letting go of the year: how to have a more mindful 2017

We all know that feeling: between the chimes of Big Ben and the kisses on the cheek falls a shadow, a nagging drive and doubt. We ask ourselves, just how do we have a better New Year?

For many of us-myself included-2016 was a year significantly marked by change and loss; artistic loss (David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Prince, to name just a few) and political change on a seismic level. Change and loss can leave their mark on us, and we can carry this grooved sense of discomfort into the next year, causing us to neglect the promise and wonder of 2017.

So, can we have a more mindful New Year?

We can. We can all develop this faculty of mindfulness within us, that practice of bringing our life back into focus in a vivid and meaningful way.

How?

Here’s how-by cultivating 5 of the best mindful habits that can, with practice, generate a more mindful and compassionate 2017:

1. Pause: stop what you are doing, even if it’s just for a minute. Pay attention to the increasing sunlight as January moves forwards
2. Breathe: as you breathe feel into your breathing body; the delicious new air oxygenates your body and brain, flooding you with healthy neurochemicals
3. Sow seeds of care: take time to wish all those around you peace, ease and happiness (and the bonus is that by offering them your compassionate wishes, your self-compassion grows too!)
4. Open to the present: explore all the golden opportunities around you that allow you rest mindfully in the moment, turn queue waiting into mini meditations, a walk from the train to work into mindful walking; let the past and the future fall away
5. Take it as it comes: practice acceptance and start to befriend change-thoughts, emotions, feelings all change; attune to the inner season and rhythm of your life

Happy New Year!