The ending of 2015 and start of 2016 signified two awesome firsts for me: Teaching yoga on New Years Eve and starting off the New Year by working out.

On New Year’s Eve I had the privilege of teaching two yoga classes at One Down Dog in Silverlake. In the [almost] 4 years that I have been teaching group fitness I have always taught early morning classes but never in the evening. Much to my surprise, my classes were busy with eager yogi’s ready to ring in the New Year. These NYE yogi’s were something special. As a matter of fact the classes were just different all together. There was a lightness and jovial festivity to the tone that filled the room. The levity was contagious. People even smiled when I reoriented class so that we could practice in a circle. People made eye contact with others in class, people connected, people laughed. It was beautiful to witness, share in, and be part of. Sending off the year in some detoxifying and energizing yoga was just the way to bid adieu to 2015.

New Year’s Day, a day of continued indulgence and extension of the night before while getting in some serious TV time, spent lamenting the end of the holiday season as we start to remember that inevitably we will all have to go back to work [sigh]. Preemptively, the husband and I decided that we were going to do something we have never done on New Year’s Day: workout. We’d naturally eat and lay on the couch later. So, on December 31^st, we signed up for a 10:45am workout at Orangetheory Fitness West Hollywood to hold ourselves accountable.

9am, the alarm went off. We turned it off, and went back to sleep. 9:45am, I wake my husband and we have a chat debating whether or not to go because ‘wouldn’t it be so nice to sleep in and lay in bed all day?’ 10:15am, we get dressed and head out the door because this workout sets the tone for 2016.

High from the endorphins coursing through our bodies, we left the studio chilled in sweat, proud that we rallied and committed to ourselves. I felt strong and alive and thought to myself, ‘Now that’s how you make shit happen—not by saying it, not by thinking it, not by wanting it, but by doing it.’

2016 is my Year of Yes. I am through with the excuses and done wishing. Nothing I want in this life is going to appear by falling into my lap. Anything worth having requires that I put in the effort. Yes to me. Yes to my capabilities. And yes to my heart’s desires.

What are you saying yes to in 2016?