Namaste 2014

Resolve to Acknowledge Your Goodness

A New Year is a chance for a fresh start, a new beginning. As human beings, we tend to look backward before starting something new. We note all of the “mistakes” and “bad habits” we’ve had and resolve not to carry them forward. About this new journey, we say, “This time it will be different.”And if it’s not different, we feel terrible. By defining future possibilities in terms of what’s already happened, especially our negative associations with past experiences, we hinder ourselves. We place our focus on flaws and faults and create goals based on correcting those flaws and faults all in the name of self-improvement.What about acknowledging your goodness instead? What about looking into your heart and finding the joy and love and peace that is there and letting it shine out? What about letting that lovely light guide you for a day, a week, even an hour, if not for the entire year?At the end of yoga class, it is common to acknowledge our teacher and each other with an ancient salutation: Namaste. The divine light in me honors the divine light in you.This word is much more than a simple greeting; it is a state of being. And when we say it at the end of yoga class, filled with the sublime joy we have just spent time deliberately cultivating, we really mean it. We really feel the light inside ourselves. And feeling our own light allows us to feel the light of those around us. We can all bask in the glow of our shared goodness, our true inner selves.We are not a collection of faults, flaws and weaknesses to feel guilty about – to resolve to change – but a warm, glowing goodness open to the possibility of joy in any situation. When we choose to focus on this aspect of ourselves, and of others, all the flaws we thought we had tend to pale in comparison and will fade away in their own time.Of course, sometimes we have become clear on some aspect of our life or our behavior that is no longer serving us and we would truly like to change. If this is so, our inner goodness can support this process as well! The key to making an intentional change without a strict timeline, without guilting and badgering ourselves, is patience. We change to serve ourselves. And sometimes it takes a while, but slow is sustainable. Change does not have to be all or nothing.So, this new year, I invite you to say “Namaste” to yourself everyday; to cultivate strength of character through joy and peace; to love yourself just as you are.Happy New Year!