It’s a New Year, and while most of us are busy cleaning up from the holidays and making goals for 2024, there’s one resolution I hope everyone makes: one to be kinder to yourself. You might wonder if self-kindness can actually make a difference beyond just your feelings - but truthfully, it can be life-changing!

Most of us can are often extremely critical - both of ourselves and others - and tend to assume the worst in people. We often “react from a place of defensiveness, fear, or self-protection” rather than a place of love, grace, and healing. A mindful practice to reverse this trend in new year can transform how we think and, accordingly, how we live our lives.

I hope that you breathe out and relax a little when I tell you that all of us can - and should - be kinder to ourselves. All of us will experience negative emotions in our lives - doubt, fear, uncertainty, anger, grief, sorrow, to name a few - and the better we learn how to deal with these the quicker we can move back to joy. In the words of Tara Brach, who wrote this inspired article, “I have to love myself into healing.”

So what is the first step towards healing in the mist of difficult emotions?