Well, we’re into 2021. After the year we had in 2020, you might be finding it hard to feel optimistic about what might be in store for us in 2021, as we now know anything could happen! I would suggest the first thing we can do to set ourselves up for the new year is allow the turmoil and uncertainty, which visited us all in 2020, to go. Without doubt, holding on to it will tarnish our enthusiasm about this new year – with all its wonderful possibilities – and possibly prevent us from realising how wonderful it is to have a new year at our disposal.

Mindfulness exercise

People sometimes feel it’s very hard to let go and, yes, it can be initially, because – more often than not – we’re trying too hard. We’re thinking of letting go and forcing it, rather than allowing ourselves to let go. Let’s consider for a moment how the body lets go so many times on a daily basis as we exhale and, indeed, as we drift off to sleep each night. We can use our breath to witness our own ability to allow letting go. When we exhale, we let go of the breath and it leaves us; we don’t have to try to exhale - we simply allow it to happen. We often hold on to the past in the same way, without fully realising how that action limits our experience and enjoyment of the present - where our life is! So maybe this month, we could pay a little more kind and curious attention to ourselves to help notice when any worries or concerns from last year’s experience cross our mind. Then, we can take deliberate action by exploring our own ability to let those go, just like we let the breath go. You can even visualise (imagine) the worries leaving the body with the breath. See if it helps you feel better, and more hopeful, about 2021.

Exercises

Physical exercise

Child’s pose is a wonderfully restorative pose and, even if you’re struggling to let go of your dread that 2021 may be anything like 2020, this pose, practiced before bed, will certainly help you get rid of the physical stress in your back, hips, arms and shoulders, as well as being a dissolver of emotional stress.

Kneel on the ground. Touch your big toes together and sit on your heels, then separate your knees about as wide as your hips. Fold forward and lay your torso between your thighs; extend your arms out in front. And breathe. You can hold this pose for three breaths, to begin with.

Something to ponder

Everything is in flux, but you, in your essence, are constant. Trust the stillness within and let it soothe you. For sure, 2020 was a year like no other but it’s no longer with us now - it is passed, it is over. We can take the learnings from our experience of 2020 forward with us and use them to make the absolute best year we can out of 2021. We’ll make this a year like no other, for all the right reasons.