Stepping Into 2026 With Intention
Stepping Into 2026 With Intention
By Nicola Colville
January always arrives with a certain quiet magic. The holiday lights dim, the snow settles, and suddenly we find ourselves standing at the threshold of a new year. It’s a moment suspended between what has been and what might be. For many of us at Luna Yoga, this gentle pause feels familiar—like that single breath before we move from one pose to the next, the space where awareness awakens.
As 2026 approaches, I’ve been thinking a lot about intention. Not resolutions, which often come with pressure and perfectionism, but intention—something steadier, more loving, more rooted. Intentions don’t demand immediate transformation. They invite presence. They call us to tune in to what we truly need and to move through our lives with conscious choice rather than habit.
In yoga, intention—sankalpa—is like an inner compass. We set it quietly at the beginning of practice, often in stillness, often with our palms resting on our hearts. A sankalpa is not about changing who we are. It’s about remembering who we already are beneath the layers of noise, distraction, and self-doubt. It is a promise we make to ourselves in the language of the heart.
As a new year begins, it’s easy to feel the pull to do more, be more, and achieve more. But intention invites us to soften. To ask different questions. Instead of "What should I change?" we might ask, "What do I want to nurture?" Instead of “How can I improve?” we might ask, “How can I show up more fully as myself?”
On the mat, intention shapes the way we inhabit each pose. We can move through a vinyasa with force or with grace; we can hold Warrior II with tension or with curiosity. The pose is the same, but our experience shifts entirely when we realign with the intention behind our movement. Off the mat, it’s no different. The calendar may flip from December to January, but our days continue in the same rhythm. It’s our relationship to those days that can transform.
Perhaps 2026 can be a year where we choose to be more deliberate with our energy. A year where rest is not an afterthought, where connection is prioritized, where we say yes with enthusiasm and no without guilt. A year where we ground ourselves like Mountain Pose, create space like Supported Bridge, and breathe through the moments that challenge us, just as we do in our practice.
Setting an intention for the year doesn’t have to be grand or poetic. It might be a single word—kindness, strength, presence, joy. It might be a feeling you want to cultivate or a value you want to live by. Whatever shape it takes, let it be something that anchors you rather than overwhelms you.
As we step into the new year together, may 2026 be an intentional year—one guided by clarity, compassion, and the quiet courage to live in alignment with what matters most. From my heart to yours, I wish you a year filled with grounding breaths, open hearts, and moments of stillness that remind you of your own inner light.
May your intention lead the way.
Namaste,
Nix
