Word Of The Year 2026

I’ve decided on my word of the year, but before I tell you what it is, I want to make sure you understand I am not a “woo” person.

I am a stable, no-nonsense Capricorn who doesn’t believe in weird bullshit nonsense. Even stuff that yoga teachers say all the time, —things like “energy” and “prana” and “chakras?” Uh, no.

I mean, yeah, but always with the proviso that I’m speaking metaphorically. I don’t believe, for example, that there are spinning, rainbow-colored wheels running up and down my spine. I’m more of a Maslow’s Hierarchy of Human Needs kinda girl.

But one time, after an especially intense day of pranayama practice with my teacher Yoganand, I went to the King of Prussia Mall to find something to eat, and I kid you not, every single store I walked into—empty handed, mind you—I set off the Electronic Article Surveillance System (EAS). 

After eating my ramen in the food court, I walked into Lululemon, Sephora, Nieman’s, and Williams-Sonoma, and set off the alarm in every single one of them. Beep, beep, beep! 

Wtf??

The manager checked my purse. I had purchased nothing in any store. I was in joggers and a hoodie. 

Admittedly, I was still high as a kite from breathing like a MoFo all day in one of the most intense yoga sessions of my life, and I was roaming around those retail stores trying to sort of “touch grass” by checking out cookware and retinol serums.

It occurred to me, much as I didn’t want to admit it,  that maybe it was my prana that was setting off the EAS. Could I be emitting a pranic vibe? I certainly felt like I was vibrating at a higher level than the other mortals around me. But c’mon, man. Science. 

Those machines were designed to respond to tags riveted to the clothes. I was triggering the machines going into the store empty-handed. 

Ever since I was a child, I have been sensitive to the vibes  people and places give off.  My Uncle Jimmy had a creepy vibe; my mother’s friend Norma had a sunny, happy one. I couldn’t go into some of my playmates’ houses or certain restaurants without getting nauseous. 

Not to brag, but one of my superpowers as a yoga teacher is being able to read the room and adjust the vibe  up, down, or sideways, like a vibe DJ.

Same thing socially. If I’m not tired, and I want to, I can match a vibe, amp it, or dial it down at almost any get-together.

But it depends on my own vibe. 

To change the social vibe at a party or a bar, I have to be vibrant myself.

And to be vibrant, I have to do certain things on the regular: sleep nine hours, write, take baths, do pranayama and yoga, curate who I hang with, and cut out any vibe-killers.

Self-awareness is essential. Vibe checks need to be done daily, and even hourly, depending on the situation, and especially in sketchy situations where the place is unfamiliar, and the people are strange.

A vibe check looks like this: You walk into a room. Does your internal EAS start beeping? Is it a welcoming beep or a warning beep? Who is there? Are they relaxed or tense? Is anyone smiling? How are you breathing? Do you want to leave, or is staying okay for now? Does the scene have potential in any way, or does your internal GPS start repeating, “Recalculating”?

If you are listening and picking up the vibe, you’ll be okay, even if the vibe is off, because now you know what to do. Make a U-Turn. 

If you don’t pay attention to the vibe though, or fail to pick it up, you’ll make mistakes and find yourself in Bad Vibe-ville with no easy exit.

So this year I picked VIBE as my word of the year. I want to view people, places, and especially myself through the lens of how everything vibes. 

I want to take responsibility for my own vibes, and I also want to notice, in much more detail, how the people around me vibe and what effect their vibes have on me.

I want to clearly describe what I sense when I feel a vibe. I aim to develop a precise vocabulary for vibe, rather than simply noticing when a person or place exudes “a good vibe.” I want to pinpoint exactly what they are doing or what unique quality they possess that creates the vibe I’m sensing.

2026 is likely to be an interesting and challenging year. It’s the year of the horse. In numerology, it’s the number One. 

I still need to think of a symbol to represent VIBE. I want a talisman of some sort, something I can wear, or put in my pocket, to remind me to be mindful of the Vibe I’m putting out, and the Vibe I’m picking up.

Any ideas? What image comes to mind when you hear the word Vibe? Let me know. And if you pick a word of the year, what did you decide on this year?

I like this ritual. It’s fun. Much more fun than a resolution.

2025’s word of the year was “Lighten Up.” I kinda failed with that one, but I tried.

In 2023, I picked “What If,” and that one got me to Paris, so you never know! It’ll be interesting to see what will happen with Vibe.