A Reflection Practice For 2023
The holiday season can be a wonderful time of year. A time to practice holiday traditions with your family. It is also a time to reflect on the past year, and look forward to the year to come.
Every year, I like to do a little practice to (hopefully) set me up for success in the year ahead. Or, at least give me some guide posts for what I want to accomplish.
The practice can be so simple. I typically:
-Lay out a yoga mat
-Make myself a good cup of tea
-Schedule this time with my husband so I can have some undisturbed ‘me’ time
-Have a journal and pen on hand
-Light a great smelling candle
-Listen to some calming music, a meditation on my InsightTimer app, or a bilateral stimulation playlist on Spotify
-Sit in a comfortable position, maybe close my eyes, and focus on my breathing
-Think about what went well, and did not go well, in the past year. What goals did I accomplish? What goals were left unfulfilled?
-Think about the year to come and what I want from this time. What goals do I want to set for myself? How can I meet the unfulfilled goals from last year? What do I need, such as resources or support, to set me up for success in the year ahead?
One last thing I like to do in this practice is to identify a word for my upcoming year. After reflecting on your past year, and identifying what you want for this next year, this work might come up easily for you. Or it might take some time to choose.
At the end of 2019 - the year of my first postpartum and a time that brought me to my knees - I reflected on my year and, after recognizing all of my growth and resilience that came from the depths of my being (which I realized, ‘depths’, was my 2019 word), knew my 2020 word was ‘rising’.
Then, as I practice mindfulness or meditation over the year, and my mind gets distracted or down a rabbit hole of thoughts (as the brain does), I use that word to bring me back into the present moment.
If you give this practice a try, I hope you find it as helpful as it has helped me. Take care and Happy New Year.
