Katrina Razon thinks New Year's resolutions are just a distraction
Is there a better way to do New Year's resolutions? For the multi-hyphenate Katrina Razon, it's better to turn the tradition on its head.
Instead of mapping out ambitious goals for a year, Razon believes it's much better to experience the moment and take it one step at a time.
From helping run Solaire and steering her investment fund KSR ventures among other artistic and business pursuits, Razon also doubled down in 2020 in her yoga practice. Check out below her views below on yoga, resolutions, and what 2020 meant to her.
You have really furthered your yoga knowledge and training this year. Could you describe this journey?
Yoga is an endless journey about connection. It is a spiritual practice that gets you out of your own head and stops you from getting in your own way. I’ve learned to stop stressing over things that are out of my control. Yoga grounds me into the present moment whether it is through my asana practice, pranayama or meditation. Things that used to worry me don’t matter anymore. I’ve learned to be grateful for what I have since this year has taught us how fleeting life is. In Yoga, we practice towards moksha – the freedom of desire.
Is putting up resolutions also a thing for you?
I think resolutions and goals are a distraction. It robs you from experiencing the present moment. You are constantly distracted by chasing goal after goal. Instead, I like to celebrate or register little steps of progress along the journey. If you don’t register progress even if it’s just through gratitude, achieving the goal becomes a depletion event. From a neurological view, you need that dopamine release to replenish motivation to avoid reward prediction error, because we reach disappointment or burnout if the rewards aren’t coming. If you get more dopamine in pursuit, it often leads to disappointment or emptiness.
You have to show up and be willing to be part of your own process. Take it one step at a time. Bring a level of self-inquiry. If you are looking for instant gratification or quick fixes, you will only be let down.
New Year being New Year, many people habitually take to New Year’s resolutions. Could you share insights on how such resolutions could be made more enduring?
As I mentioned, resolutions are a distraction. You have to show up and be willing to be part of your own process. Take it one step at a time. Bring a level of self-inquiry. If you are looking for instant gratification or quick fixes, you will only be let down. You need to bring an awareness to your breath to it because conscious movement is simply not possible without harnessing the power of your breath.
From a fitness and health perspective, how do you look back at 2020?
I reflect on 2020 as the year I truly discovered Yoga and the year I got out of my own way. I climbed the tallest mountain in Africa (Mt. Kilimanjaro) to raise funds for wildlife conservation, which was a huge achievement for me. It is the year when I became a Certified Awakening Yoga Teacher, which has changed my life. In order to maintain quality of life we need movement. We need to undo all of the sitting we do and get movement nutrition – if you don’t use it, you lose it.
