At the beginning of a new year, we reflect on the past twelve months and look forward to the next three hundred and sixty-five days. This can be at a personal level, as well as collectively across the world.
Reflecting on 2024 we see many global conflicts, the hottest recorded average annual temperatures, and many environmental disasters caused by climate change. These conflicts and disasters led to an upsurge in the number of people forced to leave their homes and migrate to safer areas. There was also positive news. Greenhouse gas pollution in the European Union was reduced to 37% below 1990 levels. Many coal-fired power stations closed, and renewable energy sources are on the rise. Many nations acted to reduce biodiversity loss. In the EU, the nature restoration law requires all member countries to restore and protect wildlife on a fifth of their land and sea by 2030. 2024 also saw a rise in protecting children from the dangers and risks to the mental health of smartphones and social media.
Looking to 2025, we can expect the world to become more chaotic, as the rise of powerful nationalist leaders changes the world order and increases geopolitical and economic uncertainty. Whatever happens, humanity is going through change and transition. Let’s hope 2025 brings greater peace and stability and that we collectively re-assess how we live on this beautiful, but fragile planet. In this context, it is useful to experience compassion as expanding circles of care, kindness, and understanding that begin with yourself, then your family, community, and country, and then to all people and living creatures, nature, the environment, to encompass the whole of the living planet we call home.
At this time of year, on a personal level, it’s traditional to make resolutions, commit to doing more exercise, improve our diet, take up a new interest, or progress in our career. The fact is that most resolutions are forgotten by the end of January. Although setting personal goals is useful, we can often be hard on ourselves if our plans falter. In mindfulness practice, we tend to set intentions rather than goals. Taking the bigger, as well as personal challenges into account, one useful intention for the year is to start from the first circle of compassion, to be kind to yourself and others.
We all have faults and make mistakes, which is part of being human. Self-compassion is about accepting our imperfections and relating to the complete and whole sense of who we are, rather than a limited part of ourselves. In the time-poor, stress-bound world we live in, many of us entertain and identify with the harsh-voiced inner critic; although we may consider ourselves generally kind to others, there are many times when we could have responded with greater kindness, even to the people we are closest to.
Although the culture many of us grew up in taught us that we’ll only succeed by being hard on ourselves, the reverse is true. Self-criticism erodes our self-worth and increases anxiety, anger, and low mood. Leading a good-enough, rather than a perfect life means practicing self-compassion. It also means realising that in the Western world, we are embedded in a biased culture that encourages competition and challenges our self-worth, so that we become compliant consumers. Recent research on people who developed greater self-compassion found that they performed better at tasks and were generally a lot happier.
So, here are some tips on bringing self-compassion and kindness into your year:
- Don’t assume that you’re naturally kind to yourself; really listen to the quality of the self-talk you identify with, using curiosity, kindness, and beginner’s mind – as if you never really heard your self-talk before.
- Cultivate greater awareness, appreciation, gratitude, care, and compassion for your body, for all of the stress, strain, and negative judgements you impose on it. Try relating to your body with similar compassion as if it was a favourite child or pet you care about.
- Bring moments of peace and calm into your day by pausing between activities and bringing your attention and awareness to your body and breath.
Learning to be more self-compassionate takes time; it’s a marathon, not a sprint, which is why setting the intention for the year is a useful timeframe. Many hidden aspects of ourselves are worth exploring and self-compassion can help light the way. As the 14th Dalai Lama said, “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.”
Suggested weekly practice
- Review any New Year’s resolutions, goals, or intentions and weave in some kindness and self-compassion.
- As well as resolutions, review your intentions for mindful self-development for the year. For instance, to meditate every day, to notice more, to be less reactive, or to bring kindness and compassion into each day.
- Watch out for difficult things that you habitually tend to avoid and instead, find the inner courage to move towards the difficult, and befriend it with kindness and understanding.
Guidance
Find somewhere undisturbed and sit in a comfortable, dignified, and upright posture, where you can remain alert and aware.
There are two guided practices for this session. You can close your eyes or lower your gaze while the meditations play.
- Play the first settling practice, then read through the session content, which you can print off if that helps.
- Then play the second practice to explore and experience self-compassion and set intentions to be kind to yourself over the coming year.
