A Kinder Way to Start the Year

January tends to arrive with a drumroll of expectations. Eat less. Lose weight. Work out harder. Spend less time on the couch. Scroll less. Be more, do more, want less. The familiar list unfurls like an old script we’ve memorized but never quite mastered.

This year, Modern Minds therapist Tina Kaminski invites us to step out of that cycle and into something gentler, steadier and far more human.

“Most of us enter the new year chasing perfection,” says Kaminski. “But awareness alone is enough to pause, breathe and consider a more balanced way forward.”

Shift from restriction to nourishment

Instead of shrinking our lives with rigid rules and self-criticism, Kaminski suggests flipping the frame entirely. What if the new year wasn’t about less, but about more?
More of what sustains you. More of what fills you. More of what helps you expand rather than contract.

“Yogic principles teach us that we are always in process,” she says.

In yoga, there is no finish line. There is only practice. Each breath, each wobble, each moment of stillness is a chance to learn something about where we are and what we need. Life follows the same rhythm.

Honor where you are today

When we stop demanding immediate transformation, we create space for genuine change. The real question of the new year becomes: What can I add that supports my wellbeing?

Kaminski encourages beginning with simple, nourishing additions:
• Movement that feels good instead of punishing
• Meals that fuel rather than restrict
• Connections that uplift instead of drain

“These aren’t resolutions based on fixing yourself,” she says. “They’re invitations to grow from a place of wholeness.”

Let abundance guide the year ahead

A mindset rooted in abundance doesn’t ignore growth; it makes growth sustainable. When we honor the present moment, we create the conditions for meaningful expansion over time.

Your year doesn’t need a tougher to-do list. It needs room to breathe.