myself seemed more severe than just being honest and acknowledging that I probably would bite off more than I would chew in terms of good ideas, plans and resolutions. I have plenty this year, too, in the back of my mind, but first I would like to share some things I found in the new Yoga Journal that came yesterday (right on time!). An article in the journal suggested that we make an offering to welcome the new year (I felt that was a really nice way of taking the word "resolution" out of the equation). An offering of our choice that would ultimately allow us to feel more aware, alive, more present, and happy. And here's a list of the 28 things the journal collected (add my ramblings). Maybe you find something that you could offer to the new year and give to yourself as a present to celebrate the new year?:

1. Get energized about your future - think of where you see yourself and what you do and don't want out of your life and then work towards it one step at a time. Create a list of manageable, small goals and create affirmations. Or draw a path of your life and yourself as you see them. (For me, what came to mind is that I want to continue to travel as long and as much as possible... to India and Japan and Argentina, Mexico, Canada, Namibia, back to Australia and New Zealand and (South) Africa (among so many other places); I want to finish my PhD, find a job that is meaningful and (as I recently read) doesn't exploit others...and I see myself having kids...)

2. Plug into your spiritual self - spend time in silence, rest, meditation, prayer, reflection.

3. Let go of the old - e.g. by writing down whatever we wake up with every morning. Or whatever we are about to take to bed at night. Or what we take from the week... you get the idea. Journaling, blogging, drawing, talking...I see them all as serving this purpose.

4. Serve others - find something that doesn't deplete, but fulfills you while helping others (it is suggested to check www.volunteermatch.org)

5. Honor your physical self - detox by eating less junk food and more greens, by drinking more water and fruit juices and tea, by exercising more, drinking less alcohol, getting more sleep,... (again, you get the idea). (Due to the amount of candy I eat, this certainly resonates with me)

6. Be daring - explore something new, something different, maybe something scary? (This is a big one for me as I constantly struggle between staying in my comfort zone and wanting and needing to challenge myself to come out of my shell and to try something new (and therefore often scary). For me personally, that also means replacing overhasty, somewhat self-defeating statements like "I can't.../ I'm not good at..." with "It can't hurt to give it a try".)

7. Soothe your mind - again, find quiet time and silence. Meditate, pray, sit with whatever moves you and (as the Buddhists would say) watch it pass as it all is transitory in nature. (Meditation is something I would certainly love to learn...and along with it the necessary patience, acceptance and forgiveness that I am often lacking with myself)

8. Notice your surroundings - (re)connect with your environment. Your neighbors, your community, your city, parks and places surrounding it...

9. Create community - again connecting and reconnecting with who and what surrounds us, reaching out and giving. (This is also a big one for me as the idea of a community has long fascinated me and I think we have a tendency to feel empty and isolated precisely because we have lost this sense of close-knit community. A network of friends with whom you share and discuss, a place where you can be honest, inspired, challenged and grateful with and for those surrounding you. Our neighbors and our friends in North Knoxville thankfully provide an idea of this for us on a small scale, and I am looking forward for us to hopefully grow yet closer together as the year continues. Inevitably, living closely together and sharing oneself is not always easy. So here's a quote (also taken from the article) by Swami Satchidananda that I thought was a great way to think of the struggles of living closely together with others: "The stones in a river start out rough, but with the current continually bumping and polishing them, they end up being beautiful.")

10. Make a nature date - once a week (or as often as possible) head for the mountains and meadows and parks and streams and exchange weight and tightness for buoyancy and rejuvenation.

And, now, slightly shorter, from the same article, 18 ways to feel more alive (I ommitted two that were very yoga specific):

1. Start a breathing practice
2. Express gratitude before meals
3. Ride the bus or your bike instead of driving
4. Begin each moring with a stretch
5. Get a massage on a regular basis
6. Smile at strangers
7. Plant a garden
8. Take a class
9. Write a letter
10. Enjoy a 15 minute afternoon siesta
11. Anoint your feet with oil and a little massage
12. Smile in the mirror every morning
13. Make dinner for your neighbors
14. Take a media fast
15. Visit an elderly relative
16. Return to a hobby you love
17. Sit under a tree for an afternoon
18. Tell your family and friends how much you love them

(Allow me to add from memory that happiness research, I believe, has shown that making a mental list of all the things that were good about one's day and that one is grateful for at the end of the day also increases happiness and life satisfaction.)

To make it official, I have a few offers/ resolutions/ hopes to add to the ones I already shared with you above (mainly leaving my comfort zone more often and working toward creating community):

1. Get up earlier to enjoy the special beauty and quiet moments inherent to early mornings
2. Exercise more regularly during the week (i.e. go swimming and/or join a yoga class again)
3. Eat less sugar (no comments)
4. Spend less time online and watch less tv (i.e. next to no tv anymore), spend more time reading
5. Found a book club to connect with others and to reconnect with my passion for reading and discussing good books

Realistically, I will be happy if I can say a year from now I have more often than not worked towards fulfilling 3 or 4 of these...

What are your resolutions?

Again, warmest wishes on a cold first day of the year (in this part of the world, anyway). And (in the words of a recent (yes!) advertising campaign...) may we all "take time to find (y)our om":


Oh, yes, and a photo I found online: