Releasing What No Longer Serves You: A Year-Round Practice

When one year ends and a new year begins, many of us focus on releasing what no longer serves us. This is why so many people love the burning bowl. It’s a time to reflect on the thought patterns, behaviors, or circumstances in our lives that may no longer be working for our highest good. The new year prompts us to make space for new ways of thinking, new relationships, new jobs, and so on. But to make room for new chapters in our lives, we first need to release the old.

Releasing is not only once a year. Letting go of what no longer serves us may be something we do at the end of the month, the end of a season or chapter in our lives, the end of a stressful week, or even the end of the day.

So how do we begin to release the thoughts, behaviors, and circumstances that are holding us back? Here are four things to consider when going through this process.

1. Be Honest About What’s Working and What Isn’t

We can’t let go of what is no longer working in our lives if we don’t know what that is. This is a time for us to be honest with ourselves and really take stock. What stories are you telling yourself? What thoughts are you having that aren’t productive? Are you in a toxic work environment or relationship? Do you have any bad habits that are preventing you from living the life you want to live? These are all great questions to ask yourself when stepping back and looking at the bigger picture of your life.

This is a good time to get quiet and connect with your inner divinity in prayer and meditation. You have all the answers inside of you. Being still and going within may allow you to connect with them more clearly.

2. Honor What You Are Releasing

There can be a kind of sadness in ending a particular chapter in our lives. Honor your feelings and allow yourself to appreciate whatever you are letting go of. Even if you are releasing something that appears to be negative—like a fear that may be holding you back or a destructive habit—can you find a way to appreciate what you are releasing? Can you see how those things might have been helpful or necessary for your evolution at one time?

Everything that happens in our lives has something to teach us. What have you learned? Reflect on how you’ve grown and changed. If there is something that is difficult to let go of, give yourself time and space to feel that closure.

Letting go of what no longer serves us may be something we do at the end of the month, the end of a season or chapter in our lives, the end of a stressful week, or even the end of the day.

3. Find Support Through Helpful Tools

Many spiritual tools can help us release. Some people find value in journaling. A journal gives you the space to honestly reflect on your life.

For others, it’s easier to have a more interactive activity, like writing down what no longer serves you on a piece of paper and burning it—make sure you are doing so safely—as we do during the burning bowl ceremony. It may also be helpful to use a tool like the Desktop Release Whiteboard so you can physically erase the things that no longer serve you.

4. Make Room for the New

The process of releasing whatever is holding you back allows you to make space for new thoughts, new behaviors, and new circumstances that will lead you to your highest good. Trust in God, and trust that the universe will bring the things you need into your life.

Releasing what no longer serves you can be a regular practice that you weave into the fabric of your life. Embrace the transformative power of letting go, and trust in the divine flow of your life.