Often as we head into the New Year we punish ourselves with blame and guilt and start a whole dialogue of ‘should’ and ‘have to’. I suggest you throw all of that away!

And while you’re at, ask yourself if there anything else you could throw away as well … a habit that may not be conducive to living your life to its full potential?.. A relentless ongoing dialogue with or about someone in your head that is going nowhere, just stirring up feelings of annoyance and distress? We all have stuff we need to let go of and it’s not quite as simple as ‘just let it go’ … there is a process involved for you to figure all of this out with yourself.

The easiest way through this process is taking gentle, gradual steps and doing small positive things on a daily basis that enhance the quality of your life. In order to reduce the ‘bad stuff’ you need to make space for the ‘good stuff’. A daily mindfulness or meditation practice will help you learn how not to let the negative thoughts take a grip of you and run away with themselves. A daily habit of exercising or paying attention to healthy eating habits will help eliminate behaviours that aren’t supporting your optimal health.

Baby steps are best … one small thing at time. What is the easiest thing for you to change? Cut out the evening snack? One glass of wine instead of two (or two instead of 5 ;-)? ? A daily 20 minute walk around the block? A weekly yoga class? When we make the effort and experience the benefits of positive change we become charged up with enthusiasm and motivated to make our next small change. Tell yourself well done and do this often. Even if it’s something small like putting away the packet of biscuits after one instead of mindlessly eating on and on. Become your own cheerleader, the mother proudly clapping and encouraging her baby to take another little step.

Be kind to yourself, be encouraging of all the goodness that’s there. Crawl, walk, run at your own pace and realise there’s no race to becoming your best self, just an ongoing journey that’s made all the more pleasant by living the best life we can on route.

Happy New Year!

Sylvia teaches live online yoga twice a week and monthly online workshops. You can find out more on the events and workshops page or sign up for her newsletter on her home page. Pre-recorded classes are available to you any time, you purchase once and own forever. If you’re new to Sylvia or back to yoga after a break we suggest Hatha Yoga to start. Bundles include the Zen Collection, a variety of classes for every mood, and the Daily Collection, five half-hour daily practices. Please inquire about virtual Mindfulness in the workplace. We remain very hopeful for a return to outdoor yoga in Spring Summer ’21. Join us!