January 2026

A Softer Path Forward: New Year Reflections

Dear Yogis/Yoginis ,

As we step into the new year, I want to offer something different from the usual resolutions and rigid goal-setting. Instead, let’s embrace reflection and renewal—not as pressure, but as an invitation to return to what matters most.

We’re living in chaotic times. The noise around us is loud, the divisions feel deep, and it’s easy to retreat into self-protection or self-righteousness. But perhaps the way through isn’t to become more rigid, more self-centered, or more certain that we alone are right. Perhaps the way through is softer, kinder, and more honest with ourself.

What if this year, we made kindness and altruism our practice? What if we looked inward—not with judgment, but with curiosity—to see where we might be contributing to the chaos, even in small ways? Where might we be holding tension when we could offer ease? Where might we be choosing reaction over reflection?

Let peace, fairness, and kindness be our North Star. Not just for our immediate personal gain, but for the greater good—for the communities we’re part of, for the people we encounter, for the world we share.

Here’s what we might discover: when we cultivate and share with humble confidence, patience, kindness, and altruism, happiness reveals itself naturally. Not because we’re searching for it externally, but because it emerges in the space we create through these practices. Our true nature is luminous, radiant, and light. The practice is learning to access it again and again, especially when life feels heavy. Not by denying difficulty, but by remembering that beneath the waves, there is stillness. Beneath the chaos, there is peace. Beneath the thoughts, there is awareness itself—and that awareness is already whole.

A Word About Balance

Choosing a softer path forward doesn’t mean abandoning your goals or dimming your drive. You can be kind and ambitious. Patient and productive. Compassionate and successful. The practice is using our gifts and skills more consciously—pursuing what matters to us while staying aligned with our values. Working hard, yes. Achieving, yes. But doing so with awareness of how we show up along the way.

Honoring Uniqueness, Remembering Connection 

On the mat, we honor each body’s unique needs, each person’s individual journey. And yet, we practice together. We breathe together. We hold space for one another. This is the paradox we’re invited to live: honoring our uniqueness while remembering our common bond, our shared humanity. Science and wisdom traditions both remind us of our shared origins. We are far more connected than we are separate.

 An Invitation 

So as this year unfolds, perhaps we could:

-Practice honest self-reflection with compassion

-Choose kindness, especially when it’s difficult

-Work toward ease in your body, your mind, your relationships

-Remember that the greater good includes your good too—they’re not separate

Let’s make this a year where our yoga practice extends beyond the mat and into how we show up in the world.

With gratitude for each of you,

Evelyne