4 Questions To Ask Yourself Before the New Year

"Though these questions grew out of contemplation during illness, they can be used at any time. An alternative to year-end resolutions that imply we need to improve ourselves, her questions help us better know and understand who we are. From there, if we decide to make changes, they come from an entirely different energy. In fact, contemplating her questionnaire can be a form of svadhyaya, the Sanskrit term for self-study."

""Our feelings are our most genuine path to knowledge," Lorde said in a 1982 interview. "They are chaotic, sometimes painful, sometimes contradictory, but they come from deep within us. And we must key into those feelings...for new ways of understanding our experiences." So as a courageous (and less constrictive!) alternative to traditional resolutions, try journaling your answers to Lorde's questions below."

"In that spirit, we might look to the work of Audre Lorde, who described herself as a "Black, lesbian, feminist, warrior, poet." She was also a lyrical badass who was committed to art and activism and believed asking yourself questions could be a radical act. An American writer and professor, Lorde wrote what's come to be known as a "Questionnaire to Oneself" as part of an essay that shows up in her Cancer Journals."

Audre Lorde framed inward questioning as a radical practice that fosters self-knowledge and ethical self-study. Her "Questionnaire to Oneself," developed during illness, offers reflective prompts usable at any time to replace prescriptive year-end resolutions. The questions prioritize feeling-based insight, encouraging honest journaling without self-policing to uncover deeper truths. Contemplation of the questionnaire aligns with svadhyaya, the Sanskrit practice of self-study, and resonates with yoga's ethical principles. Embracing questions over statements supports changes that arise from clarity and internal authority rather than from pressure to improve according to external standards.

Read at Yoga Journal