Welcoming the New Year with Mindfulness

Mindful Editor Anne Alexander reflects on the end of the decade and the start of a new year.

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As an old year ends and a new one begins, I’d love to invite you to join me in doing a simple practice that helps us recognize this transition and honor all that has happened and all that awaits each of us.

You might want to have a few tissues or a journal handy. I find this practice brings so many emotions to the surface, making me teary and grateful and excited to be alive all at once. I hope you find it similarly powerful. 

A Practice for Honoring the Transition to a New Year Sit comfortably, relax your body, and close your eyes.Slowly, gently, breathe in through your nose, and out through your mouth. Now, imagine that you are breathing in all of 2019 and what transpired for you, bringing the whole year into your lungs with each breath.Survey your memories as they come in on your breath and fill your lungs, catching glimpses of the year’s high and low moments.Allow yourself to feel the good, bad, disappointing, marvelous, wondrous, thanking everything that life brought to you this year.Feel the fullness of the year, savoring these moments of reflection. Let it all go. With a few deep, long exhales, let it all go.Experience the tides of your…