Beyond Resolutions: Real Change Begins with Presence

There is something about the beginning of a new year – it carries a particular kind of hope.  I know that for me, it brings a fresh inspiration of possibilities.  There is that feeling of clearing the slate, ofsetting fresh intentions. Of course, like many of us, this is where at times in my life I’ve look to setting New Year’s resolutions as a one way of shaping a path forward for the year ahead.

And yet, many of those good intentions began to fade once I re-enter the daily routines of life. This isn’t because I lack discipline or desire. More often, it’s because originally I was trying to create change through willpower, rules, or external goals, without attending to the deeper place from which my choices arise.

Over time, I’ve begun to notice something interesting. The changes that truly lasted in my life came from moments when something inside me shifted – often quietly, often unexpectedly. Those shifts didn’t feel like effort. They felt more like recognition.

What I came to learn was that real change often begins beneath behavior, at the level of consciousness. Lasting transformation doesn’t usually start with what we do; it starts with how we experience ourselves—our bodies, our emotions, our habitual ways of responding to the world. When that inner layer begins to soften or open, change follows more naturally, without needing to be forced.

The changes that reshape a life tend to arise from being – from moments of presence when we suddenly see something clearly. An old habit. A familiar tension. A story we’ve been carrying without realizing it.

When awareness deepens, old patterns begin to loosen. We stop trying to control and we begin to listen. And that listening creates space – for choice, for kindness, for a different response than the one we’ve always defaulted to.

I’ve noticed that when change comes from this place, it spreads gently. It affects how I listen to others, how I respond when I’m stressed, how at home I feel in my own body. Life becomes less about fixing what’s wrong and more about staying in conversation with what’s alive.

Over time, I’ve also learned that presence doesn’t usually arrive on its own. It helps to be invited.

Mind–body practices, along with the wisdom traditions of our ancestors, have been that invitation for me. They interrupt the usual momentum of life and open a doorway into a different quality of awareness – one that feels more grounded, more spacious, more honest.

I’ve discovered that when change happens at the level of consciousness – how we perceive ourselves, our bodies, our relationships, and the world—it carries a different quality. It grows from insight rather than obligation. Instead of pushing ourselves to become someone new, we begin to remember something essential about who we already are.

At the Cuyamungue Institute, this is the territory we explore together. Through embodied Ritual Postures and the intentional experience of altered states of consciousness, we create conditions where deeper layers of knowing can emerge. This work isn’t about striving or self-improvement. It’s about relationship – learning to trust the intelligence that already lives within the body and breath.

As we step into a new year, I find myself less interested in resolutions and more curious about presence. Less focused on what I want to fix, and more attentive to what’s ready to be seen.

However the year begins for you, presence has a way of meeting it.