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When I think of “new beginnings,” I often think of the start of a season, the start of a school year, or the start of some large undertaking like starting a new job or moving to a new location.
Of course, new beginnings happen much more often than that. We can look at the astrological calendar and mark our new beginnings according to the new moons. Or we can look at the Gregorian calendar and mark it according to the years, months, weeks, or days.
But really, new beginnings are constantly happening. Literally every single second is a new beginning. Every single moment we have the opportunity to become the person we so long to be.
But how do we really take advantage of that?
As a yogi, I am of course going to talk about how our Yoga practice helps us achieve this. This isn’t just for the sake of it …but it’s true! Yoga is all about stilling the body, mind, and soul in order to be fully present. And it is only in the present moment in which we can make a conscious choice to become a new person.
It’s only in the present moment that we can…
Choose love over shame.
Choose joy over anger.
Choose contentment over regret.
Choose new habits over old habits.
Now believe me, there are plenty of moments in which I have not taken an opportunity to choose something different because we all know that familiarity can lead to comfort. It doesn’t matter if that means procrastinating over every single thing because at the end of the day our brains like the familiar.
If we don’t make a conscious effort to take control of the mind (which can be wildly uncomfortable), we could be in autopilot for our entire lives and think everything is just fine and dandy - Hello The Truman Show.
Since you, the reader, have made your way here I am assuming you’re either interested in the practice of Yoga or you are actively practicing, maybe even teaching, Yoga. And there’s a chance you’re interested in or have experienced the effects of this powerful practice.
Personally, the practice of Yoga has helped me access deeper layers to myself and has shown me what living life with a clearer lens can do. It has taught me self-compassion and true self-love. It has also shown some light on the shadows in my life like self-abandonment, self-inflicted shame & guilt, and externalization of joy.
Now, I’m not going to go into every yoga class, every meditation, every therapy session, or girl chat but what I will say is that it is always brought back to making choices in the present moment. We constantly have the choice to start again. So why not start now?