As we reflect on the year gone by and look ahead to the next, it’s a perfect time to practice transitions. Transitioning with grace requires learning from the past without carrying excess tension. Sure, it’s easy to obsess over what didn’t go right, what you could have done better. But by beating yourself up about it you perpetuate habitual tension and impede your recovery and growth. 

Instead, as your replay the events of the year that’s ending with all their highs and lows, see yourself learning from them. Make some notes and jot down any moments you feel stuck on...

Use this exclusive meditation from Work IN to ease your transition to the new year, carrying the lessons rather than the baggage of the last year. It will help you let go and relax, recover for real, and grow from all that has happened — so that you can move into the New Year energized and purposeful.

LET GO

• Sit comfortably.

• Take a deep breath in... a slow breath out.

• Continue to deepen your breathing.

• Recall a task or interaction this year where you feel you might have fallen short in some way. Be specific about what happened, and the feeling it left you with.

• Rather than being hard on yourself about it, relax and see the situation as a lesson learned about how you want to handle things next time — visualize yourself behaving in the manner you are most proud of.

• Notice how the way you feel about that situation softens, and your body follows.

• Now, let go. See yourself as you are right now, stronger for what happened so that you can be content and relax as you prepare for the New Year.

Continue your practice of letting go and recovery for real with Mediation videos at video.athletesforyoga.com.