Reframing Resolutions
I started chair yoga last month.
Still with me?
I started chair yoga last month – and – it feels like one of the most restorative practices I have given myself to in a long while. While there was quite a bit of surrendering that went on within when I decided that it was okay to aim for chair yoga rather than marathons and CrossFit, and a degree of self-love and empowerment, it has felt kind of – great.
Have you ever wondered why many of us wind up every year on January first with a new set of goals and aspirations? How often do we make the same commitments and set the same goals, year after year after year? (It’s not just me, is it?) Life happens, right? Personal stress, mental health illness, job overload, burnout, break ups, break downs, new relationships, budding friendships, travelling – there are a host of reasons why we fall off our preverbal wagon – from the good to the bad and the in-between.
For me, it was 13 biopsies. How was I supposed to keep up with exercise when it felt like my body was being cut apart every few months?! I mentally punished myself a lot. We do that, don’t we? As if the suffering isn’t already enough, throw in some self-loathing and shame too.
I digress.
I had a regular workout routine before. I loved to run, skip, and weight train. But this past year, I could not get into it. After a few new health diagnoses, part of my doctor’s (yes, plural) treatment plan was yoga. Months and months went by that saw me unable to apply myself, and my doctor finally prescribed chair yoga through their medical clinic. I have quite literally been prescribed something that feels like it should have been so easy for me to accomplish on my own, yet I couldn’t. And it has made me wonder how many of us are in this same position. How often do we wait until we absolutely must do that thing that is good for us rather than make the choice on our own?
After my first class, I cried.
I knew I had to surrender to this modality that was serving not only my body but my mind and overall well-being, but I felt sadness that I had to be forced into it and was unable to make that choice for myself. I was unable to say to myself, ‘You can’t do heavy exercise right now, so do something easier, more suited to your situation.’ I had adopted a real all-or-nothing attitude. Is this why we fail? Is this why every year, as the first of January rolls up, we are all making a renewed commitment to whatever it was we stopped doing last year at some point? Due to a reason that we should instead find compassion for or journal about – probably both. Tapping into compassion, we could possibly find ease, allowing some change to be good enough. Perhaps we could resolve to reframe what resolution means. The etymology of the word resolution comes from the Latin word resolutionem, meaning to “reduce to a simpler form”, and stems from the word resolvere, which means to “loosen” or “untie”, which is generally the exact opposite of how we usually set our more strict and rigid resolutions.
What is it for you? What did you resolve to do more or less of this year? What are your goals?
Are they rooted in self-compassion and care for yourself, or were they made from another place? We challenge you to reframe your resolutions this year. If you didn’t make any – why? If you did, why? Reflection is important. Your reasons for implementing change, or deciding not to, is just as important as the change itself. While the history of New Year’s resolutions is tied to committing to be a “better person” in the year to come, maybe success itself is, in fact, tied to letting go of our resolutions and instead understanding why they are important to us in the first place. For me, working out greatly helps my mental health and well-being.
I may not get ripped this year. But perhaps I’ll move my body more, in a gentle way. And for me, that must be enough. That must be celebrated. What should you be celebrating today? What are you easing into? Whatever it is, allow that ease to include yourself.
-A
