10 ways to close out the year mindfully

As the year comes to a natural close, it’s normal to reflect on the past and contemplate the future. What do you wish you did differently? What are you proud of? What mindset do you want to bring into your life in 2021? 2020 was an incredibly difficult year for many of us. It’s normal to feel nervous about what is going to happen in the future, but there are many ways to add positivity to your life. Here are 10 ways you can close out this year optimistically and mindfully:

Get creative

Set aside time to make art, and do it with the intention that it doesn’t have to be perfectly what you envisioned. Sometimes things don’t happen the way you imagine, but that does not make it less valuable. Let go of the negative emotions that may have built up this year through a painting, drawing, collage, or intention board. Visualize yourself living the life you want and pour it into your creation.

Get lost in the flow of doing things you love

Don’t spend time worrying about your productivity. Make a list of three things you absolutely need to accomplish that day. Once you complete those tasks, make a point to do something you love, and get lost in it. Don’t worry about productivity, your measure of success should be feeling at peace.

Start a daily meditation routine

Allow yourself to tap into the creative and intuitive side of your brain through meditation. This is called reaching a theta state of mind, which a daily meditation will help you achieve. You may also find that meditating to certain frequencies helps you feel more grounded and healed. Some of the different meditation frequencies are 174HZ, which removes pain, 741HZ, which awakens intuition. One of our clinicians, Laura, uses these questions during meditation to reflect on: What are the deepest truths on which you can rely? What do you trust, about yourself, about others, about the nature of reality? What endures for you? She says “I never answer the questions entirely – I’m not sure anyone could – but they always feel like just the kind of reflection I need around this time.”

Get in the habit of observing your thoughts and emotions

Starting to get into the habit of this now will set your year up for success. Instead of running on autopilot, letting yourself be attached to your thoughts and feelings, extend your awareness outside of those things and question yourself. Why am I feeling this way? What is the deeper emotion that I am feeling?

Mix up your routine and try something you’ve never done before

If you let yourself get stuck doing the same thing every day, you will lose that lust for life. Try to do something new, exciting, or outside of your comfort zone every day, even if it’s something small. This will help you feel more productive, excited, and you will learn to trust yourself more.

Practice gratitude

You can do this by starting a gratitude journal, or thinking about what you are grateful for when you wake up in the morning and before you fall asleep. Here are some tips to help you start your own gratitude journal. Our brain naturally holds on to negativity, but keeping a gratitude journal helps balance that negativity out.

Spend time outdoors

Taking a hike on New Years Day with friends and family is a wonderful way to close out the year mindfully. If you’re away from friends and family this year, you can connect with them by calling them and talking to them on the phone while you hike. Being in nature will help you feel more peaceful and grounded.

Reflect on what you learned this year

Our founder and leadership coach, Dayna, closes the year out mindfully by reflecting on what she can take away this year. “I took time this year to reflect with a trusted group of girlfriends on what I learned, what I’m ready to let go of, and what I’m (now) ready to allow into my life, which for me is ease. As strange as it seems, this took a lot to struggle to get to – being ready to allow ease into my life. I also created a 2021 strategic plan for the business. Personally, I used the below 12 areas to get clear on what I intend in this new year. Lifebook is a course I took a few years ago, which helped me change the direction of my life. I like to reflect upon and update these categories once a year.

Monotask

Instead of pushing yourself to multitask in order to get everything done, try doing one task at a time. When we don’t allow ourselves to be present with one task, we feel more stressed, lose concentration, and are likely to make more mistakes.

Cleansing

One of our clinicians, Vivi, is finding that cleansing is helping her close out the year mindfully. “This year-end has been about cleansing… completing old stale neglected projects, giving away or selling furnishings I no longer use or like and opening up my space, and consciously identifying and letting go of old ideas and feeling states that I recognize as unsupportive of my goals and self-care. The result has been a newfound sense of spaciousness…in my surroundings and internally, both physically and emotionally. This feels renewing. The action of cleansing is not necessarily what I recommend to everyone, for me the decision to do that came out of this past year’s reflections on what I want more of in my life, and less of. What I am committed to and motivated by, and how I wish others to know and see me. Each of us finds our own answers and our own congruent actions to take. I think this is part of the result of being mindful…knowing oneself better with kindness and patience.”

If you missed it, check out last week’s article, There’s No Place Like Home, which will help you make your home feel more special, even when you’re stuck inside and it’s a holiday.

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Starting with a creative written voice and a BA in English from ASU, Alli Cravener has become so much more than Integrative Counsel’s voice! Not only is she a writer who is passionate about connecting concepts and content, Alli is also currently a grad student working towards her Master’s in Counseling. She is also the editor-in-chief, office manager, AND intake specialist at Integrative Counsel. When you call us, you’ll talk to Alli! Alli’s interests include painting, history, learning about other people, and wearing the color pink. She likens herself to a “mouse in a palm tree”, and she loves it that way.