January’s Theme: Permission to Go Within
I’ll be posting along the way - some of the things I’ve learned and the way my journey is unfolding. This is January, 2026:
If there is a theme for this new month of this new year, it is stillness. Going inward to reflect. To unfold. To notice the rhythms of this quiet place in the heart of winter.
Stillness is not easy. It does not come naturally.
One of the many reasons Savasana is considered one of the most difficult poses in yoga to master, stillness encompasses not only a lack of physical movement, but a stilling of our mind and spirit as well. Practicing stillness is at the heart of most meditative practices, because it takes repetition and discipline to acknowledge our thoughts without engaging with them or allowing them to sit in the driver’s seat and steer our emotions into a collision.
You would think that in our crazy, hurry-up world we would welcome stillness as a much-needed reprieve. Our bodies often crave true rest and stillness, but our minds have difficulty grasping the concept. Stilted by culture and expectation, we somehow can’t allow true stillness to overtake all our other senses. To just sit with and within our own thoughts. Simply breathing in and out. Taking stock.
There is no magic mantra. The only way to overcome this resistance to stillness is to do it anyway. To practice and fail reminds us how much we actually need to set aside the time to regularly practice going within.
Cultivating stillness is a rare and beautiful chance to survey the landscape of our own inner worlds and identify the bare spots while appreciating the beauty we’ve grown in patches along the way.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a fan of resolutions, per se. But I am a fan of looking back and noticing what’s been working and what hasn’t. Adjusting your expectations to a manageable level. Not with sweeping changes but small, measurable course corrections that more accurately point you in the direction of your goals. Not comparing yourself to anyone else. Putting aside the socials and reading about what everyone else is doing.
Just you, and maybe a notebook and a pen.
Sure, January is typically an opportunity to practice this “out with the old, in with the new” mentality on a somewhat grander scale. Another year older. Another 365 days around the sun. But we have to remember that life is a process, not a product. We have to allow for failure while still planning for success, because a little of each is inevitable.
The older I get, the more I see the wisdom in the Vedic practices of both acceptance and non-attachment. Acceptance of where we’re at each day. Some days are better, stronger. Some are not. But also practicing not attaching to any particular ideal. It’s good to have goals - something to work toward - but often we confuse goals with a need to perform. To be productive. To achieve. But the achievement of the goal and the goal itself are not the same thing. Perfection is not the goal, and that can be incredibly freeing.
What if we kept it simple? What if we took the pressure off ourselves to be and achieve and produce.
What if progress was the goal?
A collective sigh seems to happen this time of year, as we welcome in this season of inner unfolding. So go ahead and light a candle. Steep some tea. Look within and identify which seeds are buried deep within your heart of hearts. Listen for the breaking open of that outer seed-coat that happens only in the darkness, below the surface.
Allow yourself to envision that which wants to grow :)
With Love,
Lynda
