We asked some of our teachers to share why it’s important to practise on New Year’s Day. Read their reflections and share your practice with us this long weekend. All classes are by donation on the 01 January, benefitting local charities.
1) seeing your reality transformed
“The power of intention is amazing. To set an intention when one is in a calm, present and relaxed state amplifies its power beyond words. To combine your intention with yoga and the breath sees your reality transformed!” – Carolyn Cowan
2) cultivating your sankalpa
“New Year’s intentions like “I will exercise more” or “I will not eat cake in January” come from a place that says we are not good enough and plays on our unsettled and anxious feelings, reinforcing the assumption that our happiness depends on acquiring something we don’t have, or becoming someone we are not. The tradition of yoga offers an alternative to these misguided intentions – the practice of sankalpa, or resolve. Reframe your results-oriented resolutions and create greater purpose beyond the physical realm. What value do you wish to bring to your life? We practise yoga on New Year’s Day to set the tone for the year ahead as we incorporate a sankalpa into your practice by reciting a short affirmation to bring about positive change. As we practise on January 1, ditch fear in challenging postures to symbolise stepping forward every day even when we are afraid to do so. Don’t look at your neighbour’s handstand – this will only make you live a smaller life and stop you reaching your own goals. And when you walk off the mat after practice, don’t leave your sankalpa there. Bring it with you and it’ll power you through all the challenges of life.” – Genny Wilkinson Priest
3) coming together to connect + celebrate
“I’m going to be controversial perhaps and say that the usual answers about ‘detoxing’, fitness and discipline miss the point. New Year’s Day offers us a unique kind of unity and shared experience in an often divided world and gives us tools for transformation. In any of my triyoga classes, I love how we all come together – across Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu and so many other religious or non-religious backgrounds, all finding something sacred inside and in the shared space. For me reflection and soulful intention setting on this particular day makes the secular something sacred and speaks to our human desire for togetherness, rites of celebration and passage. The tools I love to use involve setting a soulful intention or vision for how I want to be, what I want to learn, where I want to spend my energy in the coming year. I often use the 7 chakras as a starting point with poses and practices to increase sensitivity, awareness and perspective. For me, this makes New Year’s Day a real celebration and a way to move forward in myself and in community.” – Lisa Sanfilippo
4) reminding ourselves of our true nature
“As we move towards the end of this year, inevitably we find ourself reviewing our last year and reflecting on the year to come. I find it useful to remind myself of the yogic Sankalpa practice. The sankalpa practice starts from the premise that we are already who we need to be to create the life we want to live. The practice is to draw our mind again and again away from the external conditioning to our internal environment and to our true self. The sankalpa becomes a resolve, like a statement, we call upon to remind ourselves of our true nature, to guide our choices and inform us on the actions we ought to take into the world to fulfil our potential and the best version of ourselves.” – Daniela Dodaro
5) focusing our minds + hearts
“The first day of the year has a powerful vibe to it. This is why so many of us set intentions. It feels like a clean slate, a new start, a fresh opportunity. We can take stock of what has been, accept what is, and make space for what might be. So practising yoga, with breath and clarity of intention, can give your new year a sense of purpose, as well as focus our minds and hearts to a positive view of what lies ahead. I can’t think of a better way to start! Feeling better in body, steady and clear in mind, open and free in heart? Yes indeed.” – Kate Walker
6) aiming an arrow at a target
“New Year’s Day is a powerful time and opportunity for making a brand new start and for re-energising and refocusing your yoga practice and life. The start of the new year is a new beginning – so meeting it positively and consciously symbolises how we wish to move forward and the energy and positive qualities we want to draw into our lives. Getting clear about what’s important and setting your intention at this time of year is like aiming an arrow at a target – it gives directionality to our energy and our path in life and helps us move clearly towards and achieve our goals.” – Jeff Phenix
7) manifesting our intentions
“Practising yoga on New Year’s Day helps us to SEE our intentions, FEEL them, BELIEVE in them, RECOGNISE them as true and finally begin to ACT on them – and this, is exactly how I try to manifest each and every one of my intentions.” – Julie Montagu
Start your 2017 with these New Year’s Day workshops…
Kate Walker
start as a mean to go on
sun 01 January 2017, 11.30am – 1.30pm, camden
book now
Lisa Sanfilippo
new year energy tune up: access all areas through the 7 chakras
mon 02 January 2017, 10.00am – 5.00pm, camden
book now
Carolyn Cowan
moving into 2017: projections + plans
sun 01 January 2017, 11.30am – 1.30pm, chelsea
book now
Julie Montagu
new year, new you: detox your mind + body to nourish your spirit
sun 01 January 2017, 3.30 – 5.30pm, chelsea
book now
Jeff Phenix
new year’s day immersion: purification, rejuvenation + transformation
sun 01 January 2017, 11.00am – 1.30pm, soho
book now
Genny Wilkinson Priest
yoga for life, not just the new year
sun 01 January 2017, 3.30 – 5.30pm, soho
book now
All New Year’s Day classes are by donation, with proceeds benefitting local charities (Camden + Soho donations will go to Magic Breakfast and Chelsea‘s will go to West London Action for Children). Check online for class times and details.
