Start With You
Yoga For Inner Growth and Lasting Change
Start With You: Begin 2025 with Growth and Renewal
2024, like every year, had its ups and downs. The highs can be exhilarating, but the lows? They can feel devastating. It’s interesting how we often remember the details of every fall so vividly, yet the steps we take forward don’t always stick in our minds the same way. Maybe it’s because the falls expose us—our fears, doubts, weaknesses, and insecurities. They leave us raw, and that deeper knowledge of self stays with us, making the tough times seem like they’re always lurking around the corner.
But is it all for nothing?
Every challenge, every setback, every storm you’ve weathered has brought lessons with it. The “downs” are not just obstacles; they’re opportunities—opportunities to overcome fear, break bad habits, and face new challenges with strength and resilience. The key is to not let those moments of difficulty make you feel hopeless. Yes, it can feel like a never-ending cycle of setbacks, but each time you get up, you’ve already grown stronger.
When you find yourself in the thick of the storm, start with you. Focus on your mental health, your physical well-being, and your spiritual growth. These are the pillars that ground you, even in your hardest moments. Reflect on all that you’ve already overcome, all that you’ve learned, and all the love and support surrounding you. Let those truths fuel your hope, rebuild your confidence, and remind you of your capacity to move forward.
“As we experience pleasures happily, we must also learn not to lose our happiness when pain comes. As we see good in pleasure, we should learn to see good in pain. Learn to find comfort even in discomfort. We must not try to run from the pain but to move through and beyond it. This is the cultivation of tenacity and perseverance, which is a spiritual attiude toward yoga. This is also the spiritual attitude toward life.”
The fall isn’t what defines you—it’s the getting up. Each time you rise, you’re opening yourself up to new lessons, embracing the growth that comes from facing challenges, and letting go of the pain, stress, and fear that no longer serve you. That’s the power of starting with you.
As we step into 2025, take a moment to honor yourself for simply being here. Let this be the year you intentionally nurture your mind, body, and spirit. Open yourself up to new possibilities and release the weight of what’s been holding you back. This yoga practice can help you do just that.
By releasing the physical tension in areas where we feel tight or stuck, we also begin to release the mental and emotional stress we’ve been holding. It’s a way of making space—space for growth, for healing, and for joy. This practice invites you to let go of the struggles of the past year while holding on to the lessons they’ve taught you.
Start 2025 with you—with hope, with self-confidence, and with love. No matter what this year brings, you’ll be ready to face it, standing tall and strong.
“Yoga is for everyone. You need not be an expert or at the peak of physical fitness to practice the asanas described... Yoga helps to integrate the mental and the physical plane, bringing about a sense of inner and outer balance, or what I term alignment. ”
Forward Sukhasana (Seated Forward Bend)
Forward bends can be deeply calming, grounding, and restorative, though their effects may vary—especially when we’re experiencing stress, fear, or feelings of depression. The inward folding shape of forward bends encourages us to sit with whatever we’ve been holding inside, and that can be challenging.
When practicing forward bends, remember you don’t have to dive in all at once. These poses can be touch-and-go: entering just long enough to observe where you are mentally and emotionally, then using the rest of your practice to unlock, open, and release tension in your body, heart, and mind.
To practice: Sit on a cushion, folded blankets, or yoga blocks to elevate your hips. Cross your legs and fold forward, allowing yourself to settle into the position for 15-30 seconds. Rise, change the cross of your legs, and repeat.
2. Urdhva Hastasana (Upward Arms Pose)
This pose helps mobilize the upper back and release tension, stress, and strain often held in the neck and shoulders. But is it just tightness we feel there? Or is it fear, doubt, or anger?
Through this pose, we create space to work through those blocks, letting go of what holds us back.
To practice: Lift your arms overhead and spread your fingers wide to feel a stretch between them. Reach upwards, letting the lift in your fingers draw your arms and the sides of your body upward. This extension prepares you for deeper shoulder-opening poses.
3. Urdhva Baddanguliyasana (Upward Bound Fingers Pose)
This pose deepens the side-body extension and further opens the shoulders.
To practice: Interlock your fingers in front of you and turn your palms away. Keeping the fingers bound, lift your arms overhead. This interlock shifts the stretch to the centerline of the body, requiring more effort to straighten the arms and open the shoulders, chest, and armpits.
Hold for 10-15 seconds, release, change the interlock of your fingers, and repeat.
4. Paschima Baddanguliyasana (Reverse Bound Fingers Pose)
This pose takes shoulder opening further, connecting the upper back and expanding the chest.
To practice: Interlock your fingers behind your back. Without the help of arms overhead, lifting the sides of the body can feel more challenging. But you can draw on the awareness cultivated in earlier poses. Lift the sides of the body, roll the upper arms back, and open your chest fully.
This pose reminds us that even when our “hands are tied,” we can still find freedom. We can stand tall with open hearts, unafraid of challenges. Hold for 10-15 seconds, release, and repeat with the opposite finger interlock.
5. Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose)
This pose offers a chance to feel the rewards of your shoulder-opening work. It creates space in the sides of the body and opens the shoulders, bringing a sense of lightness and renewal.
This freedom is not just physical. Space in the body also opens space in the mind and heart, offering fresh perspectives, deeper self-love, and an expanded capacity to connect with others.
To practice: Place your hands at the edge of a couch, bed, or countertop and step back until your hips are over your heels. Press your hands into the support, stretching and extending the arms and sides of your body. Press your thighs back to lengthen further, allowing your head and neck to release between your arms. Hold for 20-30 seconds.
6. Viparita Karani
This deeply restorative pose is perfect for resting after opening the shoulders and chest. It’s an opportunity to reflect and release. After working through challenges, we let go of what holds us back and open ourselves to growth and renewal.
To practice: Place a pillow or blanket under your lower back and rest your legs on a couch, chair, or wall. Settle in, allowing the pose to fully support you as you rest.
7. Savasana (Corpse Pose)
The final resting pose helps you settle into the space you’ve created. Life will bring setbacks, and there will be times when you feel lost or stuck. When that happens, remember: you’ve done the work before, and with faith and grace, you can do it again.
For now, simply rest. Let your body, mind, and heart absorb the peace and renewal you’ve cultivated.
To practice: Remove any props supporting your back and rest flat on the floor. Allow your spine to settle into a neutral position as you release fully.
I hope this blog post helps you start the new year with a sense of ease and readiness, releasing any tension or stress from previous years. The short yoga class included here can be practiced anytime—it’s designed to fit seamlessly into your day. Try these poses in the morning to set the tone for your day, as part of your post-workout recovery, or even as a quick shoulder mobility routine between work meetings. Whether you’re at your desk or on your mat, this practice is here to support you whenever you need it.