New Year's Resolutions and Spiritual Stocktaking

By the third week of January, many of us have already forgotten the well-intentioned resolutions made at the stroke of midnight. One perspective of resolutions is deeply rooted in the Jewish tradition.

The Jewish calendar begins in the fall with the holiday of Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year). The month of Elul, (often between August and September) which precedes the new year is a time known as tshuvah. Tshuvah has several meanings. One is to repent for past actions; another is to return to your source. I like the latter meaning, as it connects to why I love and practice yoga - to unite our worldly selves with our higher selves through sacred practices.

Self-reflection and improvement are obligations of every Jewish person. One of the traditions during the 30-day period of tshuvah, is to hear the sound blown from a shofar, a ram's horn, each day after the prayer service. The sounds that come from a shofar are startling and intense. It is said that the shofar can wake you from your unconscious slumber and attune you to what your life's work is.

The root of the word shofar is similar to the root of the word L'eshapher, the Hebrew word to beautify. The shofar reminds us of our inner beauty and is a call to allow that beauty to come from within and materialize in the world. Each year we are expected to grow and change and move towards self-actualization. The month of Elul provides us with space and time to do this inner reflection.

Let me share a story about tshuvah..There was once a woman who went to synagogue to pray at the Jewish New Year. An old friend approached her and said: "You look great, you haven't changed a bit." While at first this seemed like a wonderful compliment, it soon began to bother her a great deal. Here it was, she thought to herself, a brand new year and it seems I am no different than I was last year. Is it possible that I have not grown and changed? She began to give serious thought to this comment. In the context of a Jewish life, it was no compliment at all.

The Jewish tradition assumes we will change, and that these changes are the product of inner reflection and tshuvah. How can you both change and return, you might wonder? We need the courage to acknowledge how and where we have strayed from the three cornerstones of Jewish life: the 613 Jewish commandments, the obligation of tikkun Olam (or healing and repairing the world), and performing charitable deeds towards others. These are what we return to.

The process of tshuvah allows each of us to see where we are off the mark in relationship to ourselves, to God and to others humans. It then prescribes a series of four steps towards becoming a better "marksperson."

An Egyptian Rabbi and physician named Maimonides developed the four distinct steps of tshuvah in the 12th century. He explained that the first step in tshuvah is acknowledging where you are off the mark. The second step is to feel regret for having arrived at this place. The third step is to offer an apology to yourself, others or the Creator. The last step is the most difficult - making a commitment to change in the future.

Tshuvah is a soulful process, which can be both painful and rewarding. So where does yoga come into the process? This is where the yogic and Judaic connections become rather interesting. Hatha and raja yoga are tools for assisting us in the returning process, which is inner work.

While the Jewish tradition acknowledges the body as the temple of the soul, there is no recognized tradition of physical practice that helps us attune our bodies and keep them open and whole. The asanas can help us connect with deep emotions that we carry and store within the body. The practice of hatha yoga can be a very useful barometer for telling us where we are off the mark as physical and emotional beings.

It is through our sacred breath that we return to our souls. In Hebrew the word to breathe is nishmah, similar to the word neshamah, the Hebrew word for soul. Breath allows access to the soul. Pranayama, or the practice of conscious breath control, is a wonderful tool for beginning this process of returning inward so that we can begin to reflect on where we are off the mark and how we can re-pattern our actions and thoughts. Pratyhara is the turning inward of consciousness.

Dhyanna or meditation can provide us with the sacred space to hear our inner voices and help us understand the essence of our soul's work in this life - how each of us can heal and mend the world we live in. Without this inner connection, how do we best set our targets? Yogic practices provide invaluable tools for tshuvah.

For me, Judaism is a religion of consciousness. I do tshuvah each year, hoping and praying that when I run into that old friend he or she will say: "You look great, my how you've changed!"

Evelyn Neaman is the Director of Tikkun Yoga Centre in Vancouver. The Centre offers a sacred space for people to explore the relationship between yoga and Judaism and Evelyn incorporates this theme into some of her teaching.