With the advent of a new year many of us create a list of resolutions to improve our physical, emotional and/or spiritual health, but get caught up in the excitement of an opportunity for a fresh start and make the mistake of shooting for the sky and end up falling flat by February.

January 1 is a great time to commit to creating positive changes in our lives; the problem is many of us set ourselves up for failure. This year instead of making the “normal” resolutions of a big weight-loss goal, or going from not working out at all to promising ourselves that we will engage in a six-day workout routine or learn a new language in 30 days, we could perhaps try a more realistic approach and make the commitment to take small, daily steps toward the life we want by developing a mindfulness practice.

Mindfulness is being aware of what we’re sensing and feeling in the moment without interpretation or judgment. This state of mind allows us to think more clearly about our situation and accept things as they are even if we don’t like it or agree with it. When we embrace what is instead of what we hope it is, we are then better able to make choices that help us to achieve our goals.

I believe all the uncertainty and stress of 2020 taught us a lot about the importance of mindfulness. The more we focused on the negative aspects, the more anxious we became, while the more we grounded ourselves by taking deep breaths and being in the present moment, the better we felt.

Here’s to practicing mindfulness this year! I truly feel it will help us organically make better decisions for ourselves—mind, body and soul.

Shae