Downward Dog Style: New Habits or a New Start on Old Habits?

It’s almost the New Year. Twenty twelve. The end all, be all? Either way, it’s time for making goals, resolutions, plans. Whatever you call them, it’s a time for thinking about the previous year and the present moment. The changes necessary to make whatever you said was going to happen, happen, or whatever you said you were going to do, the truth.

I had an interesting conversation the other day with a friend. He actually made me say aloud the five things that I am looking for in the next year. And not only did he make me say them aloud, he made me repeat them after I said them aloud the first time. What this fantastic friend, basically, forced me to do is remember that you have to always have what you want in mind. Keep it close, keep it apparent, keep it at the forefront, wherever it suits you to keep it, but be aware of what you set out to achieve. More importantly, be aware of what you are looking for, i.e., what you say it is you want; be real with yourself and get after it. Own it. Live it. Breathe it. Repeat it and repeat it often.

It’s not enough to occasionally refer to the list of goals, to occasionally reflect or occasionally adjust the plan. You have to make it known to yourself. Something I believe we oftentimes forget to do. To metaphorically prove the point, my friend asked, “how many times a day do you brush your teeth?” The answer for me is at least six times a day (I know, I know, wearing away enamel much?—and that’s cutting back from the usual eight times in a twenty-four hour period). And why do you brush your teeth six! times a day, he asked. Well, simply, because I want fresh breath. I want healthy teeth now and in the future. So, if you want a healthy fill-in-the-blank, you have to put in the work; you have to put in the effort and make it happen. Of course, a teeth-brushing comparison may be a bit of a stretch, but you get the idea. You have to really believe in your goal. And in believing in it, you, eventually, actually, put the plan into effect. You start the process and run with it. Dare I say it: you manifest it.

So, since I’m asking people to share their goals below in order to win free yoga, which, honestly, can be a bit difficult because of the vulnerability factor, I’ll, too, share one of my goals for the New Year: it is to be open to possibility. I made this goal just a few short weeks ago, I said it aloud, I said it aloud multiple times, in fact, even though John Selden said, “Never tell your resolution beforehand, or it’s twice as onerous a duty.” And surely enough, since then, some interesting doors have begun to open up, on more than one level. Professionally, personally…well, what else is there? Maybe the opportunities that have presented themselves to me aren’t the end all, aren’t the ultimate of what I desire, but they are opportunities all the same and they certainly are a big, fat, solid reminder of what being open to possibility can bring if only you’ll let it.

One month of yoga could be yours. Read on to find out how:

303 Magazine and Core Power Yoga are teaming up this New Year and offering a free month of yoga to one lucky person. Have you wanted to try yoga but haven’t had the time or the money…have some lofty goals for getting physical, spiritual, grounded or balanced? Tell us your New Year’s resolutions for the big one, 2012 and be the chosen winner of a month’s worth of yoga! Hey, this might be your last chance to get right with Mother Earth before we all transcend into a higher dimension next December, or…not. Tell us why you should get free yoga in the comments below. Contest continues throughout December 2011. Don’t miss it!