Wishing everyone a wonderful new year!

Our family’s connection with Sri Krishnamacharya began in 1971, when he was over 80 years old. At this advanced age, one could imagine that he would be lost in the past, believing that the future had little left to offer him. Instead, he would always say, “The past is over. Think about what you can do in the future.”

We always have capacity to look upon each day as an opportunity to make a positive shift. That capacity is the fundamental power that yoga guides us to awaken. Our saṁskāra-s, meaning our past patterns, are doubtless strong. But so is our capacity to rewrite them.

Yoga emphasizes that the possibility to rewrite all the layers of our self is within us, always. Every thought, emotion, word, or behavior that we choose, changes us. The direction of that change is much more in our hands than we may realize.

External markers such as the shift of seasons, arrival of birthdays, or the turn of a new calendar year, can all be helpful in pushing our best intentions to the front. We can use that push. Yet, as each month goes by in the new year, we need not fear that the opportunity for positive change is ever lost within us. So long as we can guide our choices from within, every dawn can be the beginning of not just a new day, but also a new self.

The cycle of conscious choices and their resulting subconscious impressions is termed vṛtti and saṁskāra in yoga. This cycle continues in us, throughout our lives. We can change that cycle: by changing our thoughts and actions, we change the subconscious. Rewiring our subconscious rewrites the background of our self. Each time we replace a thought or action that is less meaningful to us with one that is more meaningful to us, we move towards the person we wish to be.

These positive changes are never lost. Even if they are buried deep within us (as saṁskāra-s), they will resurface when prompted. The resolutions you made last year—if you acted upon them even a little—are still of value this year. You can reawaken those positive changes. Their results are not permanently lost; they are dormant, waiting to be called upon and strengthened.

Let us build upon our best choices from our past to make even better ones in the coming year. May this new year bring to us a renewed commitment to inner and outer peace, joy in connection, and positive personal transformation.

Our best wishes to you and our prayers for a peaceful world.
The Mohans & Svastha Yoga Family