Hey {{first_name|beautiful human}},

I’d love to say that we’ve been sinking into winter with slow mornings, long meditations, and the kind of soul-listening that only seems to happen when the chaos of the festive season finally subsides. The reality, though, looks a little different. Life is moving, the days are layered, and there’s a lot being held at once as we pay even more attention to what actually supports our energy right now. 💫

This month has felt more like a refinement than a reset, as we recalibrate the structure that allows us to stay present. We’ve been adjusting schedules, tightening routines, and simplifying where we can. Through a tad bit of organized chaos, there’s been a steady rhythm to it - moments of quiet, stretches of intensity, and everything in between. Our main intention this month is to organize life so it feels sustainable, grounded, and aligned with the season we’re in.

We’ve been noticing how this season naturally encourages a different quality of presence. One that isn’t focused on fixing or changing anything, but on staying close to the experience itself and noticing what’s quietly taking shape beneath the surface. Letting things take shape without forcing clarity too soon.

This is one reason we tend to mark the new year closer to the Lunar New Year in February and the solstice in March, because it follows the moon, the seasons, and honors our body’s natural rhythm (instead of a calendar that asks us to “start fresh” while we’re still metabolizing winter)! So rather than rushing into resolutions on January 1st, we treat this season as a sandhi, a sacred threshold.

In yogic philosophy, sandhi means “joint” or “connection.” While the term can describe places of joining in the body, it is more often used to point to transitional spaces in time, breath, and awareness where one state dissolves and another has not yet fully formed. The brief stillness between the inhale and exhale, the moments of dawn and dusk, and the quiet threshold between waking and sleep are known as sandhi kaal, and have traditionally been recognized as potent times for reflection, meditation, and spiritual practice. 

A sandhi is a place of pause, a meeting point between what was and what is coming. It’s not a time for forcing decisions or rushing ahead, but for listening and gathering information. For planting quiet intentions beneath the surface, trusting that what is seeded now will find its way to the light when the season is right.

As the year turns, a familiar tension arises and it’s common to feel both hopeful and pressured. We look back at what didn’t unfold the way we imagined. We take inventory of our habits, our bodies, our lives. And somewhere in that reflection, a quiet belief sneaks in: I need to become someone else.

Enter the ‘new me’ resolution: cut sugar, run a marathon, train harder, wake up earlier, eat better, double down on discipline. These intentions aren’t wrong; many are rooted in genuine care. But most don’t last because discipline alone is a brittle fuel. It burns hot and fast. When life interrupts, when energy dips, when novelty fades, willpower eventually runs dry.

What’s missing isn’t effort. It’s alignment. When intention is born from pressure - external expectations or internal self-criticism - it asks us to override ourselves. And overriding the self is never sustainable.

Alongside the modern idea of resolutions sits another yogic practice: sankalpa.

Sankalpa is a Sanskrit word meaning “heartfelt intention” or “sacred resolve.” The term comes from the Sanskrit roots san, meaning "a connection with the highest truth," and kalpa, meaning "vow." Its roots point to something deeper than goal-setting, it’s a vow aligned with one’s highest truth. Rather than asking you to become someone new, a sankalpa invites you to remember who you already are beneath the noise, habits, and expectations that accumulate over time.

Unlike resolutions, which often focus on external goals, future outcomes, and measurable success, a sankalpa is:

Rather than saying “I will eat better,” a sankalpa might sound like: “I honor my body with care and respect.”

The difference is subtle, but profound. One is powered by pressure and the other is sustained by truth. And truth, once remembered, doesn’t require willpower to survive.

In Ayurveda, health is understood through rhythm. It looks at how well our internal systems flow in harmony with nature, with each other, and with the cycles of life. Digestion, sleep, energy, mood, breath - everything in the body follows a rhythm. When we honor those patterns, we can allow our body to do what it is always trying to do; which is to move towards balance. But when we override our natural signals by pushing through fatigue, ignoring hunger or stillness, rushing instead of resting; imbalance begins to take root.

From this perspective, physical, emotional, or energetic discomfort isn’t a failure; it’s information. Health becomes less about perfection and more about staying in relationship with what’s actually happening. Sankalpa aligns beautifully with Ayurvedic principles. When intention arises from honest listening and paying attention to what nourishes and what depletes you, it becomes a bridge between insight and action.

A growing body of research shows that having a sense of meaning and direction supports not only mental well-being, but also physical resilience and longevity as well.

This is often referenced in studies of the Blue Zones, regions where people tend to live the longest and healthiest lives. In Okinawa, for example, elders speak of their ikigai, a personal “reason to wake up in the morning.”

Sankalpa is a similar concept as a simple yet powerful internal orientation that can gently shape your energy, your schedule, and your journey through the year.

Let us be clear: your purpose does not need to be large-scale or world-changing to be powerful and meaningful. It doesn’t have to involve solving global problems or curing disease. Your purpose might be to tend to your family with deep care. To listen generously. To teach your children to breathe through frustration. To move through your day with compassion and integrity. These quiet, consistent intentions often shape a life more meaningfully than any headline ever could and they’re often the very things that bring lasting contentment and peace.

According to both yogic and Ayurvedic teachings, transitional times are the most potent for reflection and planting seeds of intention.

January and February are not just “goal-setting season”, they’re also seasonal shifts, a natural time to pause, turn inward, and ask: What is essential now?

This is why we view this time not as a rush toward reinvention, but as an invitation to establish rhythms that feel supportive and sustainable. Intention becomes easier to live when it’s paired with gentle structure as something that holds you steady while life continues to move.

For some, that structure might look like a daily meditation, a journaling practice, or simply a few minutes of quiet time alone before the day begins. For others, it can be deeply supportive to anchor intention through movement and breath.

Rather than rushing to define your sankalpa, allow it to emerge. Spend time listening. Notice what keeps returning to your awareness. Ask yourself what quality of being feels most supportive right now. Not what you think should matter, but what truly does.

A sankalpa is meant to be lived, not achieved. It doesn’t demand urgency or certainty. It simply asks for honesty, presence, and a willingness to stay connected as the year unfolds.

These Breathe and Flow practices pair beautifully with sankalpa setting and reflection along with our 30-day yoga calendars. The calendars offer a steady, daily touchpoint that helps bring intention into the body through consistent practice.

May your sankalpa guide you with quiet strength, through whatever 2026 holds, from the softest breath to the strongest choice. As always, we’re grateful to walk beside you on this path.

With love and presence,

Share this with someone you love, it might plant a seed they’ve been waiting for.

P.S. You might like our issue all about the daily ritual Sadhana and why it might be the practice your soul’s been craving.

📖 Huge Study Confirms Purpose and Meaning Add Years to Life: A strong sense of purpose, known as ikigai in Okinawa, has been linked to lower stress, reduced inflammation, and longer life, according to research on longevity.

So {{first_name}}, if today feels full...
Put on this song; it was created to quiet the noise, slow your breath, and soften your nervous system.
Let it hold you while you journal, stretch, or simply sit in stillness.

…🧘…